KEY POINTS:
The electrifying refrain of the Potbelleez anthem rang across Terrace Downs as the sun setting behind Mt Hutt created the stage's backdrop, exhilarating the MTV Snow Jam audience - in the midst of which I was dancing.
It was the first time Canterbury has hosted the annual show,
which organisers expect to stage here again next year, and it was a fine start to my snow escape.
I was still "feeling something" the next morning at the top of Mt Hutt as I cranked my snowboard bindings tightly and prepared to ride. It was the feeling you get when the sun beams down from a cloudless sky on one of the country's best skifields and you know you're about to spray perfect powder as you carve one of the deepest snow bases the Southern Alps have seen in years.
Mt Hutt, near Methven, is one of the highest fields in the Southern Hemisphere and its altitude - combined with its battalion of snow guns - helps ensure a reliably heavy snow blanket throughout the snowboarding season.
It has beginner, intermediate and advanced runs, a new six-seater chairlift among others, and heliskiing to back-country slopes.
The wide open faces are fantastic for those learning to snowboard and there's an extensive terrain park if getting air is your thing.
The view from the top over the eerily spectacular mountain range inspired one local businessman I chatted with to have his wedding ceremony up there.
"We thought this is what heaven must look like."
His wife said she took the chairlift to meet her groom at the top rather than walking down an aisle, wearing a strapless white dress with a hat, coat, gloves and ugg boots.
Canterbury boasts more than a dozen skifields, and travelling in the region at this time of year is magical - newborn lambs gambol on the plains and snow is still plentiful over the alpine areas.
My next destination was Porters skifield, but before leaving Methven I fuelled up at Primo cafe, which is crammed with antiques and collectibles for sale.
You can try on vintage furs while waiting for your hotcakes, and the proprietor - a font of local information - regaled me with a tale about the number of women self-proclaimed "crunk" performer Lil Jon ordered in from Christchurch to entertain his entourage during their Snow Jam sojourn.
Porters is just 50 minutes' drive from Christchurch. Lyndon Rd meanders past partially frozen lakes, where the sun sparkles off the water and, with the Southern Alps in the background, it makes a breath-takingly beautiful approach.
The facilities are limited to T-bars - tough on snowboarders, but worth it because Porters offers some of the best rides I've ever had. The field's Big Mama is one of the steepest runs in New Zealand.
But it's worth remembering this is not the place to hire gear if you don't have your own. Get decent quality boots and a board somewhere else before heading up the mountain.
I stayed just 20km from the access road to Porters at Flock Hill Lodge on the Great Alpine Highway, before Arthur's Pass.
Flock Hill is a working sheep station close to a cluster of other smaller, non-commercial skifields as well as the famous Castle Hill rock-climbing area. Accommodation ranges from backpacker to comfortable Lockwood chalets.
A dilapidated farmhouse on the property was the site of one of New Zealand's first murders during the colonial period.
The woolshed has seen many dance parties and was the venue for the Alpine Unity dance party series.
It must be the woolshed with the best views in the country, its barn doors framing a mountain milieu that appears close enough to touch.
Flock Hill chef Jason Robinson cooks the best beef fillet I've ever had and the top-quality cuisine is served by friendly staff.
It's the kind of place where you feel at home and want to stay longer.
When you do move on it should be to nearby Grasmere Lodge, near Cass, featured in Rita Angus' well-known painting exemplifying the nationalist art movement.
Here, at the gateway to Arthur's Pass national park, the stunning valley through which the headwaters of the Waimakariri River flow is flanked by snowy mountains glinting in the sun, and guests can explore this majestic mountain and river country by hiking, four-wheel-drive or on horseback.
Grasmere is a boutique High Country retreat and the ultimate spot to soak those apres-ski muscles in a spa bath while looking out the window over the snow with a glass of wine from the complimentary mini bar - then wrap up in a Givenchy bathrobe.
One must-see, just a few minutes from Arthurs Pass village, is the Viaduct lookout, where your gaze sweeps over the steep drop to the bush-clad valley below and out to the silent drama of snowcapped peaks stretching as far as the eye can see towards the West Coast.
Should you fancy a refreshing pint to enhance your appreciation of all this teeming natural beauty on the way to the Pass, the Bailey Hotel offers panoramic vistas over the Waimakariri river valley.
If you're stopping over in Christchurch, an interesting and affordable hotel is the new Hotel SO. Admittedly, on hearing that the design stipulations for the rooms was for them to be as compact as possible and to dispense with windows, the slight claustrophobic in me felt a mild throb of panic.
However the use of fresh colours, sweeping curves and clean lines create a cool and calming atmosphere - you feel hidden away from the world in shell of quiet and and comfortable peace.
Each room has free wireless broadband, a flat-screen entertainment system, and controllable mood lighting - your wake-up alarm is set by programming the lights to gradually come on in the morning, simulating a natural sunrise.
Then ease slowly into the day with tasty coffee, fluffy scrambled eggs and supreme potato hashcakes in front of the fireplace at popular cafe Roma. When I was in town, debate was raging in the newspaper over whether the city council overpaid struggling developer Dave Henderson for some real estate it took off his hands.
But judging from the night-time crowds in the bustling restaurant and bar precinct of Sol Lane - also a Henderson project - Cantabrians are not complaining about the revitalisation of their inner city, which the latest acquisition is sure to continue.
- Detours, HoS
