2017

we have added Face book as our up to date news page enabling us to post photo's and news quickly. go to smylies accommodation   for hostel news or smylies_tours for trips and tour photo's

Autumn

May 24th  it is getting colder,ski sale on this weekend and busy cleaning the garden for the winter, Erika coming back from france on sun,package prices are out for Porters ,come and relax at smylies in the japanese bath after an active day skiing.

Summer 2013

jan 2013  a happy new year to all readers, it has been a mixed bag of weather for the summer from extreme temps in the 30's to snow on the mountains on the 17th, Toshi is enjoying the japanese winter in Hokaido and we look forward to having him back at Smylies coming winter ,the gardens had a hard time with the winter and are coming back slowly ,small projects are completed to enhance the gardens and the fruit trees and berry are looking great.

Winter 2012,

June13 it has snowed 60 pluscm in springfield and more on the mountains ,Porters has some good photo's up on facebook.the Smylies mountain shuttle is ready to go to Porters,Broken River,Craigieburn or Mt cheeseman when they open up .

May10, it has been a while but the new 2nd edition is now online again and editable ,smylies is hoping to celebrate a delayed 25 years this year in August .

Our family had it's first family holiday since 2007 so a welcome break was had by us all in Malaysia and Vietnam, thanks to John and Roelly for holding the fort, looking forward now to the winter as summer was not very exciting for this area with lots of rain,the fruit trees were happy however.

Spring 2011

Spring

Winter came and went this year with some very big snow falls on the mountain and lot's of wind to blow it around,big thank you to Iwaya and Tsutahara san and their team for coming to stay with us again and sample Keiko's food , Toshi is still in Japan gathering worldly experiences and enjoying himself and for anybody over there this nothern hemisphere winter he should be found doing jumps around niseko.

On the home front we have spend time on the entrance with a new look drive and wall to welcome everybody ,it has a flavour of old and new  with a touch of history in the use of railway sleepers.we all look forward to a warm summer and this hope to get away for a break so if you don't find us here don't despair we won't be far away. 

Jan 17 finally getting updates out, the webhosting program has been playing up and hopefully everybody will be able to read this now,the summer has been wet and hot of and on, great for the garden bad for painting, we are getting lots of use out of the earthquake damaged ski shed with thousands of bricks going back into the earth as borderseperators and looking good in the process ,photo`s coming. Toshi and Georgi are in Japan for some snow therapy with Toshi taking a gap year to see the world.

On the eco front we have changed some vehicles to get more economy but the radiators have not proven themselves with the installer not completing his work, so back to the drawing board for the solar

sept 7 well the big one struck, 7.1  and about a hundred others of various sizes but Smylies survived it apart from a TV, Play station ,glass and a couple of precious ornaments, all kinds of reasons have been given why we came of relatively light but we are fortunate .business will be slow now for the next couple of weeks with people gathering in other places for their skiing. We have completed today the first stage of the heating improvement with the commissioning of the heat exchange wetback system. At this stage we are running on 2 radiators to bed the system in but we are hopeful for a complete system for the hostel within 12 months. The next step is the solar panel /heat exchange system for the gas boiler which we are hoping to have going by the summer. A big thank you to the Tsutahara and Iwaya ski teams ,we enjoyed your company tremendously and look forward to seeing you all next year.

July 17 ,well the winter is underway, not quite the snow levels as last year but enough to enjoy, everybody started on their predicted starting time and we are looking forward to some more snow. On the home front the sheep and alpacas are happy with their new hayrack ,we found out alpacas don't like noisy steel bridges to cross, so become very friendly when you want to hand feed them because they were hungry and not due to your get friendly program. We have installed eco panel heaters in motel 3 and 1 and the staff rooms and will continue to evaluate them, at this stage they live up to their stated m2 coverage .,also the new fire place in the hostel is working well with prolonged time between fills. The next step is to install the radiators in the hallway and middle room and possibly lounge depending on capacity. The laundry is just about finished and 2 new dryers installed, of course the washing line with still be the preferred option for us.

May 25th a quick update, the leaves have finally dropped and it is raining cats and dogs, however the good news is that it is also snowing up on the mountain, not long to go now.

