Slip sliding away ... into the mountainside

I had another first time experience this Winter. One morning while driving to appointments in the towns of Clyde and Alexandra, my car hit black ice on the road going through Kawarau Gorge. I'd never had an experience on black ice. It reminded me of my friend, Steve, who a few years ago had offered to drive as we carpooled to a work event after seeing that I'd walked through black ice while wearing high heeled boots in North Carolina.

I'd often driven in the Sierra Mountains of California during Winter, through snow, sleet, hail. However, I'd never encountered black ice. There really doesn't seem to be much you can do when you start sliding. The conditions that morning didn't look anything like I'd ever seen them before when driving through the Gorge. For that reason, I was driving under the speed limit. And I remember thinking as cars drove past me, "you'd better slow down". Ironically, it was me, not those speeding past me that had the accident.

It was on a curvy part of the road. I remember the back of the car sliding first, but then it seemed to recover. Unfortunately, all was not it seemed. The car began to slide again ... so long in fact, that I had time to think of all the things they say you should and shouldn't do when you hit black ice. I did what I'd always heard was the thing to do ... don't grip the steering wheel hard, don't hit the brakes, and look in the direction you actually want to go. It didn't seem to work. I could feel the car sliding wider and wider across the road into the oncoming traffic lane. I think I was quite fortunate at that time in the way the road curved, because rather than hitting the guard rail and going down the cliff edge into the river, my car slid towards my side of the road and into a ditch before hitting the mountainside. Whew! At that point, I was just happy that my car stopped.

A few hours later, my car was towed and I was home. I have to say that my car insurance was great! And everyone I encountered during the ordeal was really nice. But I have to say that for weeks afterwards, I was driving VERY slow and really paranoid about driving. Oh, and I had a sore neck ... a sort of whiplash I think. Maybe that is part of the reason why I'm kind of over the Winter thing. Bring on the warmer weather!

And thankfully, now Spring has arrived! Bring on the warmer weather! Hopefully no more ice for a while. In the meantime, daffodils are starting to bloom, lambs and baby goats are showing up in paddocks, and I have a new vehicle that has been really fun to drive around. (Well, new to me. I bought it from a friend who was returning home to Scotland.) Here is photo of my new Toyota Rav4 at Lakes Hayes, just outside of Queenstown.

How Similar Are Bucket Lists from Country to Country?

It seems the 2007 release of the movie "Bucket List" with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nichelson got a lot of people thinking about their own lives. I know it did me. I remember watching it and thinking about the '100 things I'd like to do in my lifetime list' that I had made years ago.

So when I was watching 'Breakfast' on TVNZ on Tuesday morning and they ran a story on New Zealander's bucket lists, it got me thinking. Are bucket lists similar from country to country?

Fidelity Life conducted a survey which revealed that if Kiwis had one year left to live and couldn't leave the country, they would choose travel over staying home with their families. Isn't that what the movie showed as well? Apparently 51% of Kiwis want to travel and the South Island of New Zealand is their #1 destination. To be more specific, visiting Stewart Island ranked #1, followed by doing the Milford Track at #2.

When I think of my own '100 things' list, I recall that I had only reached around 40 items at the time I wrote it. I don't remember exactly what is on the list, but I do recall that at least a third of the items included travelling.

What's on your bucket list?

Where has time gone?

I'm working on something that has me communicating with travel companies worldwide and their advertising buyers. This week I engaged a woman from Canada who considers travel a hobby and apparently blogs about it. I had a look at her blog and really enjoyed it. This reminded me that I haven't blogged myself in quite a while.

Two months to be exact, as today is 31st July in New Zealand. Two months. Unbelievable. It isn't like I haven't thought about it. In fact, every single day I have a topic or thought worthy of writing about. But clearly I haven't managed the time to sit down and do it.

Much has happened this Winter and tomorrow starts August, which I suspect is going to be quite a hectic month for me. But I really want to make blogging a part of my every day ... you know, like exercising, eating right, taking some time out for me ... all the things I know that I'm supposed to do and don't do.

Maybe time really does speed up and slow down? Maybe the fact that we have less daylight and more darkness in Winter makes me feel like I have less time. Everyone around me seems to be saying the same thing ... "I can't believe it's already the end of July."

Today in America=Memorial Day BBQs ... Today in Queenstown=Winter Has Arrived!

