Where the locals go

“Sometimes in New Zealand the differences between us and them become much greater than a few murky vowel sounds and divided rugby and cricket loyalties,” The Australian’s Nicole Jeffery writes. Driving SUVs in snow country is one of them, Jeffery says. “As we creep cautiously up an unpaved, non-guardrailed road full of hairpin bends (of the sort that lead to most New Zealand ski resorts), we are repeatedly overtaken by locals, zipping along roads as if they were entrants for the Monaco grand prix. If there were dust, rather than slush, we would be eating it.” Jeffery goes on to describe a number “of winter playgrounds [between Queenstown and Wanaka] offering some of the best skiing and variety in the southern hemisphere.”