My Commute (August 15th, 2006)







I don't really have much to say here, I think the pictures pretty much sums it up. The 30 minute bus drive up to Coronet Peak is a great time to catch a few extra Z's (or Zeds, as they all say around here) before a full day on the mountain. One of my lodge mates was kind enough to catch me in this action shot.

Not much else to report, so how about a couple of short Queenstown stories. First off, the US Ski team is here training for the summer. There was even a Bode Miller sighting this morning who was (believe it or not) enjoying a morning beer before his training....

I'm really starting to miss Whole Foods and even Safeway. I could really go for a Whole Foods salad bar right about now. And the fruit selection down here is pathetic. I guess we're spoiled in the states but I don't think I should need to pay US $7.00 for a small bag of sickly looking grapes. But by far the saddest experience was on my first day, when I wandered the store looking for the world's best food combination, cottage cheese and apple sauce. I started looking for cottage cheese and to my surprise they actually sell it in pretty large containers. It's a little expensive, but it's a price I'd gladly pay for a little taste of home.

I happily headed over towards the canned fruits section, but couldn't find the apple sauce anywhere. I asked an attended and (much to my pleasure) they promised me that they do in fact have apple sauce and pointed me back to the same section. I made a second lap through the canned fruits, nothing. Finally I brought a second attendant over and they pointed out, in the top right corner, canned apple sauce in tuna fish sized cans! Selling for US $3! I'd need two of those for a single meal, which would make cottage cheese and apple sauce run about US $7 dollars a night...

And finally, speaking of childhood habits, when I was in elementary and junior high school my dad used to pack a lunch for me. However, to help save the Earth he forced me to reuse the same paper bag and plastic sandwich bags for an entire week! I absolutely hated bringing the same paper bag home with used, dirty plastic bags in it.

Fifteen years later, here I am carefully resealing my three plastic bags during lunch and stuffing them back into my jacket so I can use them again the next day. I'm not sure if I'm doing it out of habit, because I want to reduce waste, or because I just want to save a couple of dollars. But I'm sticking to it, so mission accomplished dad...

We're going heli-skiing tomorrow, everyone is starting to get giddy. Pictures and stories to come.