New Zealand - The other side of the world

After passing my instructor exams it would have been great to go straight in to an instructor position but having only qualified at the end of April it was to late to apply for a job in New Zealand. That didn't matter though, I would just apply for different jobs on the ski fields. My first stop was an overnight stay in Christchurch. I was glad it was only one night though as the city was still devastated from an earthquake. Next I went to Wanaka to stay with my cousin Katharine, a Physio and New Zealand skeleton bob athlete (http://vimeo.com/7278533). Yes, she's crazy!

I stayed here for two weeks until I had had my interview and job offer to work for NZSki in Queenstown.
I moved in to a flat with three other people with an awesome view of the Remarkables mountain range and Lake Wakatipu:

We had a week of training at The Remarkables ski area:

and enjoyed a famile party with AJ Hackett where I won a free bungy:

I started my season working in the Snow Centre based in town doing customer service.

I had my first ever winter birthday in July so we went to the Ice Bar in town.

I also went horse riding in Glenorchy (where they filmed Lord of the Rings)....

and took a cruise on Doubtful Sound.

Guest services was an indoor job so when an opportunity to move to the Lift department at Coronet Peak came up I jumped at the chance!

On my days off I volunteer with the adaptive ski programme and decided to do my level 1 NZSIA Adaptive exam...

(yes that is our examiner with his bum in the air) and when I passed I went on to do my level 2 NZSIA Adaptive exam:

Life as a Lifty wasn't so tough....

especially on days like this....

On days off when I wasn't skiing I did thing like hiking up Ben Lomond

or Queenstown Hill

or just going to the amazing fudge shop

One of the wierd things about New Zealand was that there were Parrots living at the ski slopes:

Soon the end of another season came around and it was time to say good bye, or see you later maybe...

I felt like I still needed to see some more of New Zealand before I flew back to the UK though so I embarked on a road trip with a fellow Lifty and a relocation rental car (https://www.transfercar.co.nz/) 'Big Red'!

We traveled up the west coast past some amazing scenery...

and some quite amusing places...

We stayed at some really nice Hostels along the way in Greymouth and Picton before we got the ferry to the North Island:

We saw some beautiful scenery....

We stopped to visit Dave's relatives in Hastings then I continued on my own towards Auckland.
I visited Rotarua....

(yes it did smell bad) and I stayed with my friend Diane in Hamilton where I visited the Botanical Gardens...

and saw the black sand at Raglan beach...

After that all that was left was to fly back to the UK and think about my next adventure!