Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Queenstown, New Zealand
Hello Everyone,
I hope those of you reading from the northern hemisphere are enjoying some nice summer weather!! Down here in New Zealand I have had to make a quick adjustment to the winter conditions. Although I must say it is quite mild compared to our winters in Canada. Nonetheless the snow is great and so far the training has been excellent. I arrived almost a week ago with the rest of my teammates and coaching staff and have had 4 days of training on snow. Today we had our first day off and got the opportunity to explore a little. Where we are staying is just outside of Queenstown and quite close to another little town called Arrowtown. This morning Gen Simard, Emily Brydon, Kelly Vanderbeek and I rented some bikes and cruised on over to Arrowtown to check things out. It took us all of about 10 min and then sun was just starting to crest over the peaks of the mountains. The town basically consists of one main street but it is jam packed with tourist shops and cute restaurants and cafe's. We found a great little spot to have an espresso and then made our way down the "main drag". After a little exploring we found our way back onto our backs and headed towards home but not before picking up some good meat pies from the local bakery for lunch. They were delicious.
The last time I was down here in Queenstown for a ski camp was about 6 years ago and I am really enjoying being back here again. The town has definitely changed though. The apartments where I stayed last time have been torn down and new places have gone up, the ski hill has a brand new lodge which almost outdoes some of the places on Whistler Mountain! The people however are just the same; warm, welcoming and pleasant. It's great to be back and we still have another two weeks to go. Next on the schedule for the following day off snow is a trip to Milford Sound - should be fun!
Until then,
Britt :-)
# posted by brittjanyk @ Tuesday, August 05, 2008 