March 22  summer is here ,it took a while but we have had some good weather in the last month, January was a wet and cloudy month  February it started of the same but then the sun came out and we have had fine weather since. On the home front we have tackled the garden in a big way with Keiko's Father out here for 2 weeks . We now have about 35 trailer loads of branches that have to be chipped  but the effort has been worthwhile, thank you Toshi senior

sept 1 it is officially spring with the blossoms on the cherry trees and fresh snow on the mountain tops. It looks like winter will extend itself for another month, after a extremely busy July and August we are looking forward to some spring skiing ourselves and taking a look into the garden to see what damage needs rectifying for the summer.

I'm sure everybody has heard about the great news from Porters with their new plan finally officially released and we look forward to the prospect of travelling on chairlifts and gondolas.

Well it is getting colder ,Mt Hutt is looking at opening on the 30th of May  and we are busy getting ready for the winter. New at Smylies for 2009 is the  Cottage purchased this year which is targeted for families with it `s own lounge, kitchen and 3 bedrooms. we are also moving the laundry this year  which should make washing a little bit of a lesser chore than it usually is. Bookings are filling up fast so take advantage of some great snow this year and book your bed early. See you at smylies.

Feb. 23 2009 our winter packages rates are now on the website
The cottage
Nov 6 2008 we have retained our Qualmark rating for another year and are in the process of applying for the enviro bronze award,

September 27 2008   A winter to reMember for many years to come, great snow coverage and lots of returning customers whom we hadn't seen for a couple of years made this winter very enjoyable for Keiko and I. we are now into the final week of winter and wish to thank everybody for your visits to us and look forward to another repeat next year. On the Spring /Summer front we are looking forward to the new Spittle Hill climbing guide due out end of oct and the release of the movie Bruidsvlucht ( Brides flight) which was partly filmed here in Springfield we have revamped our Smylies farm escape weekend to be called  the smylies eco tour with more emphasise on the environment we now live in and want to keep for our kids.

June 9  2008 Well the first snow has fallen on the ground in Springfield, take a look at the photo gallery, looks like we `in for a good year.

May 12  snow on the mountain, 2 regular cold snaps following each other ,it looks like we're in for a good winter. At least the Moon Man thinks so .Here at Smylies we are firm believers in people who tell us it is going to snow so we'll keep the donut picture even though the donut has shifted to a barn on Pococks rd (you can still see it) this year we are concentrating on the vehicles with an additional bus for the winter season ,also Keiko's kitchen will get a small makeover to ensure the food coming out of there lives up to food critics wonderful reviews http://journals.worldnomads.com/jonnygo/post/7240.aspx

So folks start planning that winter escape now as places are filling up fast in anticipation of that snow

Dec 28 the summer is well under way with a great November and a wet Dec so lets hope for a sunny and warm January .we like to wish all our past and present customers a  happy and safe 2008.

Iwaya and TstutaharaSimpsons

 

News

May 23 2007 well the sale of Porters has gone ahead and building of the new cafe is nearing completion ,also new up there is a magic carpet, winchgroomer and wind fencing. The weather is getting slowly colder but not as quick as last year.

Feb. 11 well can we call it a summer, with rain one day and sun the next at least the garden is growing . Porter Heights is sold to new owners and great plans are under way for improvements it seems. On the home front we are also under way with plans to improve and increase capacity but won't start building until oct /nov 2007

October 12 2006 a wonderful ski season has finished here for us which has been on par with the best years. The garden is starting to look good with all the spring flowers and leaves coming out ,we've been busy building garden features to enhance the garden and planting the organic garden to see us thru for fresh vegetables. The paint brushes and tool are coming out of the work shed so we can complete some repairs from the snow and start some new projects.

New activities for us this year are the country combo pack , mountain biking and rafting, hope to see you all soon.

