A Short Break

Race Day featuring the sign I painted. 

On the few days off that we get every couple weeks it is important to get out and about New Zealand.  Important to get away from life in the bubble of Mt Cheeseman for just a short while to energize and refresh.  One of the most attractive features of New Zealand is the number of wild and interesting places in such close proximity to one another.  In just a couple hour drive from the mountain you can end up on either the flat, wide open plains of the East coast near Christchurch or in the midst of the moist, overgrown, mountainous landscape of the west coast.

The Fox Glacier

For my last endeavor off the mountain, I and a couple friends made our way first west.  We drove my questionable Subaru down the west coast to Fox Glacier.  This is a town built around the tourist interest  of walking on a glacier surrounded by rainforest.  There are not many places on earth that the two come together, but then there are not many place like New Zealand.  During my travel hitching around the south island with Adriana we came to spend several days in Franz Josef, a glacier town just a stones throw north of Fox Glacier. We skipped Fox only because when you hitch you must take what you can get and at the time we could get to Franz.  As it turns out Fox is a second home to many of my friends from the mountain and the reason for our visit was so that I could interview for the job of Glacier Guide.

From Fox we made our way down to Queenstown.  Queenstown is know for its nightlife, skiing and expensive prices.  Last time I was here I had no money, no transportation and couldn't afford the fun.  This time I was much better prepared.  One day of skiing on a mountain range named The Remarkables was nice but as it happened we picked the worst day of the year.  Normally the snow in New Zealand is a heavy, wet, coastal snow but here it was actually raining from the top of the mountain down.  IT didn't really put us off to much because we were just happy to be skiing some unknown terrain for a change.  

Once soaked through and through we headed back to town to taste the famous FergBurger.  This is a burger shop with a line out the door from early morning to late, late night.  We were skeptical about the Kiwi take on a good burger but they have proved themselves in my book.  This is one of the best burgers I have had in over 9 months of travel and i cant wait to go back.  Have I mentioned how Burgers are my favorite food?

Stone church on the banks of Lake Tekapo

After a second night in Queenstown we moved Northeast to Lake Tekapo.  Of all the scenic areas of New Zealand this is one of the most gorgeous I have seen.  The picturesque lake is surrounded by mountains and when framed with a few well placed clouds it makes for a great photo op.  

After this it was time to head back home and though we all love Cheeseman it was sad to end our short vacation.  We could all feel it on the ride back, that bittersweet taste of leaving something new and exciting but returning to the consistent and ever-welcoming embrace of home... or at least what is our temporary home.  On the way I got a call from Fox Glacier Guides offering me the position and I couldn't be more stoked for this next chapter.

Snow safety officer Ella stand over Lake Tekapo

Mountains to the North of Lake Tekapo

Ella keeps watch over the lake.

Picture unrelated to the story i wrote but... Kat has made it to the top of Mt. Cheeseman and carved all the way back down again.  I am very proud of my student.

New Snow On The Cheese

We finally got our snow!  Only about a half meter of snow but that has changed the face of the mountain from a rocky outcropping with strips of white to a full powder covered wonderland with only the occasional rock or two popping out.  Life on the Cheese is good but I am still looking forward to what is next.  Potential to be a glacier guide in Fox New Zealand or possibly a seasonal bio job somewhere about, maybe even head back to Australia.  It is difficult to plan the next step when I am busy having so much fun every day.  We are about halfway through the season and already I know how greatly I will miss my time here. As with Shark Bay and any great moment in my life this will forever remain a treasured place in my heart.  The type of place where I hated to fall asleep and couldn't wait to wake up.  Where every single second counted and every single second was filled with the purity of that moment, that specific moment.  Tonight, as the snow continues to fall outside my bedroom window I wonder what tomorrow holds for us all.  A new take on the world no doubt, a fresh perspective through once-again cleared lenses.

The new snow, looking up from the office

A few of the staff members with cheesy poses

The moon above our T-bar lift early in the morning

Five brave souls atop Mt. Cockayne on one of the iciest days of the year

Mount Cheeseman

The snow was heavy early on.

I have been up on Mount Cheeseman for three weeks now and not yet had the chance to write a post in some time.  I worked at a ski shop in Christchurch for a few days getting familiar with my role as Ski Technician before moving up the mountains to meet the other staff and to prepare for rapidly approaching season.  My main duties will be to rent out gear and to keep the stock tuned for use but in reality the work of one role on a small mountain becomes much more diverse than that.  I have been working in the Cafe quite a lot as well.  This customer relation type of position is very new to me and one that i had dreaded previously, thinking it would drive me crazy to deal with random people.  I have learned now that this is far from the reality of it.  As is often the case, my preconceptions led me to a premature and false conclusion.  It turns out that i love helping people solve their diverse sets of problems.  This can be anything from the daily binding adjustments on boards and skis to the more unusual and far more challenging task of picking the lock on the roof-rack of a car to free the skis held captive when someone forgot their key.  Only occasionally am i faced with problems outside of my skill set and will do my best to send them in the direction of someone who can help.  Even less frequently am i faced with the unpleasantness of a disgruntled customer.  It comes as quite a shock to me that this is a job i feel quite well cut out for and one that normally gives me great satisfaction in doing well.  However do take this with a grain of salt.  It has only been a few weeks so far.

