I will be offline for a few days while we explore Kaikoura, about two hours North of Christchurch.  We are scheduled to go swimming with the dolphins and try out our new camping (tramping) gear.

More when we return!

Cheers,

Courtney and Rus

We woke up around 8:00AM to get ready to drive back to Christchurch, and oh man, was I sore!  My neck and triceps were hurting, and my abdominal muscles definitely got a good workout (thankfully).  We packed up the car, got breakfast at Halo Cafe again, and started the trip home.

We took a different route home than the one we came in on; therefore, we would not be stopping at Lake Wanaka, as we had earlier.  The drive is spectacular.  The “highway” is simply a two-lane road, and most of the traffic is tour buses from Christchurch and cyclists - many of them with pannier bags loaded with gear.  Backpackers’ shacks are scattered along the route.  There were no clouds in the sky and mountains as far as the eye could see.  It was spectacular!  As with the rest of the trip, I could not believe my eyes, and I could not stop saying “Wow!”.   Eventually, we drove by the lookout at Lake Pukaki, where we stopped for the sunrise on the way down.  Unlike our visit, when it was dead quiet, it was now teeming with tourists.  We continued on a short way to Lake Tekapo.  I posted an earlier article about how Tekapo is a town with no light pollution.  Lake Tekapo is similar to Lake Pukaki in that it is fed by glacier snow melt; therefore, it has the same unnatural blue color.  While we did not get to see the night sky featured in the article, we could see Mt. Cook in the distance and took some great photos.

Next, Christian took us to an organic salmon farm where the fish is raised in the mineral-rich waters of the lakes.  Since there is no farm run-off or coal plants, mercury is not a risk.  We bought a bunch for a lot less money than we expected and got back on the road.

Up ahead, we could see what is known as Lindis Pass.  It is a valley in between two large mountains, filled with a blanket of clouds.  Once we entered the pass, the sun was gone, and it was cloudy all way back to Christchurch.  Clouds, however, mean moisture, which turned the whole area inside the pass into lush, green, sub-tropical terrain.  This was in sharp contrast to the yellow, dry mountains we had seen for the last several hours.  Here, there were abundant farms and livestock grazing. We saw many venison farms, and in some of these paddocks were several big, eight- and ten-point bucks.  I had to imagine that this was some sort of hunter’s heaven: large, healthy bucks in a pen with nowhere to run, just begging to be picked off.  It is still strange to me to see large groups of deer like this.

The rest of the trip was uneventful.  When we got home, we unloaded the car; Christian had to get ready for work (he is a real trooper, that man).  The rest of the night was spent doing laundry and getting ready for the days ahead.  We had fully exploited our time in Queenstown, and it was time to rest.

After putting in a full physical effort riverboarding in the morning, Rus and I did what any reasonable person would do on a sunny, warm afternoon: we went wine tasting.

After we found Christian and had a bit of lunch, we jumped in the car and were off.  The vineyards are located in a fertile valley (Gibbston Valley) between many mountains - about 20 minutes from Queenstown.  Central Otago, the region where Queenstown is located, is well-known for its fabulous Pinot Noirs; the grapes like the combination of the warm days and cold nights.

The first vineyard we went to was called Chard Farm.  In order to get there, we had to navigate a few kilometres down a one-lane, twisting, loose gravel road hundreds of metres above the Kawarau River (on which we riverboarded earlier in the day) - with no guard rails.  One slip or miscalculation, and we would drop straight down to meet our untimely deaths.  Combined with Christian’s aggressive driving habits, riding down this road was the most terrifying part of my day!  Not riverboarding down white-water rapids, not jumping 10m off a rock, or swinging out into a river…no, this road was by far the most extreme activity I did while in Queenstown (Rus likes me to point out that he was not at all scared.  Good on him!).

When we finally reached the winery (seemed like an eternity), we tasted some very nice wines, from sparkling all the way to a couple of lovely Pinot Noirs.  We tasted two Pinot Noirs, one meant to drink right away, and one meant to cellar for a few years.  Rus bought a bottle of each, with the condition that we put a “do not drink” label on the one meant to keep (Rus and I are new to the concept of cellaring wine; if we have it, we like to drink it!).  Anyway, I was hoping the delicious wine would help calm my nerves for the ride back up the scary road.  Since Christian was driving, he was spitting out the wines he tasted, but I was still very nervous.  As it turns out, I lived to tell.

