Birthday fun: Part Three - Snow and pizza

After our balloon flight, we warmed up back at our hostel with a bowl of hot chilli. Amy then thrust a giant birthday card into my hands, featuring a picture of a very cute Syrian hamster holding a birthday cake - full of birthday greetings from friends back in London.

We headed up to Coronet Peak for an evening of sunset/night time snowboarding where we both managed a few exhilarating rides down from the very top of peak - an achievement that was particularly pleasing as that was our big target from the start. Then, we headed into town for a late dinner of pizza, beer, wine, sambucca and drunken dancing. We treated Queenstown to our singing as we walked home in the tiny hours and finally collapsed into bed.

Amy's hard work for my special day made me realise that obviously, I'll have as much fun in my 30s as my 20s and that after all, it is just a number.

There's no business like snow business

One of the main reasons for our visit to New Zealand were the mountains. Particularly the snowy mountains, which when combined with a snowboard, a willingness to take a few knocks and bumps and some very warm clothing, make for great fun.

We've had about five days and nights on the slopes at two different ski resorts: Coronet Peak and Cardrona. These sites were witness to plenty of exhilarating cries of 'weeeeee!" as well as some less-exhilarating and painful expletives.

Conditions ranged from delightfully sunny (we both have pink noses) with thick powder snow through to freezing blizzards with hard ice, zero visibility and strong winds. But when it was clear, we were treated to stunning clear views of surrounding mountains.

We went from being beginners through to being able to whizz down both Green (beginner) and Blue (intermediate) slopes (some of these colours from the slope coding system must have rubbed off on us as we've ended up with green and blue bits all over our thighs). But, by the end of our final night, we had both managed to ride all the way from the top of the mountain without killing ourselves or those around us.