NEW ZEALAND GAY SKI WEEK

When New Zealander Tom Voschezang read about DNA’s competition to win a trip for two to Gay Ski Week in Queenstown, he figured it would be a great way to catch up with his Aussie friend, Kyle Maes. Luckily for Tom and Kyle, they won. (Much carousing and very little skiing ensued!)

DAY 1: HELLO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

Today, the gays descended upon the adventure capital of the world! Flying into Queenstown was spectacular with snow-capped, rugged peaks and a cute little town nestled inside. After collecting the maximum duty-free allowed, we travelled into town and arrived at the gorgeous Dairy Private Luxury Hotel, with everything you could possible need on a holiday. After settling into our room, we went for a quick stroll through town and met up with Gay Ski Week organisers Sally and Mandy (they’re married and have just had a son!) to collect our tickets for the week ahead. It was already time for the More FM opening party at Barmuda where we received flutes of Veuve, which went down much too easily. Then we caught up with all the beautiful people who’d travelled here from all over the world. Many drinks ensued, new friends were made, and we were all pretty pumped for the adventures ahead. The night became a bit fuzzy but, rest assured, we had an awesome time – the photos and sore heads told us so.

DAY 2: THRILLS, SPILLS, BURGERS!

The breakfast, cooked with love by The Dairy’s Matt and Paul, was one of the best breakfasts we’d ever had! We wanted to try everything, but as we had all week I satisfied myself with croissants and buttermilk pancakes – I was on holiday! Today, we wandered through the stunning Queenstown Botanical Gardens. The track took us around a peninsula with uninterrupted views across a perfectly still Lake Wakatipu. Selfies with boyfriend were posted on Facebook and to make our friends at home jealous.

Time for the short bus ride to the famous high-speed Shotover Jet boat ride. Decked out in flattering spray jackets and lifejackets, we jumped into the boat and were taken for an extremely fast and exhilarating ride through the canyons of Shotover River. All that power between our legs, you’d be crazy to not get excited! The ride was full of twists, 360s, near canyon misses and a lot of cold spray to the face. Definitely a thrill!

Back in town, we bumped into some of our new friends and decided to go for a glass of wine – which turned into a few bottles. Before we knew it, it was time for La Cage Aux Folles. The performances were flawless, the wine was flowing and everyone around our table was having the best time. Definitely a top highlight of the week. We stumbled out and hit up Queenstown’s legendary Fergburger, a 21-hours-a-day burger kiosk. Nothing has ever tasted so good!

DAY 3: BINGAY AND COCKTAILS

We struggled out of bed to try and force down some food. Because it was so late we decided to just take it easy and arrange our ski gear for our first day up the mountain. Such an easy process and the staff at Brown’s Ski Shop

were super helpful. Tonight will be Bingay (gay bingo!) which, we were secretly excited about. A group of us arrived to a packed house. The bar was heaving so there was only one thing to do – more cocktails! Collecting our bingo cards, the competitive spirit came out, a few choice swear words were uttered when someone won, tensions were high, and then… none of our group won. Oh well, that was easily fixed with a stiff vodka soda. Later, we minced over to the late night bar, No. 5 Church Lane, for Veuve cocktails, funky beats and a good crew. Although we all wanted to get our crazy on, we had to get up at 6am to catch the bus up to Cardrona ski field.

DAY 4: PERFECT RUNS

Rise and shine! After a quickly eaten breakfast we made our way to the bus stop for the early ride up the mountain. It was a perfect sunny day with no wind, no lines for the lifts and really good powder. We headed up the magic carpet run first – it was Kyle’s first time after all, and I was unsure how I would handle skiing since it had been a few years. We both fell over on our first run, much to the delight of the other. Kyle had a lesson booked, so I headed up the chairlift and got my groove back. I manage a heap of runs – it was so quiet up there and conditions were perfect! We met up for lunch and then it was time to test Kyle’s confidence and take him down a proper run. After making it down in one piece, we made it down a few more times. The Cardrona Hotel was our first stop afterward for a much deserved congratulatory drink.

DAY 5: GAMBLING ON ICE!

