New Zealand Sports & Outdoors Tips by iandsmith

Don't forget the skis

Skiing is probably the sport that attracts more tourists to New Zealand than any other. It can be great, like the first year I went, or it can be very ordinary, such as the second year I went.
My son and I spent time on Cardrona, Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Treble Cone, Mt. Hutt, Craigieburn and went heli-skiing. The first year was sensational. While driving out from Christchurch we heard on the radio there was 20cm of fresh snow on a 3 metres plus base. We'd probably never skied on a metre in Oz so we were pretty excited, and rightly so.
The entire first trip was a memory of untracked skifields and fresh dumps. Cardrona was open with gentler slopes; Coronet Peak is very much affected by where the sun is shining as parts are ice and others can be slush all in the same run; Remarkables has sharp rocks and is best skied when there's good cover; Treble Cone is steep and better suited to the more advanced skiers; Mt. Hutt has the scariest drive to any skifield when the wind is blowing but the field is varied and offers some good runs; Craigieburn is a field hard to access with primitive facilities but some great runs; heli-skiing depends very much on conditions. The day we went it was crud and only suitable to good skiers but the scenery alone is worth the trip, it really is no exaggeration to say it was sensational.

Equipment: Christchurch has plenty of hire facilities, as does Queenstown and Wanaka but most of the fields have hire facilities, even in small villages, nearby the fields.

Theme: Skiing/Snowboarding

Last man standing

I have no idea where I should have put this photo but, rather obviously, I chose here.
We were walking through the wonderfully pleasant lakeside park at Queenstown when we came across this, for want of a better name, apparatus and, being red-blooded males, decided to put it to some use.
Just for the record, I won! I think it was a case or old age and cunning beating youth and enthusiasm.

Equipment: I can recommend non-slip shoes.

Directions: On the shores of Lake Wakitipu, Queenstown

Theme: Other

Trouting

I could have called this tip "fishing" but, in the world of fishing, New Zealand rates highly and is noted for its trout. Fly fishermen delight in tackling the many streams, often accompanied by sand flies, in a bid to land a big one, of which there are plenty.
Wooses like us chose another option, hiring a boat from Fish 'n' Trips out of Te Anau on a rainy afternoon.
While the trip on the lake was interesting and we caught several trout, both rainbow and brown, actually reeling them in was the most leaden experience I can recall whilst fishing. There was absolutely no fighting or sensation that a scaly creature was on the other end of the line as we trolled around. It may be hard to believe that you can be reeling in a near-two-kilo trout and not know there's anything on the line until it's next to the boat but, seriously, that's exactly what happened every time. Bit disappointing really.

Equipment: Our host, Ian Murray, supplied everything and knew his stuff and the boat was solid and safe.

Address: 51 Bligh Street, Te Anau

Theme: Fishing Trips