Queenstown!!
I lived in Queenstown; it reminded me of home, especially North Wales and Scotland! The views are insanely beautiful and often left me speechless. It’s a small town, so you soon get to know everyone. Most people are there for the outdoors, there’s always something to do, heaps of Biking, Climbing, Hiking, Jet boating, Bungee jumping, Paragliding, Canyoning, Skydiving, Cliff jumping and more. The town keeps you young, active and extremely happy.
I worked in a Beauty Spa, it was the best spa in Queenstown and gave me great experience.. not great pay. They loved that I was there for biking, and saw me as a bit of a hero, never having met a girl who does gnarly biking and beauty treatments. I personally think I’ve got the perfect balance.
Every morning I woke up smiling, wondering what new adventure I’d brave that day..
I worked in a Beauty Spa, it was the best spa in Queenstown and gave me great experience.. not great pay. They loved that I was there for biking, and saw me as a bit of a hero, never having met a girl who does gnarly biking and beauty treatments. I personally think I’ve got the perfect balance.
Every morning I woke up smiling, wondering what new adventure I’d brave that day..
The Catlins!!
One adventure involved a big group of awesome friends and the Catlins, this place is magical. We camped next to the beach and went for an early morning swim with wild Hector Dolphins, it was the most incredible experience, they were so playful jumping into the air doing summersaults, as you swam you could see them surfing the waves. We were told to tap 2 rocks together under the water; making them curious so they come to explore, getting close enough to touch. They were a lot smaller than normal dolphins, and are only found in New Zealand waters.
Around the corner, the beach would be full of Sea Lion families, they are an odd looking design; like a giant slug with fins. Most of us kept our distance as we didn’t fancy getting roared at and chased.. However, Mr Shmouse (Jon Stout) decided to sneak up on one as it was sleeping and throw a stick at its balls .. needless to say the lads started running fast!
As the sun set we went round another corner where the Yellow-eyed Penguins came for their bed time. These were tiny penguins, only found in New Zealand and come to the same spot at dusk to rest, and set off again at dawn.
Around the corner, the beach would be full of Sea Lion families, they are an odd looking design; like a giant slug with fins. Most of us kept our distance as we didn’t fancy getting roared at and chased.. However, Mr Shmouse (Jon Stout) decided to sneak up on one as it was sleeping and throw a stick at its balls .. needless to say the lads started running fast!
As the sun set we went round another corner where the Yellow-eyed Penguins came for their bed time. These were tiny penguins, only found in New Zealand and come to the same spot at dusk to rest, and set off again at dawn.
A few shnapz of The Catlins..
Christmas Day!!
Christmas Day was very special, with it being my first ever Christmas away from home I wasn’t sure how I’d be. However, with it being 30 degrees it didn’t even feel like Christmas.
Christmas Eve, 40 others and I hiked up Ben Lomond Mountain with our downhill bikes. It took 3 hours to get to the saddle, and this is where we camped in just our sleeping bags, with a full view of the stars. When the full moon passed at 3am I had a stunning view, I have never seen so many stars and looking so bright, I lay there staring at them with a huge smile on my face.
At 5am everyone started waking up to a breath-taking sunrise. We had a full view of Queenstown and the lake with the orange sun bursting into sight over the Remarkables. We all wished everyone Merry Christmas, then a handful of us continued the hike to the very top of the mountain, this took another hour. One side of the mountain we had the view of the lake, and the other side was covered in mountains which had snow on the tips of them, we found our Christmas snow! The sky was bright pink blending into a deep blue.. speechless! Everyone rode down the mountain; it was fun, fast, gnarly, loose and epic! We finished the ride 25 minutes later ending at the lake where we all jumped in! I spent the rest of the day at the beach with Callum, Stout and Kep, followed by a BBQ for Christmas dinner, not your typical turkey, but it stopped me missing home!
Christmas Eve, 40 others and I hiked up Ben Lomond Mountain with our downhill bikes. It took 3 hours to get to the saddle, and this is where we camped in just our sleeping bags, with a full view of the stars. When the full moon passed at 3am I had a stunning view, I have never seen so many stars and looking so bright, I lay there staring at them with a huge smile on my face.
At 5am everyone started waking up to a breath-taking sunrise. We had a full view of Queenstown and the lake with the orange sun bursting into sight over the Remarkables. We all wished everyone Merry Christmas, then a handful of us continued the hike to the very top of the mountain, this took another hour. One side of the mountain we had the view of the lake, and the other side was covered in mountains which had snow on the tips of them, we found our Christmas snow! The sky was bright pink blending into a deep blue.. speechless! Everyone rode down the mountain; it was fun, fast, gnarly, loose and epic! We finished the ride 25 minutes later ending at the lake where we all jumped in! I spent the rest of the day at the beach with Callum, Stout and Kep, followed by a BBQ for Christmas dinner, not your typical turkey, but it stopped me missing home!
The West Coast!!
West Coast is another magical place, so green, full of caves, funky misshaped rocks, glaciers, more mountains, and sandy beaches, couldn’t help but feel I was on set for Jurassic Park.
I went with my lovely friend Mike Hopkins up the West Coast to get to Nelson, where a 16’500ft Skydive awaited us. I jumped out of the tiny plane in my jumpsuit and Ugg boots, It was a perfect day; free falling for 70 seconds with clear blue skies, heading towards the mountains and beaches. The sunsets were yet again another breath-taking experience.
