We said good-bye USA one year ago today

This has been the most whirlwind year. It feels both longer and shorter than a regular, 365-day year. An old friend chatting with Doug on the phone last weekend asked if he could roll back the clock to one year ago, would he do it again, would he still quit work and move across the world to New Zealand?

This evening at dinner all four of us pondered this question. We agreed that there are things, especially our family and friends, that we miss. There are also some things each of us would have done differently. However, given the choice, we all agreed we would still choose to move.

In case you're wondering, we're as settled as we're ever going to be and are ready for visitors. Hint, hint... Each season has been amazing. The time to visit just depends on what you want to do and see.

The Aros' Visit - Day 5

By Liam



All of us got ready fast that morning because we were not driving to the mountain to go Heli Skiing but the Heli Ski Company was driving us. We all had just finished getting ready when the van pulled up in front of our door.

The whole drive was spent gazing up at the mountains we would be skiing on. We headed out to Glenorky, a town at the end of the lake surrounded by towering mountains. We stopped at the Glenorky airport, a field and a small Ski Dive shack.

Before the helicopter arrived we had a quick safety briefing and put on our little things so if we got in the avalanche we could be found.

Soon the small speck of a helicopter appeared on the horizon getting closer by the second. We split into two groups, the Aro family and the Kirkpatrick family, each with a guide, and decided the Aros would be first to go up the mountain. We all huddled around our group’s backpack as the helicopter roared in. The wind whipped around our faces and into every open space (including your mouth if you opened it).

The operation of boarding the helicopter went fast because all the Aros had to do was get on while the guide loaded the skis.

After dropping off the Aros, the helicopter came back to pick us up and blades whirling, landed right in front of us. We loaded just as fast as the Aros and soon we were off. Mom, the driver and I were in the front with Pop, Colin and the guide in the back.

Getting off was easy. All we had to do was crawl out of the helicopter while the guide got our skis. We all crouched in the snow until the helicopter left. I would like to note the pilot did not stop the blades for take off or landing, we just got in and out with them spinning.

I was expecting deep powder but I did not expect it as deep as it was. It was like 2-3 feet deep. The hardest part was not letting your ski tips get stuck under the powder. If you did (which I did many times) you would flip over in the snow.

The runs where long and we got to do four of them, which I thought was pretty cool. The first run seemed to take the longest because I was still getting used to it.

As we pulled up at the bottom the helicopter emerged into sight, whirling up clouds of snow. Since it was our second time boarding it was easier than the last. This time, Colin and Pop rode in the front with the driver.

Once again we landed on a ridge, but on a different run as to get fresher snow. At the end of this run we went down a ridge about 15 feet wide. If you were to go off the ridge you would fall off a cliff. Yikes!

The third run got quite icy at the end, which I did not expect at all. On this run we went down as far as we could, to where the grass started.

Going up to do our fourth and last run I realized how hungry I was, though I was able to comfort myself with the fact we would be eating lunch at the end of the run.

On the run I took a pretty bad fall. My ski got caught under the snow and I pulled a summersault. It would have not been so bad but when my ski went under it got caught and the summersault made my ankle go into a painful position.

The lunch was good. We got to have soup, sandwiches, tiny-pies and dessert! Mind you, this is on a mountain in the middle of nowhere.

The Aros did two more runs while we (the Kirkpatricks) went down to the van.

After the Aros had finished their two runs and we were halfway home, Mom told us when we got home we would have to hurry and get ready to go out to dinner. And then to Colin and JP she added no monopoly.

That night I was so tired at dinner I can hardly remember it.

The Aro Family’s Visit in Queenstown with us, continued again and again

By Liam

Day 4



The next day Colin and JP woke up early, as always but this time before long Gracie and I joined them.

Colin was obnoxiously eager to get on with the day because we had waited for JP’s visit to do his special birthday activity. We were going jetboating and Colin knew it, which explained why he was excited.

After a quick breakfast we started of to Glenorky, where the jetboat was to depart from.

We lucked out and were able to get one whole jetboat to ourselves, though we had to wait while a Japanese tour-group left!

Before I knew what was happening we had boarded the jetboat and were slowly chugging out into the lake. After some crazy spins our jetboat diver turned around and sped off towards the Dart River.

We zoomed up narrow passages, around tight corners and under low-hanging trees, all the while the driver talking about the jetboat that had run aground the other day or something in the same idea.