Since the frightful experience of the “road to Chard Farm” was behind us, I could finally relax an enjoy the rest of the afternoon.  The next stop was Gibbston Vallery Winery, a commercial vineyard whose owner was one of the first to plant Pinot Noir grapes in the area.  It is also a popular tourist stop on the area’s numerous wine tours; thus, the vineyard takes full advantage and charges a fee for everything.  Instead of tasting, we each had a glass of white (a Chardonnay for Christian, a Pinot Gris for Rus, and a Sauvignon Blanc for me) on their grape vine-covered pergola patio.  Christian was determined to see their cave cellar (for which the admission was $10 per person!), so he introduced himself to the winemaker and managed to have him escort us through a back door to see it.  I saw a couple of cave cellars in Napa when I visited there, and this one was not particularly large or special; however, it was still cool to see, and even cooler that we did not have to pay the ridiculous fee to see it.  Sweet as!

Next up was the Peregrine Winery, a secluded vineyard down another loose gravel road (this one was at the bottom of the valley and very flat - no danger here).   We went in and tasted several of the nice wines at Peregrine.  One of the winemakers had been in Christian’s restaurant a few weeks prior, so Christian wanted to meet up with him.  While he was unavailable due to holiday, his partner, Jude, was happy to show us around.  We took a walk through the aesthetic barrel room and back through to the stainless steel fermenting vats.  We also peaked into the actual barrel warehouse (they had just sprayed the sulfur, which makes the wine clear, so we were unable to tour it).  Then, Jude took us to their awesome, modern, covered patio.  It is sheltered from the weather and the sun and is an area where they hold events and local concerts.  The backdrop is the untouched mountains and trees.  With the breeze blowing through and the stunning scenery, it felt like we were part of the landscape.  When we were done, we went back to the tasting room and tried a few more wines before buying a couple of bottles and continuing on our way.

Our fourth and final vineyard of the day was Arcadia, housed in a cool stone and wood chalet with an open floor plan and huge exposed beams.  We tried a couple of wines and bought a couple of bottles here too.  They charge for tasting and were quite stingy with the tastings, especially compared to the other vineyards (this irritates Christian, and I find it annoying as well).  There was a couple from Oregon tasting too; they were in New Zealand for a wedding in Auckland (way up in the North Island) but decided to check out Queenstown while they were here.  Cool!

By the time we finished up at Arcadia, the rest of the vineyards were closed for the day.  We were hungry again, so it was time to eat!  The young woman operating the tasting table at Peregrine recommended we go to a restaurant called VKnow for dinner; they have a great wine list and excellent food, she told us.  We drove back to through Queenstown into one of the residential areas down the road from the town centre.  The restaurant was plain from the outside and had just opened for dinner.  There was no one there but us, and the owner, Danny, (who pulled up right when we did), sat us and was our server.  He looked Italian and in his early 50s, with a dark tan.  Some chest hair and a gold chain could be seen where his tropical-print Bermuda shirt was unbuttoned at the top.  I might have seen him on the Jersey shore any given summer, but his Kiwi accent told me he had been here awhile.  He was pleasant and accommodating.  We ordered our meals:  Christian, seafood linguine; Rus, Mediterranean pizza; and me, venison with mushroom risotto.  All of the food was superb!

While we were finishing up, a few age 50-ish Americans came into the restaurant.  They said they were part of a group of six, and they thought the walk up the hill from their hotel to the restaurant was too long - could (Danny) please go and pick the rest of them up?  Danny actually drove to go get the rest of their group (Kiwis are so damn nice!), but they were apparently able to walk up the hill after all since they showed up just after he left to go get them.  Then, when ordering water, they had the audacity to ask the man if it was safe to drink!  The water here is actually some of the best drinking water in the world; they do not “treat” it with chlorine or fluoride, and there are no traces of pharmaceuticals.  Danny reassured them that he has the water tested monthly, and it is 99.9% pure.  Not sure if this was true or not, but I was disappointed that these people were behaving so poorly; hopefully, most Kiwis do not encounter Americans (or others) like these often.