I went with my lovely friend Mike Hopkins up the West Coast to get to Nelson, where a 16’500ft Skydive awaited us. I jumped out of the tiny plane in my jumpsuit and Ugg boots, It was a perfect day; free falling for 70 seconds with clear blue skies, heading towards the mountains and beaches. The sunsets were yet again another breath-taking experience.
A typical day in Queenstown!!
As you can imagine you are never short on things to do in Queenstown. I love running and exploring, so I’d try to go for a morning run as often as possible. I found some incredible views; I went on a mission up Queenstown hill, but forgot my camera .. so I had to run up there again the following day to try and capture the magic!
I was lucky to make friends with so many wonderful people, lots of them have lived in QT a while so they knew the best places to go without going on the punters guide.. they took me canyoning, jet boating, cliff jumping. Pretty much every weekend and any week night, we got a small group together and did uplifts. All the tracks are easy to uplift and everyone has access to an awesome uplift system, it reminded me of Pearce Cycles set up.
I was lucky to make friends with so many wonderful people, lots of them have lived in QT a while so they knew the best places to go without going on the punters guide.. they took me canyoning, jet boating, cliff jumping. Pretty much every weekend and any week night, we got a small group together and did uplifts. All the tracks are easy to uplift and everyone has access to an awesome uplift system, it reminded me of Pearce Cycles set up.
Queenstown had their own DH series, it cost $5 to enter and was just on the one day. You rock up to the gondola for 10am, get in about 4 practice runs, then do your single race run. It’s over by 2pm so you can carry on riding before prize giving .. and drinking in the evening.
I started going on quite a few road missions, still on my hardtail .. with mud tyres. I didn’t have a vehicle, so If I had days off where others didn’t, I just rode. One day I rode out to Glenorchy and back, it’s a 90k round trip and covers 1500meters of hill climbing! When I got back I jumped straight into the lake, then went canyoning, then finished the day off on a boat party for Indris birthday. Very productive day!
The gondi was awesome, I lived about a minute away and could just rock up and smash a few laps. I even went on my lunch breaks a few times. I had one bad crash which sent me on my first bike injury related hospital visit and set me back a bit. At the bottom of the gondi there was a little pump track, so we could take the BBQ and just hang out and smash out the laps.
I started going on quite a few road missions, still on my hardtail .. with mud tyres. I didn’t have a vehicle, so If I had days off where others didn’t, I just rode. One day I rode out to Glenorchy and back, it’s a 90k round trip and covers 1500meters of hill climbing! When I got back I jumped straight into the lake, then went canyoning, then finished the day off on a boat party for Indris birthday. Very productive day!
The gondi was awesome, I lived about a minute away and could just rock up and smash a few laps. I even went on my lunch breaks a few times. I had one bad crash which sent me on my first bike injury related hospital visit and set me back a bit. At the bottom of the gondi there was a little pump track, so we could take the BBQ and just hang out and smash out the laps.
Bike Festival Week!!
Teva Slope Style after partay!!
One of my final weeks in Queenstown was Bike Fest week. Every day there was a rad race of some sort: Enduros, DH, Teva Slope Style, 16” bike bar race, Mega Avalanche.
Dirt Masters - I entered the Dirt Masters DH race, but unfortunately had a crash in my seeding run and landed on my head from quite a way up, blacked out for a minute and cracked my helmet. The race was the next day, I still did it but took it very steady as I could barely walk, ha! I still came 4th which I was pretty pleased with!
Teva Slope Style was rad, a course of jumps were set up in a car park and all the top free riders competed. It went on till about 10pm so the event ended up all flood lit with thousands watching. The after party was really good, my highlight was the photo booth and props they had set up!
Mega Avalanche was the final race of the week, and rightly so! It was by far the best race I have ever done. We had one practice run, then race run. It’s the first time they’d done this race so there was a limit at 100 riders. The top of the course was completely open, leaving it free for all through heaps of tussocks, boulders and blind drops. We got heli lifted to the top then a gunshot started the mass start. It took me just under 25 minutes to get down, putting me into 4th for open women, the track was rad and everyone had massive smiles on their faces afterwards, just buzzing!!
Dirt Masters - I entered the Dirt Masters DH race, but unfortunately had a crash in my seeding run and landed on my head from quite a way up, blacked out for a minute and cracked my helmet. The race was the next day, I still did it but took it very steady as I could barely walk, ha! I still came 4th which I was pretty pleased with!
Teva Slope Style was rad, a course of jumps were set up in a car park and all the top free riders competed. It went on till about 10pm so the event ended up all flood lit with thousands watching. The after party was really good, my highlight was the photo booth and props they had set up!
Mega Avalanche was the final race of the week, and rightly so! It was by far the best race I have ever done. We had one practice run, then race run. It’s the first time they’d done this race so there was a limit at 100 riders. The top of the course was completely open, leaving it free for all through heaps of tussocks, boulders and blind drops. We got heli lifted to the top then a gunshot started the mass start. It took me just under 25 minutes to get down, putting me into 4th for open women, the track was rad and everyone had massive smiles on their faces afterwards, just buzzing!!
VERTIGO BIKES!!!
I was extremely luckly to have massive support/sponsorship from these guys, they are heros!! Each and every one of them are awesome and I was extremely privileged to have them as my friends!!
I definitely could not of got through the season with out them, they never moaned when I took my bike in .. again and again and again! And I always loved popping into the shop to just hang out with them.
Thank you, Pang, Tim, JT, Shmouse, Daggers and Alfie, love you guys! Hopefully see you next season! .. stay groovy ;)