We're here!

A little later than we'd expected, but nothing too significant.

MELBOURNE
After boarding a little late, we then sat at the gate for a while, until eventually the captain came on over the PA system and explained what was going on. The combination of slush on the runway in Queenstown plus a full plane (school holidays) meant that the calculated required landing distance exceeded the available runway length. Not an ideal situation. Something changed, and whether it was the weather/conditions in Q'town, or a more accurate calculation or whatever, the new calc said not only could we land, but we could (and should) carry a little extra fuel. So then we had to wait for the refueling truck to come back.

All up, we pulled away from the gate an hour and a half after the scheduled departure time, but the hosties flight attendants plied us with water and juice and lollies to help while away the time.

The flight itself was unremarkable except that I managed to sleep, and that JD and the boys managed to eat all the chocolate we'd brought while I was out.

QUEENSTOWN
Queenstown airport, more properly, Frankton airport, is nestled in the valley between two mountain ranges, a challenging approach if the wind is gusty, I'd expect. It is astonishing to emerge below the clouds to see the township surrounded on all sides by snow-capped mountains. It's just not something you see in Australia. And you didn't see in Q'town last week, as the hills were bare. It's cold (1 deg C), but calm and clear, and there is snow on some of the cars, and on the road verges.

After collecting our cheapie hire care (a Japanese import Corolla with 250,000+km on the clock), we headed off to the nearest shopping centre for a late lunch and a groceries run. We then set off towards Wanaka, about an hour northwestish of Q'town, driving through the slowly falling dusk, watching the stars emerge and the clouds fade, arriving around 6:30pm local time. We would have some photos of the snow-covered vineyards nestled in the Kawarau valley, but it turns out the 16Gb SDHD card I put in the camera is a little too modern for it - at best, it can take a 2Gb SD card. Eh, we'll get that sorted tomorrow.

WANAKA
The Alpine Resort Wanaka is a on the edge of town, a largish complex of semi-detatched units with 2, 3 and 5 bedrooms, now primarily accommodating families (rather than the uni students and rookies (snowboarders) the complex used to cater to). We have wi-fi, spas, saunas, a fairly spacious two bedroom apartment complete with lock-up garage, and a fully equipped kitchenette. I think we will be very comfortable here for the week. Wanaka is the winter-equivalent of seaside towns, with a permanent population of 5,000 people, growing to 50,000 in winter. (Q'town grows from 10,000 to 150,000, which is HUGE.)

The ski report is looking very promising for tomorrow, with clear skies tonight (snow generally falls overnight), so we'll be up early to get up there in good time tomorrow. Talk to you then!