July 21 as below ,we had another 60 cm in the last 36 hours  which takes the base on porters up to 1.60 m ,this is shaping up to be one of the best ski seasons we've had to date

June 19 snow ,snow and more snow 35cm on the ground and over a meter on the mountain,

mar 21 raining today which makes you feel that winter is around the corner. The summer has gone quickly but very pleasantly with lots of good times with friends and family .The walking and biking has gone to plan and new walks added to the book. New for this winter season is that the smylies bus will do a Christchurch to porters service on Sat, Sun and Mon  leaving from Central City YHA in Manchester street at 7.15 am and returning there by 6.00pm . Bouldering at Castle Hill in gaining in popularity and we have added a couple of climbing mats to our rental dept ,cost for those you will find on the castle hill Page.

Oct 15 Well we have kissed the winter goodbye and hope we won't see another one like this one for quite a while, there is more snow on the mountain now than in the middle of the season. but lets change to the spring ; warmer temperatures and a garden that is looking great, keiko and I are busy painting up some rooms and to date we have finished motel 3 and the kitchen. also we are exploring some new mountain bike tracks with the kids so we can keep you up to date on the best tracks to ride. So if rest and recreation and good food is your cuppa tea come and give us a ring .

aug 23 we're in the middle of the winter season ,it has snowed and it has been very warm .As winter records go this one is at the moment on par with 97 i.e. very low levels of the white stuff, however the company and food is still great with many of our regulars returning for their bit of fresh air and culinary delights, with snow forecasted again we can hopefully look forward to another month of enjoyable skiing and boarding.

June 2, winter is here ,it just got cold and the snow seems to be staying on the mountains ,we are just about to finish the last of the renovations for this year by putting the roof on the new veranda in front of the dining room ,also  the hostel dorm rooms have had new carpets laid a a fresh coat of paint ,new lino in the showers, toilets and motel 1 and new windows upstairs. Springfield has a new tourist attraction in the form of horse riding at Kowai Bush ,it is a great addition to the farm visits and jet boating and should prove popular with our guests. another place to see now is Cave stream ,which was the film location for The Lion ,Witch and the wardrobe http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/index.html

march10, after a month of dry weather we finally got some rain to water the garden ,at least it saved on the mowing. we are slowly easing into the autumn with the days getting shorter and the temperatures a tad cooler. However these temps make you want to get the mountain bike out and head up into the Craigieburn forest park for some riding or test out the new golf club at the golf courses nearby.

2004 December 28, We hope you all had as good Christmas as we had , with the weather just turning fine after what turned out to be a wet November and December .  The garden is looking absolute fantastic with flowers out in full bloom. On the home improvement front we have relined the lounge with new walls and colors and are sorting out colors for the kitchen /dining.

November 17 warm days are here and bouldering is on the must do list, with Castle Hill only 27km away why not come and stay at smylies to relax after a hard day conquering the rocks .

for those of you sick of the busy city hostels this is the place to be with spacious rooms and a great garden to escape into

Aug 30 It has been a couple of months which we won't forget in a hurry with heaps of closure dates due to too much snow and the big avalanche that came down porters, skiing has been great with conditions we haven't seen since 1996.   Our new bus has been put into service last weekend and improves our travel times to Porters  by 10min, being 4wd it cuts down on the snow chain fitting  and dirty hands. With the weather improving and getting a little bit warmer ,now is the time to book the ski break you deserve ,so don't hesitate as spaces are filling up fast.

June 22 Well the ski season is under way with Mt Hutt opening last week as the first in NZ ,the temperature is coming down after some funny weather in the last few months. Porters had a good dump of 15cm at the bottom and with luck should be on target to open by the school holidays. On the local front ,painting is just about done and this week we'll concentrate on tuning ski's and boards, look forwards to seeing you all soon.

May 5 Well we have had it all ,from snow on the ground in April to hot days. renovations are going on schedule and for this winter you will find an upgraded rental building and an extra shower in the hostel and the paintbrush has been busy as well with new colours added here and there, the old piano also has been replaced with an even older pianola but this one stays in tune.

March 11 After some very hot months the rains have come back to make the grass grow and make everything look a bit brighter. some renovations are going to take place in march to improve facilities so booking in advance is an advantage to ensure the bed you want.

There are also the warm days in between for bouldering at Castle hill so the choices are unlimited ,walking backcountry is recommended for the foothills or lower mountains ,ask for the Oxford Forrest maps at the counter for some good walks.

 

Kitchen Staff 2003