Holidays.

So its been about a month (maybe more?) since I've written anything on this blog, so I thought maybe it was time I broke the long silence, now that we have internet at least until the end of the day... Gee whiz, where to begin.

Well, when last I updated, we were in Christchurch... which when I think about it now seems like a LIFETIME ago. From there we headed to Wanaka for the first time, where we spent just a couple days before scoring a job  working on a vineyard in Bannockburn, just outside of Cromwell. (GO GOOGLE MAPS, GO!) We were there for about three weeks, rubbing buds and lifting wires. Pretty exciting stuff. Basically the equivalent of working in a factory, just outside. In 30+ degree weather. Bannockburn bills itself as "Heart of the Desert" on the sign outside of town, and this place was definitely like a desert in a lot of ways. Hotter than hell during the day, and ice cold at night. One day, we went from pushing 40 degrees in the afternoon to scraping frost off of our windshield the next morning!

After a couple weeks on the vineyard we headed to Te Anau, gateway to Fiordland National Park. Which is probably the most awesome place in the known universe. There, we hiked the Kepler Track, a 3 day alpine crossing in the heart of the park. It was pretty amazing. The weather was also amazing. Amazingly wretched. The ranger at the first hut near the top of the mountain informed us that we had the worst weather he had seen all season on the track. On our second day, we braved ice-cold temperatures, 100 km/h+ winds, driving rain, ice and yes, SNOW! We got at least a small hint of a white Christmas, several thousand miles from home.

Since the end of the hike we've  been relaxing in Wanaka, and that's where the picture was taken. We spent Christmas here and the hostel is really starting to feel like home. We've got a great bunch of people here and we'll be sad to have to leave. On New Year's Eve, we will reunite with our fellow Canadians! Queenstown will not know what hit it. I will try to post again with more entertaining things soon!

love