Go to your happy place...

I can't believe what a slacker I've been on this blog. A whole month and no posts. For the most part I've just been working and spending my evenings chilling at home with the roomies.
Here's what I've been doing lately.

I love this little dock

I found my happy spot. It's at the end of my road.

Late afternoon 

I can't go there enough. I always stop here on the rare times I'm walking to or from work.

Rainy morning at my happy place

I went riding at Coronet peak with my old roomie, Fiona. It was fun but the first day of  the season is never great. Especially when it's been a year and a half since you rode or (like me) an accident prone goofball. Long story short. I pulled my Achilles and plantar tendons, along with my calf muscle. No worries tho, they take about 6 weeks to heal and I'm on week 4. Almost no swelling and mostly pain free.
My work had a demo day.

Getting hooked up at the K2 booth for demo day

A few of us from work got free lift passes to Cardrona mountain in order to try out all the new 2014 season gear.

B Mosh! Ready to Ride!

I am so spoiled now I wanna new board when I get home. Must. Buy. The. Ride. Compact.

 So much fun.

Noodle break with Daz, Olly and Bridgette.

Cardrona is far and away my favorite resort so far.

It was super windy. But the sun made a few appearances on the west bowl.

Me and Bridge had a great time riding all over with our fancy new boards.

Bridge and me. Gotta love my funky oversized, hand-me-down goggles. 

The Queenstown winter festival ended with a street carnival.

I moseyed down for a few hours and watched the street performers and bands and nommed on some fair food.

One of the bands at the carnival

Then I watched the last half of a hockey game. Bridge's husband, Trev, was goalie and their friend Mr. Frodo was also playing.

Hockey is Awesome. And! I hung out with someone named Frodo. New Zealand bucket list- completed.

I love watching hockey! The next team up had a guy playing who couldn't even stand in his skates. His jersey? Goon. #69. Hahaha.

Moving on.

The next day I went riding at the Remarkables with my coworker Manea and her boyfriend Max.

Manea! So awesome she needs 2 pairs of skis!

Conditions were poor. Really dark and windy.

View from the "lodge"

So cold. I couldn't see 2 ft in front of my face.

So coooooooold

It made for some crappy riding and goofy falls.

It was Canada day too. So I went on the town with Trev and Frodo. Geez, Canadians can party, eh?

Oh Canada... Why do you force me to party till 4am on a work night?!?
So much Canadian whiskey.

Unfortunately, Bridget had to stay home with the little ones....so next time I get to take her out for a Big Night. It's gonna be trouble. We're leaving bail money with Trev....

So, I've had a few nights on the town. I've got a bike from work and I've ridden around the lake a bit.

Yesterday was a day off of work. So I went back to Remarkables with Jamey.

Such a great day. I definitely like Remarkables when I can see where I'm going haha

 Fresh snow and a bluebird day made for an awesome time.

Jamey on the slopes.

I even rode a little baby box and got some air on a kicker.

Last run of the day. Out to the point on the ridge and then down the face of death.

Grrrrr face above the clouds

Then I ate snow when I tried to do it again.
Hahaha.

This cloud swooped in the last 15 minutes of the day. Crazy weather.

So, 3 more weeks in Queenstown.

Sunrise. They're amazing here.

I've been told by the roomies to come back here for summer. Fishing, biking, and 15 hours of daylight....seriously tempting.

From my bedroom window. So beautiful here.

I've booked my August trip. I'm going to Bali with a short stopover in Sydney.. I can't believe I'm going after talking about it for so long. So excited!
That's it.
I'm so incredibly excited to come back home and see my family and friends!

Gi-normosity

Go big or ....shit, that's the only option here.
So I happily drove away from the winery Tuesday morning and got my car fixed in Kerikeri.

That night I went back to the Roadrunner Tavern to grab a few more shifts but the only ones available were for the following week. I'd had enough of the beautiful Bay of Islands and needed a change of scenery. So I declined the shifts, even tho I need the money, and bought a plane ticket to Queenstown. Wednesday I was up bright and early, at the ungodly hour of 5:30am and drove to Auckland to hop on the plane.

The clouds cleared up over the South Island and I got to see some gorgeous scenery on my flight.

On my way to queenstown

Queenstown is unbelievably awesome! It's hands down the coolest town I've ever been to. It's beautiful and jam packed with fun things to do.

My new friend Robert picked me up at the tiny little airport and we headed out with another diver, Homey, to downhill mountain bike down Queenstown mountain.

We put on our badass gear and got our sweet as bikes then took the gondola up the mountain.
At the top of the mountain there is go carts and people hang gliding and tons of neat stuff to do. So cool!

Gorgeous South Island mountains

So my first run down the mountain, I totally went  sissy la-la and my hand was aching from squeezing the brakes so hard.

Sad to say, I was holding up the fun train.

On the next gondola trip to the top I was given a beer for some liquid courage and a few pointers. These tips were great in theory but scary in practice. Here's what I got drilled with:
1. Speed is key.
   me: Ok. Sounds good. I'm riding down the face of a mountain. I'm not having trouble maintaining speed.
2. Ride high through the burms.
   me: K. I'll try to take the corners at the top of the turn. It's just a little scary when the burm has a 50 ft drop on the other side. Not a lot of  wriggle room there...
3. Stand the hell up woman! (This one was repeatedly yelled as we rode down the mountain)
   me: fuck! When things got hairy, my first instinct was to sit down on my seat. No bueno. Sitting down really decreases the control you have over the bike and makes you more prone to going over the handlebars. Plus, I had a hard time sitting the next few days. Really. Sore.

So, for my second run, I pulled on my big girl pants. I even got some decent air off a jump. So much fun. I also almost hit the side of the mountain and a tree. And I almost ate dirt on a few turns. Lol. I laughed the whole way down.
The guys let me take a pic from the top of the mountain. What a view!

You can't tell here but they were all smiles on the downhill portion of the day
They look so serious, I think my photography was cutting into their riding haha

By the last run I was doing pretty good (for my first time). I even hit part of an intermediate track and I was able to properly fishtail/slide around a few of the corners. So much fun!
That night it was dinner at Fergburger. Which has the biggest and best burgers in the world! No bullshit. No hyperbole.
Titanic Deliciousness.
I'm ashamed to say I couldn't finish mine.

The view of Queenstown from the gondola 

Then Robert and I walked around to a few bars and checked out downtown Queenstown.
We finished the night at a bar called Cowboys. They sold giant beers for $10!
These beers were probably about 30oz. Since the rest of New Zealand sells pints for $9, I was completely smitten. I practiced my 2 stepping and watched the other tourists ride the mechanical bull.
The next day we got to hang out in Queenstown till early afternoon. I'm proud to say I returned to Fergburger...and TOTALLY REDEEMED MYSELF!
By packing my whole breakfast burger into my belly. It hurt. But my pride was worth it. I could now leave town with my head held high.
Then I got to check out more of Queenstown and sat down with a coffee in the park till it was time to leave.

The view from the hotel 

It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day. I took in the sapphire blue lake, and giant, awe inspiring mountains surrounding me. All the while watching people hang glide and parachute around the sky.
I'll definitely be heading back to Queenstown. I would love to spend more time there. I loved it.
I immensely enjoyed my day of giant mountains, giant beers, and giant burgers!