The drive was a scenic three hours (which I knew) and when the driver stopped and said we could go no further I said “It can’t have been one and a half hours already!” His reply was “it has”. Colin, Gracie, JP and I all let out disappointed moans. Nooooooooooooo!

On the drive back we stopped for a quick walk up the river. Going up the river we saw a couple trout, and big one’s too!

As we spun around a large bend after boarding the jetboat again and I realized we were back on the lake with the dock getting closer by the second. As we approached the driver pulled a last couple spins and then pulled up at the dock.

We said, "Thank You" to the driver and then made our way through the tiny town to our car. We had decided to eat dinner at “The Cow” in Queenstown, which meant a 40-minute drive.

All of us ordered pizza and soon we where all falling off to sleep at the table in the restaurant. As soon as we got home we went to bed all with one thought on our mind, the next day we were going Heli Skiing!!!

A Kiwi Father’s Day

Did you know that it is father’s day here in N.Z.?
Well it is, so I am writing this Blog for Pop.

I learnt this vital information just yesterday.

Right now He is up on the Ski field, taking Colin to Q.A.S.T. I don’t think he knows it is his special day so I want him too.

I just wanted to let him know how much I love him and that I think of him when he is not with me.

So anyway, Happy Father’s Day Pop!

The Aros Visit continued again

by Liam

Day 3

I woke up that morning in a silent house, but just to make sure I no one was awake I crept into the playroom and sure enough Colin and JP were half way through a monopoly game, which meant they had been up a while. Colin has amazing luck in Monopoly and had to play easy on JP in their game because he was winning by so much.

They were so into their game they did not hear me so I said “Good Morning.” Both of them jumped up and ran off to Gracie’s quarters screeching, “Now we can wake her up!” Poor Gracie!

A couple of seconds later a happy JP And Colin marched out of Gracie’s room, followed by a tired looking Gracie. I could tell I had a crazy week ahead of me, a really crazy week.

Suddenly the loud thump of someone coming down the stairs disturbed my thoughts. The person coming down the stairs turned out to be Mom coming to wake us up.

“Coronet Peak today,” She reminded us. Coronet Peak is the main ski mountain for Queenstown and it is the one that Q.A.S.T. operates on. It was Monday so we were missing school but then again, school skiing is on Monday so all I missed was a 2-hour ski lesson and Colin missed a day with Q.A.S.T. which he gets millions of so it wasn’t that bad.

I was amazed at how long it took to get ready for the day and in the car. One thing was for sure; it was faster than the previous day.

The drive to Coronet was much faster than going to Treble Cone. In less than and hour Mom, Gracie and I were (the rest of the crowd was at home and Mom had to help with the school skiing which meant getting up early) on the mountain, skis on.

Gracie and I followed Mom and her little group of school skiing kids around a while before going off on own. It was fun getting to show someone around instead of getting shown around by my friends. Coronet Peak is a small mountain and it is safe to ski there without an adult.

Before long the other car reached the mountain and we got a ring on the walky-talky.

Since the Aros (minus Gracie plus Colin) had not skied yet we started with a warm-up run.

On the chair I asked Colin what he did with JP. As I was guessing his replied was “Monopoly.”

Straight afterwards we took a run down Back-Bowls; the hardest run on the mountain that is not that hard. Coronet is easy compared to the ski fields in Colorado.

Mom and Wendy left early while the boys, plus Gracie sped around catching a last couple runs. Before long we too decided to leave.

That night 0% of the kids wanted to go to bed but when we finally did, we fell asleep in seconds.

The Aros Visit continued

by Liam

Day 2



The creaking of my door awakened me that morning. It was Mom, waking me up. I asked her what time it was. Her reply was 5:30 AM! Then I remembered that we were going to Treble Cone (a ski mountain in Wanaka). The drive was about two hours and we had to be there at nine so that was why we were up so early.

We all were rushing around like madmen that morning, trying to be ready in time, which we did, but just barely. I went in the boys’ car with Ed, Pop, Colin, JP and myself. In the girls’ car there was Mom, Wendy and Gracie.

To get to Treble Cone we had to go on extremely curvy roads (most roads in N.Z. are curvy) so by the end of the drive both Gracie and I where rather green.

Colin’s Q.A.S.T. group had only 2 people that day including Colin and we are good friends with Colin’s instructor, Natalie, so JP, Gracie and I got to take free lessons with her for the day.

We did a couple of warm-up runs before inspection time. Inspection is where you get to go over the course slowly, to see hard turns, icy bits, fast corners, etc.

