View from peak: Farmland and Ocean in the background
The classic New Zealand "Thumbs Up" pose
Borrowed terminology from the Starkville crew - this is a "Death Cookie". Props to Avery.
What is a wild parrot doing on the ski slopes?
What a unique skiing experience we had; like no other we've ever had. It only took an hour of driving after Jonny picked us up at 7 a.m. to get to the parking lot at Mt. Hutt. By the way, the parking lot and a ski rental shop with restaurant are the only things on the mountain. The closest town is about 20 minutes away and it requires a 4WD or tyre (NZ spelling) chains to get to the parking lot of the ski slope. Everything is above the tree line at 6800 ft., which is a little different from home.
From the peak of the mountain we could see mountain ranges in one direction and the ocean and flatland (equivalent to The Delta) in the other direction. We found some fresh powder on some isolated trails that were labeled "Experts Only" (Kate was a little skeptical). Many a death cookies were avoided on the slopes; these balls of ice will take you out in a heartbeat. Once we were knackered (this is a Jonny-ism which means extremely tired) we headed down and discovered the parrot above on top of someone's car. This was the perfect end to a not-so-normal day of skiing/snowboarding.
5 comments:
KATE...YOUR PICS AREN'T SHOWING UP!! SELECT STILL MISSES YOU...OF COURSE. WHAT'S THAT MENTIOIN OF HAVING A BABY WHILE YOU ARE THERE?? YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T DO THAT...WE WOULD ALL HAVE TO FLY ALL THE WAY TO NEW ZEALAND TO GIVE YOU A SHOWER!! YOU'RE DEAR FRIEND PHIL HAS LEFT US FOR BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS ALSO...WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU GUYS?? YOUR BIG BILLBOARD IS STILL UP,SO REALLY...IN A WAY...WE GET TO SEE YOU EVERYDAY (YOU JUST DON'T GET TO SEE US!!)MARY BENSON GAVE ME A SERMON TODAY...BUT DIDN'T SING ME ANY KIND OF SONG. I GAVE THE PICS FROM YOUR "DEPARTURE" PARTY TO YOUR MOM SO HOPEFULLY YOU WILL GET THEM SOON. THEY ALL TURNED OUT REALLY GOOD. HOPE YOU ARE STILL HAVING A GOOD TIME. DO THEY CELEBRATE LABOR DAY OVER THERE?
Carla, you definitely need someone loud and fun to move into your area. Is Chad hating the office move? Bradley updated me with a pretty good email and caught me up to date with a few things. Most of the grass here look like rye (sp?), but the weather is so good it stays green year round. I just put an app. in to Kmart while I am waiting to here back from a few jobs. The American head of the Chem E dept at the local University is helping me out with my job search. Anyway, this is more like an email than a response. Talk to you later.
Carrie, yes you would all have to fly over for the shower, but rest assured it will not happen. mom will bring the pics when she flies over at Christmas. i heard phil got fired. good thing he wasn't on the billboard. thanks for keeping me updated...don't forget me.
Keep up the pics! It is a daily internet visit of mine along with Paige's blog. Very cool. I might just try to get one for me going.. it would be opisite ya'lls.. for example, wierd info on alabama.. like, did you know you sweat off half of your water when you go for a walk during the day.. I can't imagine. Ellen said she emailed you. Hopefully ya'll can meet up. Also, Michelle Bloch and I are looking to head that way in March?? We'll keep ya'll updated!
melissa, feel free to come whenever...just when you decide (i know it is a long way's off) let me know and i will take off work. tell michelle i got her message and couldn't call her back b/c my cell got cut off before we left. tell her i said hey and to email me her current email address.
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