We got hold of Rene on his birthday and have joined him in Methven which is about 1.5hrs from Christchurch, and a nice comfortable drive in our new car!

Methven is the village at the bottom of Mount Hutt which is the main mountain to ski/snowboard close to Christchurch during the winter months. It's bloody cold here so we're chuffed to have our new coats and jeans to keep us warm! We had a few drinks with Rene for his birthday and have arranged to go up the mountain with him the next day to watch him take his first tumbles down the learner slope on a snowboard.

The road to get up the mountain wasn't the nicest experience, some of the time the edge was barely visible and there were no railings just incase you did decide to unknowingly teeter on the side. And then it started snowing so even less visibility.

Once at the top and the skies clearing the view from the top of mount Hutt is breath taking and far more impressive than some of the landscape views we've seen over the past 9 months. I never thought I'd be a snowy scenery appreciator but it's beautiful and doesn't tire to amaze me. Steve and I spent most of the day up the mountain admittedly near the warmth of an open log fire with hot chocolates and have decided to have a go at this snowboarding lark tomorrow, who would have thought it!!