The temperature dropped overnight and, with it, buckets of snow! The town was beautiful with the snow falling and the hills blanketed in white. Kyle had never seen snowfall so, needless to say, he was excited. Since the weather wasn’t crash hot, a group of us decided to go ice skating – totally not gay at all. We tried our skills at speed skating, figure skating and just trying to not fall over… not very successfully on the first two. Afterwards, we wandered into town and enjoyed delicious pizza and wine in front of the fire at the local pizza bar, Winnies.

After a spot of pool, it was time to get ready for the Broken Shed’s Casino Royale night up at the Skyline. We rode the gondola, enjoying a glass of bubbles on the way up through the snow, looking out over the lights of Queenstown below. Everyone received fake money to gamble with and, after an amazing buffet, we settled into a night of gambling it all away, which, for me, happened very early on! Later, we ended up at Winnies again, turning it into a gay bar. The night was very late, tossing back Skittle shots – vodka shots that taste like Skittles. Lethal!

DAY 6: WINE TASTING AND KARAOKE

Obviously, today was going to be a quiet one. After such a massive night, we weren’t up for much. We had arranged for a winery tour and lunch at Gibbston Valley Wines, a short drive away. A lovely host took us into the wine cave and explained the special wine growing conditions and processes of this award-winning vineyard. We were then treated to a tasting of all of their white and red wines. Needless to say, they were all absolutely divine.

We then took a little drive through the Kawarau Gorge and had a look at some of the historic mining villages. Tonight was Karaoke night at Skycity Casino, hosted by Auckland drag star, Miss Ribena. There were some good singers… and many not so good. We didn’t stay long, but heard some Karaoke included back-up dancers. Queenstown wasn’t prepared for that!

DAY 7: PARTY ON THE LAKE

We spent the day playing mini-golf with friends, eating before an open fire and wandering the town. Tonight was the Queens On The Lake party on the TSS Earnslaw (a 1912 steamboat: think Titanic, just a lot smaller). The party was pumping on all levels of the boat, vodka and Veuve were flowing and everybody was amping for a good night. Mandy and Sally were in fine form on the home stretch and there were photos and hugs galore as everybody wanted a piece of these two amazing organisers. After a few hours of grooving to awesome tunes spun by Melbourne’s DJ Haylenise, we ended up back at Winnie’s for more of those delicious but dangerous Skittle shots!

DAY 8: GONDOLAS, TOBOGGANS, SNOWBALLS

No! The final full day of Gay Ski Week has suddenly arrived! Wandering the weekly markets, filled with local artwork, trinkets and souvenirs, who’d we bump into but the gorgeous Sally and her adorable son! The usual “what happened to you last night” conversation proved that Sally, despite being a mother, can out-party the best of the gays.

We then headed back up the Skyline gondola to enjoy luge rides (toboggans on wheels) and maybe, just maybe, do a bungy jump. The luge brought out the boys in all of us as we got very competitive trying to beat each other to the bottom, slamming into friends if need be. After dodging snowballs (one of us not so well), we made it down the advanced track and headed to AJ Hackett’s Ledge Bungy, 400 metres above Queenstown. It’s a running harness jump. You run off the ledge into nothingness – scary but exhilarating stuff ! Four of our new friends took the plunge and there were some pretty interesting styles – and many gay screams!

Finally, it was time for the boys to dress up (in our case, the standard gay uniform – singlet and shorts) for the closing event, Gaydar’s Heaven And Hell dance party. It was sold out with people begging Sally for tickets! And it was a night to remember. Sydney DJ Adam Love was incredible, and we all danced the night away!

THE SAD FAREWELLS

Time for our sore heads to check out and say goodbye to amazing new friends. There were a few bleary eyes at the airport, but we all managed to catch our flights! This was one of the best Ski Weeks I’ve ever been to and we will definitely be back for more. A huge thank you to Sally and Mandy for putting on such a memorable, fun event! Also, thank you to DNA magazine for this trip. We had the best time away together and it was a highlight of our year.

more: For all the latest on Gay Ski Week, Queenstown 2014 go to gayskiweekqt.com

more: For Queenstown accommodation, we suggest The Dairy Private Luxury Hotel thedairy.co.nz