couch surfing queenstown

couch surfing 1/1! i flew from wellington to queenstown on thursday for a 2 night stopover before heading west over to the sounds. as i had been to queenstown before and wasn't planning on any of the touristy agenda items, i decided to give couch surfing a try, in the hope of getting a bit of a local view/meeting people. www.couchsurfing.org is an online network of couch surfers and couch hosts and i had heard some success stories from other travelers. there is no exchange, it is literally nice folks who like to meet people and can offer a free place to stay (be it a couch, spare bedroom, floor, etc.). i contacted a few folks and ended up with josh, a 33 year-old bungy instructor, and his 4 roommates in downtown queenstown. it was GREAT. josh and the roommies were all really welcoming and relaxed, he cooked dinner both nights and we hung out at the frankton spa all day on friday. i slept on the couch but it was comfy (and i know couches) and in all a great way to save a few dollars.

in other news, the weather is currently quite chaotic (more so than even "normal" new zealand weather): http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/7951028/massive-storm-to-hit-new-zealand/
while in queenstown it snowed from thursday evening all the way through saturday morning, leaving about an inch of snow on the ground in downtown queenstown (which is rare). wellington is getting a gale and here in te anau it is alternating between rain, snow and sun within ever hour (it's actually pretty cool).