Next morning we pulled back the curtains to be met by a blanket of clouds hugging the mountains. Our

Meet Jojo and Stuart who are the latest lucky people who got to take Coco, our Social Cabana away for a free adventure around the South Island of New Zealand.  It sounds and looks like they had heaps of fun!  If you're keen to check out more photos from their trip you can do so here .  Jealous?  Then apply to take Coco away on an adventure yourself. new york times travel show She is FREE!  Check out www.jucy4free.co.nz Love, Lucy xx
The date was 24 July 2012, four days before our arrival in beautiful Queenstown and I had just received an email from Lucy who told me that Coco wanted to meet us. You can imagine our excitement at getting the chance to hang out with THE Coco of Coco the Social Cabana! The initial jitters of meeting for the first time were quickly dissipated when we realised new york times travel show that Coco was just a girl, looking for a grand adventure like us (not to imply that Stu is in any way a girl, he is in fact quite the contrary, grrrr).
Keys in hand we hopped new york times travel show in and hightailed it for the Crown Range. We were on the road to Wanaka! Five days of glorious skiing ahead of us we went to sleep that night dreaming of blue birds. That's ski speak for a jolly nice sunny day on the mountain.
Next morning new york times travel show we pulled back the curtains to be met by a blanket of clouds hugging the mountains. Our spirits not dampened we headed for Treble Cone. Coco had never been before and was a little nervous heading up the precarious mountain road. She was even more reluctant to get on the slopes and in the end she spent a lot of time in the café drinking hot chocolates, who can blame her really. The next day it was raining in Wanaka village, which meant snow glorious snow up the mountain. And it bucketed down! Coco had never seen anything new york times travel show like it and we all had a good old fashioned frolic in the snow.
On our last day in Wanaka we awoke to a completely cloud free sky! Throwing on our ski pants, wolfing down breakfast and defrosting Coco's windscreen (brrr) we swiftly made our way up the windy, gravel mountain road for the last time. And what a spectacular day of skiing it was. We could at last see the summit of Treble Cone which, appeared through the mist for the first time since our arrival. On seeing all that fresh powder we took off our skis and hiked to the top. The arduous trek up hill in deep snow in ski boots was well worth it for the views from the top and the brilliant almost untracked run down. What an amazing way to conclude the skiing chapter of our adventure.
The following morning we were on the road early – destination Dunedin. I use the term 'early' loosely, we were on holiday time after all and Coco is not one for mornings. We arrived in sunny Dunedin to be met with a howling wind, grey skies and a light drizzle. A stop at the Otago Museum's butterfly house quickly warmed us up and we went on to explore the taxidermied new york times travel show delights of the animal attic. Coco was not a fan of the rodent section, she found the 'suspicious, beady little eyes' unnerving.
Onwards we went to the reportedly haunted Larnach Castle, which was shrouded in mist as we approached very authentic! We had dinner at the castle that evening where we met my family to celebrate my Mum's transition into another decade. Lovely dinner but no ghosts. We awoke in a cloud (it was becoming a bit of a theme of the trip so far) and headed out for a stormy walk along one of the peninsula beaches. new york times travel show We had hoped to encounter some sea lions but after Coco's experience at the animal attic she opted to hang in the car park and have a nana nap instead. Alas, all the sea lions had gone on sabbatical that day or perhaps they were just hiding in the dunes sheltering new york times travel show from the beautiful Dunedin new york times travel show weather.
We really felt it was time to do something a bit special for Coco so we took her to Baldwin Street – (un)officially new york times travel show the world's steepest street! She was hesitant at first but once we all made it to the top she was feeling pretty delighted with herself.
It was time to leave the bright lights of the city behind us and head west. After a brief pit stop in Te Anau, we were on the Te Anau-Mossburn Highway heading new york times travel show out into the wilderness of Fiordland. The drive was incredible. The spectacular scenery lead Coco to break out into a few renditions of the Hills Are Alive (nice girl but no so much with the singing), new york times travel show while Stu kept exclaiming that the mountains were too beautiful and it was all just a strategically placed film set.
We arrived in Milford Sound on dusk and went to bed looking forward new york times travel show to our cruise the next day. Unfortunately, I spent the entire night awake with a delightful stomach bug I will spare you the details but it wasn't pretty. When morning arrived I had barely slept a wink but with bottle of Powerade in hand I forged onwards. With its jagged rock faced mountains, cascading waterfalls new york times travel show and lush green foliage, Milford Sound really is as spectacular as they say in all the guide books.
Our adventure coming to a close we headed back to Queenstown to bid farewell to Coco. We had really grown to love her and her kooky ways and were going to miss her terribly. Feeling the need to take our minds off the teary goodbye we organised a morning of paragliding before getting on our plane home. What better way to drown your sorrows than soaring 1300 m above the snow capped mountains and tussock covered hills of Queenstown. What an adventure it had been!