This last weekend is traditionally Memorial Day Weekend in America. The weekend to remember those fallen heroes, usher in Summer, and have cocktails and BBQs.

On the flip side, this last weekend in Queenstown, New Zealand brought us Winter. The snow levels on the glorious mountains that surround this town are dropping. It's still the tourism shoulder season, but the nomadic travellers who follow the snow, have already been arriving over the past few weeks. They've been arriving early to try to secure jobs that will take them through the Winter season so they can work and ski till the snow disappears, at which time they'll be headed off back to the Northern Hemisphere to do the same thing. If they're really lucky, they've already secured a job at one of the local ski resorts - which I hear gets them a free season's pass!

Yesterday as I left the house in the morning armed with a puffer jacket and driving gloves, I drove past two jibbers walking towards the CBD in full snowboarders wear, boards under their arms. The local mountain, Coronet Peak, doesn't even open till this Saturday. Apparently these die-hards were planning, like quite a few others it turns out, to walk up the peak and ride down. No wonder that these nutters are so fit!

I heard that most of the rest of the town turned up at the big Wakatipu Ski Sale that was held at the Queenstown Events Centre. Seriously, I heard (and later read online) that there were about 1,000 people in attendance. I didn't even know that any place in Queenstown could accommodate that many people. I didn't make the sale.

Later,  I saw a group of heavily rugged up men, golf bags on arms, scrambling to find another place to tee off within the hour. Not being a real golfer myself, I wondered why they didn't just have a go at this gorgeous course. That was until I hit a patch of ice and almost slipped on my ass right there in the car park, in front of this group of golfers.

When I got back into my car ten hours later,  It was a glorious, clear (and freezing!) night. The only clouds in the sky were over the Crown Range which were lit up by the just-past-full moon rising. I knew a delicious dinner and a warm fire were waiting for me at home, so I was anxious to get back indoors. Unfortunately, I first had to find water to throw over my windscreen to get rid of the ice that had built up after the sun dropped.

Dinner was delicious, the fire was raging, and I fell asleep in the middle of the movie. But this is the view I woke up to this morning. Yes, Winter has arrived. Now it's time to go pick up my Season Pass, pull out the ski gear, and get some windscreen wiper fluid (with antifreeze!) into the car!

Calling all Cookie Munchers!

Something really exciting happened in May. Cookie Time, the Christchurch based and privately owned Kiwi company opened the first "cookie bar" storefront in the World here in the Queenstown CBD. I was really excited when I first heard about the store coming a few months ago because of the concept. The company had apparently enlisted the help of WETA Workshops to help them design an interactive brand experience.

I decided to pop into the store the week it opened and have a look. I met Verity Richards, the franchisee, and had a nice chat despite the fact that she was obviously quite busy. Unfortunately on that day, she was having a challenge with the new tap that pours milk at the bar. A milk tap! Love it! Fortunately, it didn't seem to affect business while I was in the store. It was fun to see families enjoying the interactivity of the touchscreens, having their photos taken by these screens, and filling their cookie pails with a selection of all the different sizes and types of biscuits.

Not being one to ever pass by a sweet treat myself, I had to endulge. As I drove home from town, I opened my little brown paper bag to relieve the warm, chewy treat. Yummy! There's nothing like the melt-in-your-mouth, chewy, ooey goodness of a warm chocolate chip cookie. I'm such a big kid. But I don't care. It made me smile and made me feel all cuddley inside.

A Night of Bollywood

Once a year, Mantra, an Indian restaurant in Arrowtown, holds an event attended by hundreds in the town hall. The evening includes food from Mantra, an Indian DJ and singer, and the Bhangra Boys from Auckland.
Bhangra is a joyous folk dance which marks the harvest season and is celebrated by the men of Punjab.

It's such a great night. Besides the really infectious music and dance, one of the best parts about the evening is the fancy dress. Locals love to dress up, especially in Bollywood style, and this evening was no exception.

"Boy"

I saw a really great film last night, "Boy". It apparently competed at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was written, directed by, and stars Taika Waititi. To me, this is impressive enough to write, direct and star in your own film. But I was so impressed by the acting and the characters, especially considering the fact that most of the characters are children. It's a funny, sad, good story that is staying with me even the morning after I saw it. At the end of the movie, in a sort of Bollywood style, the cast does a Michael Jackson dance that incorporates some of a Maori Haka. Classic!