Rounding It Out

Have a listen to the sounds from the shoreline near the confluence of the Clutha and Hawea Rivers outside of Wanaka, New Zealand in October.

I have some stock responses to the questions my guests ask about my endless winter. There are the sincere: "Sometimes it's hard to tell whether I chase winters or they chase me;" and "I do miss summer but I gladly sacrifice it for more winter." Then there's the clearly exaggerated: "Winter here is just like the summers back home." I guess there's some truth in each of them. Still, the most important response, and the one that is most relevant now, is this: I may have two winters each year and no summers, but I do get to experience spring twice! Consider whatever poetic line you prefer about spring being a season of renewal, life springing eternal, or the birds and the bees, and remember just how wonderful spring can be. Here in Wanaka, it's ever more the case.

With the business and the renown of Cardrona Alpine Resort growing as rapidly as the town of Wanaka itself, my winter season here is neither marathon nor sprint. It's more of a 440, putting everything we've got at top speed, 100% of the time for four months, without much letup. It's awesome, I love every bit of it and it'll only get better as we continue to evolve, but it can be pretty tiring. Thankfully, spring here hits like a tidal wave of quickly lengthening days, an enormous number of birds that make more and a greater variety of noise than anyone at home can imagine, and gardens that out of nowhere seem to explode into amazing greenery over night. Where I'm living this season, we've got two large bushes an either side of our front door that greet us daily with an amazingly pungent, vaguely fruit-like smell that is so impossibly fragrant that the only apt comparison is to the smell of citrus-scented cleaning detergent, only better, naturally. I am aware that the amount of time I spend in the cold and the snow heightens my appreciation for all of the joys of spring, but I'm equally confident that any sentient being would have the same response upon arrival here at this time of year.

We're in the final stretch now at Cardrona, with less than a week to go until we close for skiing and riding until next year. The remaining resort staff is in high spirits, we've got ample snow to end on a great note, and though we're all ready to stay out of our boots for a while we are all still enjoying our remaining time up the hill. Thankfully, unlike the end of the season at home, we come down at the end of the work day to the valley floor, to the lake side, and to the banks of the river and get to immerse ourselves in all that spring has to offer. Thermals and ski boots and shorts and flip-flops in the same day, every day, is a pretty wonderful thing and is a normal part of my life here.

When there is no obvious end point of one ski turn and the beginning of the next one, when they move and flow from one into the next, it's a good sign. And right now, the same can be said for my seasons, as another Cardrona winter melds into a Wanaka spring in seamless fashion. And it's working for me. Big time.

The Albert Town Lagoon in Wanaka.