After a hectic winter, things fell into place for us to take a quick spring skiing trip. With the borders still closed and very limited domestic travel we figured this really would be our last chance to visit Queenstown before it started to get busy again.
We managed to get a room at one of our favourite places to stay just on the outskirts of town with great views over Lake Wakatipu to the Remarkables. After having skied some of the other resorts in the area last season, we had already decided try out the The Remarkables ski resort this trip, so it was nice to have a view of the backside of the mountain from our hotel balcony.
Like most of the ski mountains in New Zealand, I am not really sure the word ‘resort’ is quite the right term for The Remarkables; it is just collection of lifts and a day lodge at the top of a mountain. With the base of the mountain so high up, it means that part of the adventure is the drive up to the parking area and the road up to The Remarkables was no exception.
We were lucky enough to a beautifully clear day and took our time on the ride up the mountain. As we climbed higher we could see the entire valley laid out beneath us looking just like a map. We took a while to get our bearings and figure out places we had been before continuing up to the ski slopes.
Despite the beautiful weather, it felt like we had the slopes to ourselves and were able to get in plenty of runs. When the snow started to soften, and our legs got tired we headed back into Queenstown for a late afternoon snack at one of our favourite cafes.
We decided to take the long way into town for dinner and followed the lakeshore track around the edge of Lake Wakatipu. After a long, grey winter it felt great to be outside and enjoying some early spring sunshine.
It was such a lovely evening that we ended up picking up a picnic dinner to have on the beach in town whilst we planned our adventures for the following day.
Our final stop was to pick up ice cream at our favourite shop which we enjoyed on the wharf in town watching the sun set over The Remarkables, a pretty great end to the day!