We've been living in Wanaka for a few months now and have settled in to working on a snow capped mountain at 1800m with ease. It took a few weeks to adjust to the early starts, but when you get to work in the mountains, meet people from all over the world and get the opporutnity to ski everyday its hard not to smile, even when you're up before the crack of dawn. .
Each morning sees us getting out of bed before the sun has risen and take the free staff transport to work. The first 14km is a smooth drive up the Cardrona valley road followed by a bumpy 16km spiral gravel road that snakes up the mountain side, which sometimes involves us getting out half way to fit snow chains. A day in the Ticket office follow a pretty regular pattern - count the float, set up your till and sell lift passes, ski lesson and rental gear until there are no more customers to sell to. Everyday is different of course, with customers, enquiries, the amount of people and who you are working with, but it's always good fun, stress free and enjoyable.
The day seems to fly by, with the mornings being the busiest. Working in the Ticket office, everyone is keen to get the first chair lift and ski the freshly groomed runs, and occasional soft fluffy powder. Rob always beats them to it though and gets to ski to his office before anyone else is on the slopes.
Rob's role is a lot more physical than it is back at home, mainly because he is working at Captains Cafe which is on the other side of the mountain, with the only access being by skidoo, groomer or by skiing. Everyday, Rob works with the Groomer team to make sure the day's cafe supplies arrive, then he ski's over with the rest of the staff to set up the cafe for the day. Depending on the conditions, this can involve skiing freshly groomed corduroy slopes, fluffy powder, or ice all in sunny, windy, or blizzard conditions!
We're well looked after by the resort, we get the benefit of free ski lessons (which we have both taken advantage of) Rob is now skiing black shutes and tearing up in the little bucks park, as well as discounts in local stores, activities and bars. As we're only here for a short time I decided I wanted to get a bit more out of just working in the ticket office so I've also been working in the Events Department. I recently got to work on NZ Free Ski open mingling with world champion skiers and will be involved in a few more events before the end of the season. It a glamorous life being given free North Face jackets, having breakfast delivered by skidoo and sipping coffee whilst the best skiiers in the world perform their best tricks beside me. However, the not so glamorous side involves getting picked up for work at 05:00am, putting up fencing in the dark and quickly mastering how to ski carrying 50 plastic poles in the dark!
Overall, Cardrona is an amazing place to work and we're lucky to have secured a job with one of the best ski fields in the area. We've met some brilliant people and It's definitely going to be back to work with a bump when we get back to our real jobs in the UK.
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