Christmas Break

We flew into Auckland on Christmas Eve to spend 6 days with our families. Most days were spent at the beach as it's the one thing we don't have here in Queenstown. It was great to catch up with everyone and mishaps were kept to a minimum - once Andrea's luggage turned up (via Christchurch and Wellington) a few hours late.

We flew back out on the 30th of December and have had a few days to ourselves since then. We had a quiet New Year's Eve with a few neighbours which was nice and relaxing.

On the 3rd we took a hike up Wye Creek as it's one of the open hunting areas in the Wakatipu basin. We got about 3/4 of the way up the main track and then headed out across the front face of the Remarkables. It was quite steep and hard going at times, but good exercise. We saw a lot of deer sign and Greg is looking forward to heading up there with a gun once peak tourist season is over. Hunting is not allowed close to the main track, and at the moment there are so many people around that the deer are all in hiding.

This waterfall is about halfway up the track.

Andrea's Uncle Tony and his sons are arriving sometime today and her parents arrive on Saturday, so it will be all go for the next few weeks. Hopefully the weather will pick up a little for the guests as at present we have gale force winds and have had snow on the hills a few times in the past week and a half. Not exactly summery! Here's hoping it's a sign of things to come for the ski season.....