Farruquitown / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

It’s time to get back outdoors and rediscover what makes New Zealand such a wonderful place to live. My family and I live in a city, and we have decided to make more of an effort to enjoy everything our country has to offer. That means more family trips to try new activities and pick up those that we haven’t done for many moons. In the summer, we’ll do mountain biking and a spot of surfing, but it is winter that really tickles our fancy. If you’re in a similar position, why don’t you read what we’ve got lined up so you can get inspired? Here is what we’re planning on getting up to:

Skiing

When I was in my youth I absolutely adored skiing. My parents took me to some of the more commercial areas such as The Remarkables and Coronet Peak. There are some brilliant facilities there so they’re perfect for beginners – I want my sons to learn here too before we take them to smaller clubs with a more social atmosphere. The benefit of the bigger ski resorts is that they do tend to have good snow grooming and plenty of places for dining. It’s worth noting that the ski season generally runs from June through to October, but you can enjoy Whakapapa at Christmas for summer skiing due to the higher altitude.

Snowboarding

My sons are more interested in snowboarding though, so I’ve promised to give it a go as long as they also learn how to ski. They’ve been doing some research of their own and they tell me that Ohau and Wanaka are the top areas for this sport, so it looks like we’ll be having a couple of trips there throughout the season. I think I should probably start looking for some padded winter coats to protect us from the falls that we will inevitably get when heading down the slopes!

Snowshoeing

There’s plenty to explore on the mountains without flying straight down them though. We’ve been reading about winter mountaineering and are incredibly taken with the idea of hiking with snowshoes on. You can combine this type of trip with cross country skiing and ice skating over natural frozen lakes, which is sure to get you right back in touch with nature. We’re looking at Lake Tekapo but there are other areas where you can get involved with activities such as these.

Enjoy geothermal attractions

Once we are exhausted from all of the intense activities, we might spend a couple of days relaxing at one of New Zealand’s premier geothermal attractions. The boys can stay entertained by snow tubing, whilst I lounge about in the hot pools before getting a couple of beauty treatments. Mum is allowed some time off after all. This can be combined into the same trip as your alpine adventure as there is a hot spring at Lake Tekapo. They have everything there from an ice rink to people who can give you an eyebrow shape and tint. It sounds perfect!