Dispensor's NZ vacation.

[jacksplatt11]

Haha I was just there too, a week after you though. Flew into Christchurch on the 21st, then to Queenstown on the 22nd which was an interesting flight, exactly as you noted due to the airport. 2 days snowboarding at Cadrona, had good snowfall, Nevis bungee jump (134m), mountain biked up that mountain that's next to QT, with the gondola going up it, 3 pub crawls as well as just going out, other stuff too, and stayed at a pretty flash backpackers (as flash as a backpackers can get). Was there for a week, then back to Christchurch then back to AUS. Had a blast, awesome place, can't wait to go back

[griffin]

The snowfields were indeed empty, mostly because it was a fairly warm end to the snow season, and there hadn't been any new real snow for about 2 weeks. The locals were saying that people were leaving in droves - which was a good thing for us, because it wasn't as crowded and I wasn't getting in the way of too many others when I fell.

The touristy stuff in NZ is mostly scenic and adrenalin activities.
Jetfire just reminded me that there are heaps of LOTR tours being advertised in the QT area, so I guess that was one of the areas it was filmed. So if you're a fan of the movie/books, that could be something else worth doing.
Otherwise, I don't know of any themeparks.
The Cadbury factory was the only thing I found of interest to me, but do some searches online or go to a travel agent for anything else over there.

[griffin]

Haha I was just there too, a week after you though. Flew into Christchurch on the 21st, then to Queenstown on the 22nd which was an interesting flight, exactly as you noted due to the airport. 2 days snowboarding at Cadrona, had good snowfall, Nevis bungee jump (134m), mountain biked up that mountain that's next to QT, with the gondola going up it, 3 pub crawls as well as just going out, other stuff too, and stayed at a pretty flash backpackers (as flash as a backpackers can get). Was there for a week, then back to Christchurch then back to AUS. Had a blast, awesome place, can't wait to go back

The prospect of more snow before seasons end was slim, but sounds like you got lucky. Was Cardrona a good snowfield? Was it big, or just the one with the best snow coverage at that time of the season near QT?
Sounds like you packed in a heap of stuff. Did you go with a group or friends?
QT was very quiet while we were there, it must have been like a ghost town the following week for you.

We were originally planning to be over there the week you went, but I couldn't get leave from work, due to school holidays here (people book up the leave slots to spend time with their kids). Would have been really funny if we had been there at the same time and just ran into each other without knowing beforehand.

[jacksplatt11]

The prospect of more snow before seasons end was slim, but sounds like you got lucky. Was Cardrona a good snowfield? Was it big, or just the one with the best snow coverage at that time of the season near QT?
Sounds like you packed in a heap of stuff. Did you go with a group or friends?
QT was very quiet while we were there, it must have been like a ghost town the following week for you.

We were originally planning to be over there the week you went, but I couldn't get leave from work, due to school holidays here (people book up the leave slots to spend time with their kids). Would have been really funny if we had been there at the same time and just ran into each other without knowing beforehand.

Yeah we got lucky, we didn't expect there to be much snow but the first day we went snowboarding we got pretty good snowfall, I can't remember the number but it was pretty good coverage, the next day there was none but it was still pretty decent from the day before. I can't remember why we chose Cardrona, only one of us was an experienced snowboarder so he just chose, or maybe it was part of our package, can't remember. There was 8 of us all up, all mates, and yeah there wasn't as many people as usual, most people who were there permanently noted that, but it was still reasonably busy. We got a fair bit of stuff done, all days we were there were pretty full on

Haha yeah would've been pretty funny, quite unexpected

[griffin]

Was it your first time snowboarding? If so, how'd you go?

I just remembered something funny - I had forgotten about the sunburn factor up that high, and after just 3 days of beenie and googles, I was left with the bottom half of my face red and the top half still fairly pale. It looked a little like MOTU Trapjaw, with white skin instead of green.

[jacksplatt11]

Yeah first time, sorta got the hang of it towards the end but by then I was so sore I was glad our couple of days were up. It's pretty tricky starting off, some of our group picked it up in a snap, some (like me and another guy) struggled, plenty of bumps and bruises, but no pain no gain eh. Got a nasty one on my tailbone just like you, it's a bugger isn't it. I would definitely do it again, it's fun even if you do fall over a fair bit.

Haha yeah I forgot about sunscreen as well, luckily I got away with no burn, just some dry lips, it's easy to forget you can get sunburned even when it's so cold, especially with the sunlight reflecting off the snow

[Golden Phoenix]

I just remembered something funny - I had forgotten about the sunburn factor up that high, and after just 3 days of beenie and googles, I was left with the bottom half of my face red and the top half still fairly pale.

Man if I had a nickle every time that happened to me. You never really connect sunburn with skiing because your more worried about the cold

[Paulbot]

The allspark energy that brought Dispensor to life has helped him track down one of the mysterious and elusive seekers!!

[kup]

Awesome shots! I love to see snow someday - Despite me having traveled a fair bit in my life I have never seen snow.

[Saintly]

nice write up Griff and some great pics!

Fungal, I've never been to NZ myself except the wife took the kids there last x'mas... but going from those pics and what the wife said, I reckon it's good for cruising (car that is!)