After inspection we got one more run in. We pretended we were going through the gates, red gate, blue gate, red gate, blue gate, red gate, blue gate.

Going up the chair I realized it was finally time to race! We would get two goes, and the time from both goes would be added together to make our final time. I would guess there were about 40 racers, 5 in each category.

As we pulled up to the racecourse a voice yelled “Colin Kirkpatrick you are next up. Colin?”

Soon Colin was swishing down the course, going between the gates, tucking when he could.

JP’s turn was not long after Colin’s. I thought my turn would be close to his but it wasn’t. After waiting a couple of years it was my turn.

Standing in the starting gate is a tense thing. I learnt in all the many races that it is important to go fast when going through the gate. On this certain course I leant that you shouldn’t go to fast out of the gate because I slid off the course and had to lose a lot of speed to get back on. There was a really fast turn in the course so I could gain a lot of speed back on it. The end of the course was flat and straight so it was necessary and possible to tuck on it.

I finished my first run with 39 seconds. By the time I reached the bottom of the course, Colin, JP and I where all starving but we still had to wait for Gracie to do her run. After a decade or what seemed like one, Gracie reached the bottom. Between Gracie and I there must have been 11 racers.

Before you could say “abracadabra,” all four of us where sitting at a table with energy bars in our mouths. We each managed to have a cup of water and an energy bar before we had to go to the racecourse for our second run.

I forgot to say, from the beginning of the race onwards we all had our jackets off to go faster when racing and the jerseys were too tight over our jackets so we were cold.

Within a couple of minutes I was in the starting gate again. This time I knew about the hard first turn so I was able to go faster on that and I knew that the course would be icier. Also I was able to get into a better tuck at the end. With all the things that were easier I was able to cut I second off my score and complete the course in 38 seconds!

Our results for the race where all not that good, Colin did the best of us for his age group.

The drive home and dinner that night was fairly uneventful except for the fact we went out to dinner.

The Aro Family’s Visit In Queenstown With Us

by Liam

Day 1

My eyes cracked open to see sunlight streaming in from my window. I have to go to school today I thought, my mind only half awake. Then suddenly I remembered, it was Saturday and the Aro Family was arriving in Queenstown to spend a week with us.

The Aro family was on our list of our close friends in the states. We became friends when Colin met JP, the youngest Aro, in their first year of preschool. Then Ed, JP’s dad started a soccer team with Pop (my Dad). We all went to the same school, The Logan School, and my last year there I was in the same class as JP. Also Mom taught Gracie at Logan one year.

The morning passed slowly, partly because I could not wait to see JP and partly because Colin was at Q.A.S.T. (Queenstown Alpine Ski Team). I spent the day helping Mom get ready for their arrival and playing in our basement.

Finally the time came for us to leave. Yippy! The fifteen-minute drive into Queenstown seemed to take fifteen hours. When we pulled up at the school, our meeting place, Mom announced that we were 3 minutes late, pretty good for us.

We knew their car had a ski-rack on top, so with a quick glance around we could tell they weren’t there. Seconds later I spotted a car with ski-racks driving toward the school. Yesss, I thought, it’s them! But then the most disappointing thing happened; the car drove past the school. As it drove past us, I looked in and I could tell, for sure, that it was not them.

After waiting what seemed like a decade, a car with ski-racks pulled up. Wendy, JP’s and Gracie’s Mom, waved at me from the front seat of the car. At last they were here!

As soon as the car pulled to a stop JP jumped out, and ran over to me, all happy and excited. After JP and I said hi, JP’s first question was, “Where’s Colin?” I told him Colin was skiing and pointed out the mountain he was on.

The first thing we did was walk up to Café 111 and ordered lunch. 111 here is the equivalent to 911 in the U.S. Since they had all day breakfast almost every one had a second breakfast.

After a brief lunch we went to rent skis for the Aro family. That went fast too and before I knew it we were driving home.

When we arrived home we took all of JP’s and Gracie’s stuff downstairs. Gracie would sleep in my room, Colin and JP would share Colin’s room and I would take Mom’s meditation room. Soon Colin got home and joined us downstairs.

Dinnertime came before long and soon all eight of us were huddled around the dinner table eating soup.

It was sad when dinner ended and we had to go to bed. We tried to get in another 15 minutes playing but all efforts failed. As I lay in my bed drifting of to sleep, I could hear JP and Colin saying last good nights to each other and I could hear the cat, Ollie, enjoying the mess in the playroom. He can be so loud, but I was so tired I fell asleep anyway.