Mt. Cheeseman glows at night.

"The core of mans spirit comes from new experiences"

~Jon Krakauer~

View from the Lodge

Living on the mountain can be spectacular.  The view from my room is unbeatable and the slopes are 50 meters away.  When the mountain is quite and customers few, I am able to get out for a few runs at a time which makes it all worth it... if it wasn't already. At the moment I am where I need to be and life is good.

Moving up the mountain.

The view from my room.

My Rental Shop

As time moves along the snow has melted to the bare minimum that would allow us to stay open.  Some creative grooming has kept our major runs in condition but we are all paying for more snow soon.  These pictures above are from the the first week.  It was a good start but we have had precious little snow since.  Everyone think cold thoughts for us that the snow might blanket our mountain in its powdery embrace once again.

Winter is On Down Under

The snow struck hard a couple days ago blanketing all of canterbury in 6-24 inches of snow in 24 hours.  Temperatures plummet and winds howl as the winter takes hold.  The more snow the better for me as I will soon be heading up the slopes for 3 months of winding my way way through the powder.  It was the day after the full moon that the clouds cleared the skies.  The day after the lunar eclipse and the transit of venus. Its to bad we missed out on those phenomenal events but we did have some magic of our own in the works.  Out into the night I went armed with a camera and makeshift tripod for a session of nighttime photography... my favorite type of photography.  With the moon glowing soft and the snow imitating I did my best to capture the serenity and silence of the place.

The next day I went back out with my camera.  It was a bit easier to take pictures when you do not have to worry about your fingers freezing off.  Below the Bees sleep for winter,  the Canadian Geese seem at home... though in the wrong hemisphere.

These last pictures were takes as the snow fell on that first day and before it had a chance to build up.

A Pressing Matter

Juices flowing (Charlotte Ferrier)

A few weeks ago we finished off the last of the work pressing grape skins for that extra bit of flavor and juice and then transferring the immature wine into oak barrels for maturation.  It will sit and soak in the barrels for the next year gaining complexity and character as it passes through malolactic fermentation and begins to take on a new aroma and flavors.  We will taste the barrels each week or two becoming familiar with the aging process and learning how a young, still closed off, Pinot Noir becomes one of the most highly sought after wines in the world.

We also went to visit our friends Mike and Claudia Weersing over at Pyramid Valley Wines to see how their wine was coming along.  They take every step necessary, with scientific precision, to ensure that the purity of their terrior remains wholly intact from the use of native yeasts to local clay and oak.  It is an impressive operation with 100% effort focused on quality. Mike has studied in france for 20 years and is now a Winemaker Guru of sorts offering a helping hand and what knowledge he can share with anyone keen to learn.

Keeping it clean. (Charlotte Ferrier)

Cedric and the "Antill Reserve" barrel. (Charlotte Ferrier)

However, back to Antill Estate...  I dropped into each tank for the last time to scoop out every bit of skin and lees i could find for the press.  Bucket by bucket the original 6 tons of grapes were converted to just over 3 tons of wine and a whole lot of left over skins which would then be used as fertilizer for the vines.  After squeezing out as much juice as you can from grape skins in the press you are left over with a grape skin cake... but dont be fooled.  It does not taste as good as it might look. In fact when I tried it, as I do, the skins were virtually tasteless.  All flavor had been extracted from them through fermentation and soaking, just another good sign of the potential quality in this years vintage.

Grape skin cake (Charlotte Ferrier)

He's so photogenic! (Charlotte Ferrier)

Oak barrels ready for filling. (Charlotte Ferrier)

Stomping grapes at Pyramid Valley, an inspirational pioneer in producing organic wine preserving true terrior character. (Charlotte Ferrier)

Clay pots used in place of oak barrels to preserve the pure terrior of Pyramid Valley Winery. (Charlotte Ferrier)

"Always carry a corkscrew and the wine shall provide itself"

~Basil Bunting~

Kiwi Watch

Last weekend I volunteered with The Nina Valley Restoration Group.  The group is lead by Hurunui College science teacher Tim Kelly, a young and enthusiastic teacher with a flare for inspiring excitement and motivation in his students.  In conjunction with the Departmernt of Conservation their aim is to restore the Nina Valley, located in the Lewis Pass, to its pre-european biodiversity.  This means controlling invasive mammals like Australian Possums, Stoats and Ferrets while facilitating recolonization of species like the Great Spotted Kiwi.  Tim and the children at Hurunui College get to head up the majority of this project by setting traps, rescuing Kiwis, and reintroducing some from other areas.  All of the Kiwi bird species are in decline and these efforts to save them from extinction have had great success though there is still a long way to go.

