Queenstown Diary

A tour miscellany

Snows herald: Winter frolics

THE SNOWS have just begun to arrive and, never shy of an excuse to throw a party, the 10-day Winter Festival begins on Friday with a fireworks display. The fairly cosmopolitan 20,000 or so local population will be swelled by another 45,000 during the peak of the winter season, the majority of them Australians looking for some skiing.

Testing times: Rain to mar final game

BAD TIMING. The day before the Winter Festival, the Irish squad move on to Hamilton tomorrow, trading sunshine for rain, and although Friday’s forecast is better on the North Island than the South, alas the long-range forecast for Saturday suggests buckets of rain for the 17th and final Test of a 51-week season.

The All Blacks were able to train outdoors yesterday, with Keven Mealamu taking a full part.

There have been calls for the local hero, Liam Messam (right) , to be pitched in at number eight if Kieran Read is ruled out, but judging by television cameras at the session, the otherwise inactive Read appeared to be giving Richie McCaw a few tips about playing at the base of the scrum – where McCaw played for the second half last Saturday.

30cm nearer: But no closer

ONE OF the local Queenstown residents was flying home from a holiday in Bolivia and Peru (partly to trace the path of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) and informed us the Christchurch earthquakes tilted the Southern Island 30 centimetres toward Australia. “But the bastards wouldn’t reduce the air fares to Aussie.”

Daredevil day: Healy leads the pack

IN A country of adrenaline junkies, Queenstown is, of course, the adventure capital and so, given their knowledge of the town from the World Cup, there were ample “combos” or individual activities for the Irish squad to avail of on their down day. Some opted for the helicopter ride through the Southern Alps mountain range which lands on a glacier. Skiing was an option too, but only for some of the management. Too risky for the players.

Bungee jumping isn’t, though, and here there were the predictable suspects/lunatics, namely Cian Healy and Jamie Heaslip, as well as Ronan Loughney. The shotover jet (see above, great craic, it has to be said) was a popular one, with Mike McCarthy, Brett Wilkinson, Chris Henry, Kevin McLaughlin and Darren Cave.

Many opted for a round of golf in Michael Hills. “Chilly but beautiful,” tweeted Brian O’Driscoll, whose team (“Rob Kearney, Seán O’Brien and moi”) appear to have won, judging by the four $ signs which he followed up with.

Donncha O’Callaghan belongs more to the Ronan “I could be in Cork” O’Gara school, though not ostensibly because it is match week. “No amount of money, nothing, would get me up there,” he says of bungee jumping.

“And I don’t play golf.”