Is it summer yet?

So, the wonderful residents of Queenstown keep promising me that summer is coming soon and telling me that the snow in the mountains every other day is unusual for this time of year; I'm not sure I believe them anymore. Even though my plan for two summers in a row hasn't quite panned out, I have found enough to do around the area and work has been keeping me busy. Last week 8 of us got together and arranged a free jetboating trip with a trainee driver. While I was a bit apprehensive about his skills, it ended up being an amazing trip and was so much fun to do with all of my friends. On Halloween I attended a pool tournament that a neighbor was playing in; it was a good night and I even won a game of pool (totally luck and not skill) but it made me sad that nobody here dresses up. I also got a bonus holiday and spent New Zealand's Labour Day at Lake Hayes with my flatmates; although with this missing summer it was a bit cold for swimming. Yesterday I decided I should do some tramping to prepare myself for next month and hiked Ben Lomond which is the largest mountain in the Queenstown area. It was a really good work out but the views at the top made it all worthwhile; I felt like I was at the top of the world! The pictures above are of views from Ben Lomond and I had to put one of the redheads (we are always in the majority in our group of friends, very strange).