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New Zealand Update: God's Suitcase
By Pete Vordenberg
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\r\nThe smog is orange in the Los Angels twilight and the hills surrounding the city are black God’s Suitcase
\r\nand the lights below are just starting to come on. It is almost night and we have just started our travels to New Zealand. The city rolls under the plane for a long, long time before we descend into it.
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\r\nEven crossing the Atlantic does not give me the same feeling of insignificance as seeing L.A. by night. All the buildings and the miles of people scurrying around. The red tale lights stacked along the freeway and the bright white ones stacked just as close on the opposite side of the median. I am the size of an ant. I am one insect in a colony spread across the whole back yard, one colony in one yard, in one town, in one state… The Pacific Ocean may contain ghosts from thousands years of sea travel, and it may be large enough to conceal creatures we have never seen, and possibly an entire lost continent, but
\r\nL.A. and its sea of inhabitance makes me feel even smaller.
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A view of the Southern Alps from the plane as we flew into Queenstown, NZ. Our trip consisted of a two hour flight to LA from Salt Lake, followed by a lengthy layover (during which seven of us had to be as polite as possible to avoid $250. jaywalking tickets) and then a thirteen hour flight to Auckland. From Auckland, we had an easy two hours more flying time down to Queenstown.
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\r\nTaking off from L.A. offers its own realization. We may fly, we may set sail, but we are bound to land. At water’s edge the lights end abruptly and we are in pursuit of the sun across a wide body of blue. Time for sleeping aids.
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\r\nFlying south from Auckland to Queenstown is the highlight of the trip. These high mountains and deep valleys and green hills and white beaches and these ice-blue rivers all crowded onto a small country… New Zealand is the world packed into a single carryon suitcase. It is how God would pack if she were going on a long trip in a small car and wanted to bring a reminder of the earth’s best parts.
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\r\nThe Snow Farm sent a little pickup with a small trailer to get us and our massive amount of ski gear. We loaded it up, weighed it down and set off up the steep climbs from Queenstown to Snow Farm.
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\r\nIn spite of the muddy and snowy drive we made it and wasted no time unpacking and going skiing.
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Loading up part of the crew outside the airport. The Waiorau Snowfarm (our final destination) is a one hour drive from the airport on some of the gnarliest road imaginable.
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\r\nNew Zealand is having its best winter in five years, and it is still snowing. There are trails groomed this year we have never skied before. It has been overcast and snowy - true winter conditions and all of a sudden there is sun over-head, a break in the clouds. I have no more time to write. I am going out. This is what we are here for. Skiing.
\r\nCheck in later for more from New Zealand.
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Dave Chamberlain enjoying some perfect skiing!
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Written By: petevDate Posted: 8/8/2004Number of Views: 367
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