Winter Wonderland

July 10, 2007 on 10:51 am | In Snowboarding |

It has been snowing heavily here for the past week and it now resembles a perfect winter wonderland. Strange to think that as it is snowing here my friends back home are enjoying the summer. We have been exploring the area around the Mount Aspiring National Park and Wanaka in the region of Otago on the South Island of New Zealand. Yesterday we took a drive up the Matukituki River past the base of Treble Cone Resort and the path to the Mt Aspiring Hut.

The road follows the river path which is in the bottom of a fairly narrow valley. The mountains rise steeply at each side of the valley and there are many waterfalls tumbling down to meet the main river. The river banks are lined with evergreen trees, including the native Manuka tree, and the green of these trees along with the deep blue of the river sharply contrasts the white of the rising peaks behind. The remaining autumnal trees add a spark of colour and the blue sky finishes off the stunning view.

There are not many people living in the Matukituki Valley. It is very very peaceful and reminds me a lot of the valleys of the north west of Scotland. Here too, the mountians rise sharply from the valley floor and the green of the trees is contrasted against the snow in winter and the heather in the summer and autumn. Before I left I had the fortunate pleasure of hiking up Suliven in Assynt in the Norht west of Scotland. Like the Matukituki valley, there are not many people living around Suliven and you get a real sense of remoteness and peacefulness. The similarities in landscape and atmosphere are striking.

As well as the similarities in the landscape and the general feel between this part of New Zealand and the Highlands of Scotland, there are many Scottish namesakes around. If I get too home sick, just along the road I can visit Lake Aviemore and Glen Orchie is also just around the Corner. We passed Glen Dhu on the way up the Matukituki and Mount Ben Nevis is on the other side of Lake Wanaka. you do not have to go far to find Scottish links and references.

Right now in Wanaka you do not have to go far to find Scottish people either! I have already met around 30 Scottish skiers and snowboarders here just for the season and many more who are here travelling for longer periods. Maybe the many Scottish place names are helping them to feel at home. It is a great atmosphere and I am sure it will add a lot to the competition days to have so many Scots competing.

The latest snowstorms have done wonders for all the ski areas and they are all now up and running. Snowpark has been making even more manmade so to add to the new natural snow and the pipe is almost ready. A few more international competitors have arrived in town, with more on the way and have began training for the big comps next month. I am sure they will not feel nearly as at home here as the Scottish crew though!

Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.