This was published 2 years ago
New Zealand travel bubble: Australians 'stranded' working in ski towns are loving it
By Jim Darby
Australians who remained at New Zealand's ski fields after the travel bubble burst are making the most of it.Credit: Tourism New Zealand
Travel across the Tasman might be on hold until mid-September at least, but Australians working in the New Zealand snowfields don't seem to be overly worried about the trap they find themselves in.
Having moved to Queenstown for the snow season, snowboard instructor Tim Cousins, 29, from Maroubra in Sydney, says he doesn't really have a sense of isolation, or of being cut off from home.
"I think most of the others who've come over would feel the same. We all came with the vague idea that we'd be here until at least late October. That feeling may come into it later on, if people did want to go back [to Australia].
'You would think business would be down but it's not,' says Luke Holmes, who works at Cardrona and Treble Cone, Wanaka.
"Most people are here to snowboard so if they take away that part, and you can't get back home, that feeling may creep in. But there's so many people here doing what they want to do."
Australians usually make up about 40 per cent of the winter business at the Queenstown snowfields and 30 per cent in Wanaka, but that's just on the mountains - they're also spending money in town for their accommodation, at bars and restaurants and buying supplies at the local shops.
This is Cousins' first season working at The Remarkables snowfield near Queenstown. While it was busy during the New Zealand and Australian school holidays in July when Australians could still travel, he says it's now quieter on the mountain and around town, apart from weekends.
'I definitely want to ride.' Tim Cousins is making the most of his season working at The Remarkables, Queenstown.
But for him that means more time on snow riding his board. "It's a lose and win kind of thing – how much work do I need to survive versus how much time do I want to ride? And I definitely want to ride."
Luke Holmes works for Cardrona and Treble Cone snowfields, near Wanaka, and says the Kiwis have taken up the slack when it comes to visitor numbers.
"You would think business would be down but it's not. We broke the record for capacity on the mountain [at Cardrona] a couple of weeks ago during the NZ school holidays."
Holmes looks after the advertising and digital content for the two snowfields and spends his working days up on one or other mountains and many of his days off riding his snowboard there.
In career and lifestyle terms, Holmes is exactly where he wants to be. He started his job in May and had no plans to be back in Australia any time soon, but there's still an impact from isolation – his close friends from his home town, Perth, can't visit as planned this month and he's worried he won't be able to share his 30th birthday celebrations with family later in the year.
Despite the New Zealand border closures, Holmes says there's still a "giant mix of people here in Wanaka. Young and old and from different countries. I haven't heard an Australian accent in a while but I've heard five or six other different ones.
"Somehow they've all made it over here – it really feels like an international ski resort town, just a little bit more laid back really."
Back in Queenstown, Tim Cousins arrived in June for his induction and while he's still getting to know his new home town, he says "the vibe's still good, NZSki where I work are pretty positive and run different team events and staff parties – things to keep people active and doing stuff socially."
He also likes the variety of a town that is known as its nation's adventure capital. "There's so many other things to do here, it's more 'outdoorsy' ... you've got rock climbing, mountain climbing, kayaking, trekking, canyoning, paragliding and then all the snow sports."
He says the only negative living in Queenstown and working at The Remarkables is the commuting – on the staff bus at around 7am, arriving on the mountain a bit after 8am and starting work at nine or 10. Whereas when he worked at Falls Creek in Victoria and lived on the mountain, "you could get up and be brushing your teeth as you're going to the lift-line.
"So the only negative would be the commute and that's just the way it is; the vibe in Queenstown is really cool and all the people are really friendly and nice, I've met a lot of really good people."
Meanwhile, the Australian snowfields are frustratingly out of reach for Victorians and many in NSW and beyond, but in the Snowy Mountains, the official Spencers Creek measuring station was showing a snow depth of 183.6 centimetres at the end of July. That's the most snow leading into August since 2000. It could be a good spring on the slopes.
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