Skippers Canyon enters the ice age

While temperatures have been warmer in the Wakatipu over the past few days, winter still has its icy grip on parts of the region.

Spare a thought, then, for Skippers Canyon Jet marketing manager Matt Rhodes - seen here inspecting a frozen wall of water - and the Hohneck family, five generations of whom have lived and worked in the canyon. The Hohnecks, who own Skippers Canyon Jet, arrived with the gold rush in 1862 and still operate without mains power or water.

Mr Rhodes said the coal range at the home in Skippers Canyon is lit every morning to heat the house and water collected from hill streams, "not the easiest'' of tasks on such days.