Day 2 - NZ

Quote of the Day
"I'm so jetlagged" - Beno

Cookie says......
First morning here and time to get down to business. Coronet was the venue where we hung out on the beginner slopes so we could warm uo. Morgs found his feet, Beno found the ground and Gurti found out why this place is called Concrete Peak. Gurti got talking to a photog who then took a swag of photos of us which as good tourists, we bought some.

The Team

Morgs and Beno were keen for some steeper stuff so while Gurti had a break (sore toosh). Gurti joined us for the next run and she made her way down with Beno while Morgs and I fanged it down and caught up with them again.

Ben had everyone ducking for cover
(look at the kid in the background)

The clouds closed in and we called it a day which one of my feet appreciated which I think might have been due to new boots (although Julie would say old age). I could barely walk afterwards which is quite concerning seeing as though this was the first day.

Morgs and Gurti cooked up some good spag bog and we had a quiet night in.

Gurti says......
Well apart from my butt being a little sore and getting a knock to the head I feel quite good about the first day... Im starting to realise Im more of a girl than i have thought....or should i say chicken??. I kinda spent most of the day on my butt and knees but im so glad the guys encouraged me to head up the very top of the mountain to do at least one decent run. Although it wasnt a clean run without any spills, im pretty happy with the fact i didnt stack it coming off the lift and that i actually made it down to the bottom in one piece.
The scenery is amazing here, its so gorgeous! I really am going to dread leaving, I think I should have chatted up the photographers a bit more today..lol
Anyway, retirement here would be bliss although i dont think grannies are into skydiving and stuff....oh hang on...sorry mum :)
Looking forward to tomorrow and adding more bruises to the body.
Hope all is well back home.

Decisions, decisions...
do I fall on my butt, face or knees?

Morgs says......
Today was a good day, however at the start I was a bit worried. I didn't pick it back up as quickly as anticipated, but wonderfully I picked up pretty quickly, literally! I ended up falling head over heels for a girl today, but all she did was scream... No, I 'hit' a skiier. Or didn't hit her, thanks to my evasion techniques. I ended up launching over her skies and landing directly on my precious lungs. To the other guys though, Captain Cookie is a gun, only had two stacks all day, but Gurti takes the cake with her ass/head combo hit. Beno has had some good stacks and is hitting it hard. Of the 4 of us, 3 have pulled up lame, with Beno and his unco ankle remaining unscathed. We (Gurti and I) cooked dinner up tonight, and the plans are to head back up to Coronet tomoz to do it all over again. I think Captain Cookie is taking his vid camera tomoz, so I will take mine and we should have some good footage. The others are reluctant but I'm confident by the end of tomoz we will all be pulling sick airs and hitting the terrain park.

Day 1 - NZ

Quote of the day
"The first time I spooned a guy..." - Morgan

Cookie says...
The crew stayed at my place last night and we woke to the tune of Cotton Eye Joe courtesy of Morgan's alarm. Before we knew it, we'd packed, jumped into a maxi-taxi and were queuing up for check-in.

Three hours later and we had arrived in the centre of the known adventure universe. The car was ready to be picked up but I'm not sure we were ready for it. We thought Karis had left a surprise for us as it smelt like a babies nappy! We found The Whistler and we have ended up with two linked adjacent rooms.

The all important coin toss to determine who slept where

Ben and Gurti needed boards so we headed off for a quick walk around town and then found a rental place for them. After dropping the boards back at the fort and a quick shop for breaky we were off for dinner at the Beefeater. Mikey and I ate at here a few years ago and I noticed that the wagu I ordered then was no longer available. I didn't think too much of my rump (my meal that is) but Morgan rated his feed quite highly. I think Ben and Kylie felt a little let down by the place too.

I think I'll be needing their expertise soon!

Mikey, I have found you another outfit!

Gurti says...
Baaaaa..... Ok so Captain Cookie-Time has warned me I must keep this short and sweet. So here goes my attempt at both of those.
Sleep last night at Cookies = so comfy yet so short (thanks guys for the chivalry...and sorry you missed out on a good nights sleep)
Cab ride to airport= note to self...always wear a seatbelt because you never know when the attentive indian cab driver is going to pull up all sudden like
Plane food = Who calls a bowl of beans a salad anyway?
Company on the flight = Sat next to some random who thought my shoulder was comfy enough to be a pillow
Landing = smooth as...I hope the pilot gets paid well
First thought of Queenstown = 'i cant believe its taken 5years to get me here.....its so gorgeous and so not cold!!'
Rental car = 2 words ... Subaru...Nappies!
Accomodation = GOOD WORK COOKIE!!!
Dinner = here come the kilos
Excitement level for hitting the slopes for the firt time = um ...a little scared.....BUT TOTALLY EXCITED!!!
homesickmeter = nil

Funnily enough, I found a zoo for models

Morgs says...
Today has been a bit of a nothing day really. After a rotten night's sleep at Captain Cookie's where, due to my stubbornness I slept under a beanbag for warmth, we woke at sparrow's fart and choofed off to the airport. The flight was uneventful (for everyone else at least, I snapped awake at one point certain I was drooling and snoring loudly - I wasn't yeow!) and we arrive in Queenstown to see the sun and uninterrupted expanses of white snow at the Remarkables and Coronet (very psyched for tomoz!). After a few coin tosses Cookie and I have the pleasure of sleeping together in the same room, with Gurti and Beno sharing the other. Excellentily (?) we can open a door between the two rooms and have a shared living space.

There's really not too much else to report (I had a fillet stuffed with fetta and sun-dried tomatoes for dinner, freakin' brilliant) but I imagine that will be short-lived, as we head up to Coronet tomoz to begin our adventures. Never fear folks at home, you won't miss any of the epic stacks, as we have three vid cameras and two gun photogs, so you'll get to see all the tears in stunning quality soon.

Until then though, peace out!!

Queenstown '09

Okay people, here's the lowdown...

Queenstown + four hills * 12 days = one hell ova trip

That's mathematical music to my ears! Housemate Ben, Morgan and Kylie are coming this year. What's that you say? Kylie? Yes... believe it or not... it might have taken me four years to do it but she is coming.

Once again it's the tried and tested formula. Fly to QT, pick the hills and have some fun. This will be the longest ski trip to date so a big test for this aging and broken body. The extended time also means that the planets have aligned and it overlaps with two different groups from work (Brooksie's and Major's) who will be in QT at the same time as us and in different weeks.

Brilliant lead up to the season, 110cm base at Remarks as of late May. I just hope it stays and lets the good times roll!

Cookie