The native wildlife in New Zealand evolved with only a handful of predators, which allowed the animals to adapt in unique ways to their environment.  The Kiwi has no wings, well it does have a couple vestigial nubs but they are unseen and unused.  The Kakapo is a ground dwelling Parrot adapted to avoid arial predators but not mammals.  The Tuatara is one of the worlds most ancient still-living reptiles with three eyes.  All of these animals have suffered great losses since the introduction of mammals from mice to cats to deer to the most destructive; humans.  They are unable to compete in this interrupted environment so we are trying to increase their chances.

On this trip we checked and baited a couple hundred ferret/stoat traps. They have caught many invasive mammals this way and the environment is improving noticeably.

We also retrieved audio recording devices being used to count the number of kiwis in the Nina Valley so that they have a better understanding of their restoration effort's effects.  These devices were all located around 800-900 meters above the valley floor up densely vegetated slopes.  It was not easy going and I can not express how impressed I am with the positive attitudes and enthusiasm coming from everyone involved.

Stoat/Ferret Trap

After a strenuous day retrieving the recorders and baiting the traps we made it to the Nina Valley Hut to rest our weary legs and to dry out by the fire.  That night after some food had been cooked and a little energy restored we broke out the UHF receivers to track the kiwis that had previously been tagged and released in the area.  Eight kiwis have been reintroduced here over the last few years and most of their signals were readily identifiable. In fact a few were quite close to the shelter, no more than 100 meters away.  We could hear the high pitched males call being answered by the trilling whir of the female.  It was exciting for me to literally hear the progress that these kids had made and to see in them the knowledge and excitement of changing the world experienced by few people.

Nina Valley Hut

The rain had settled in overnight and the morning was gray and wet.  The streams had risen and the ground swelled.  Every step carried with it the sound of a swamp.  It was this morning that we were set on finding a Kiwi.  In the night these nocturnal birds forage about the forest floor finding worms and insects among the duff.  In the day they seek shelter within the natural burrows left from decayed logs and sinking earth.  We found two kiwi's signals close and in the same direction from the hut so off we went.  Slowly we closed in on their location until the signal indicated a hummock of log and moss in which they would both be hiding.

Scotty filming the kiwi

The Kiwis in their burrow

It was quite exciting to find a male and female kiwi, both tagged and introduced to the valley, hiding together in the same burrow.  This finding goes a long way to supporting the conclusion that the Nina Valley Restoration Group's efforts are making a difference and I am stoked to be helping them out.

Bird song recording device

All the water in New Zealand seems to be this pure

Greater Than Zero

Still too hard to sink.    (Janice Antill)

The 6 tons of handpicked grapes are now sitting in there vats bubbling away and slowly converting sugar to alcohol.  The color deepens and a leesy smell takes hold within the insulated container.  The Carbon Dioxide released during the ferment becomes so strong in the small space that it is enough to knock you out cold.  It is not uncommon for a vintner to accidentally end up head first in the brew after being overcome by the oxygen replacing gas.  We always stomp in pairs, just in case.  As the grapes get further along they require a heavier foot in the mix and eventually about half a body.  Twice a day someone must throw on a pair of toggs (swimsuit) and drop into the drink for a full on mash up of the floating berries.

Now the plunge  (Janice Antill)

A bit like the berries, I have come to New Zealand raw and ripe with potential.  Thrown into the pot here with the whole bunch I am looking for a way to convert that potential into something productive.  A few days ago,  and through the efforts of my wwoof host, I was given the chance to talk with a few classes at a local high school here.  I talked about where I had come from and why I love biology.  I gave them information on the work I had done in school and since graduation.  Most people are happy to talk about turtles and sharks but these were some very bright kids who wanted to quiz me on everything I had done from the Cyanobacteria lab to Alaska to wwoofing.  They were genuinely interested in it and all brimming with insightful questions and creative ideas.

(Janice Antill)

I regret only the things I have not done in my life.  One of the biggest is for never having pursued a teacher's assistant position while at the University of Oregon.  Now I have the chance to try my hand in a teachers role and to help these young Kiwis follow their own passions.  I am so happy and excited at the prospect of inspiring young people to see the wonder and amazement you can get from biology if you are only willing to pay attention.

I have always planned to go into teaching at some point but figured I would go out into the world while I was younger to get experience that would enrich the rest of my life before settling down and sharing those experiences in the hopes that they might inspire someone else to enrich their own life.  If we experience new things when we are young, we then have the rest of our lives to process and to use that knowledge for the better, while experience after youth is still advantageous you are left with less time to put these experiences into action.

"Everything you ever sense, in touch or taste or sight or even thought has an effect on you that's greater than zero."

~Gregory David Roberts~

Valentino the Winery Cat   (Janice Antill)