We paid our bill, thanked Danny, and went back to hotel.   Then, we showered and watched “The Departed” on TV.  After everything we did, we were all exhausted and slept hard.  In the morning, we would be leaving to go back to Christchurch.

*Long post warning!*

Mad.  Dog.  River.  Boarding.

Ever since I saw the PBS “Smart Travels” episode on New Zealand’s South Island, featuring an expose on this awesome activity, I have wanted to go.  As a matter of fact, it was at the top of my list of things to do in New Zealand.  For those of you who understand “riverboarding“; essentially, it is is boogie-boarding down white-water river rapids.

We scheduled to go early in the morning, so we were up at 6:30AM to get ourselves ready and out the door.  We stopped at a cafe to have a hearty breakfast of Eggs Benedict and coffees before showing up for our “appointment” at 7:45AM.  To be honest, we were most concerned about freezing our you-know-whats off.  The early morning temperature was only 9C (or 48F).  I was already cold, and “cold and wet” did not seem appealing at all.  Thankfully, my excitement got the better of me.

The guys at Mad Dog were super-cool and seemed enthusiastic despite the early hour.  There were a two other women from the UK (who work in Dubai) going with us, as well as “Team Denmark” - five young men from Denmark, who barely spoke English and reeked of alcohol.  As I found out later, they had only two hours of sleep.  After signing waivers which said we knew what we were getting ourselves into, we got on a shuttle for the 45-minute drive to where the gear was located.  Members of Team Denmark slept while one of our guides, Jonno, described the safety precautions and various sites we were driving by.  We arrived at an old gold mine, and I suddenly felt like I had been sent back in time about 200 years.  It looked like the Wild West (not the bad Will Smith movie), with old machines rusting on the dry, desert-like ground, small wooden buildings that looked like no one had been in them in ages, and strange desert plants.  To add to the surrealistic scene, a large hawk sat overlooking a chicken coop, whipping the chickens into a clucking frenzy.  Other than the chickens and our group, it was silent.

We were taken to an area where our gear was distributed: full wetsuit and booties, life jacket, helmet, flippers, and boogie board.  It was so cold stripping down to my bathing suit, and the wetsuit was damp!  Brrr!  Not to mention the fact that wetsuits are not easy to put on in the first place…  Thankfully, there were no clouds in the sky, and the sun was getting high enough to peak over the mountains.  Despite the water being only 16C (61F), the unobstructed sun meant I was not going to freeze after all.

We paused for a group photo, got back in the shuttle, and headed to our point of entry in a calm eddy in the river.  We put our flippers on and grabbed our boogie boards, then, we jumped in!  First, the river is fed by the same melting glaciers that make Lake Pukaki so amazingly blue.  Although the water was clean, clear, and crisp, I could see little tiny mineral particles like sparkling specs of glitter that give the water its beautiful color.  With the wetsuit on, the water felt refreshing and nice!  Second, the river has carved a canyon out of the mountains, so we were going to be travelling between six- and ten-story rock walls the whole time. Just a few metres from the shore, the river was already too deep to touch the bottom.

After a few lessons on how to maneuver in the swift-moving river, as well as a few exercises to see if we were all able to complete them (especially for barely-conscious Team Denmark), our guides led us out.  Already, the water was moving us quickly down the river, and we were immediately going into the rapids.  It was hard to stay together, and I soon found myself ahead of everyone, which made me a little nervous.  Jonno later told me it wasn’t a problem since he could just yell to tell me where to position myself in the river instead of using the hand signals he taught us earlier.  I did manage to “pull over” and slow myself down so I stayed with the group.

The river was rough, and it was difficult to stay on the boogie board (especially with the life jacket and all).  Actually, if I had my way, I would have just held on to it with both hands and floated down; it seemed to be easier and more enjoyable.  Anyway, we continued through the rapids, bumping into each other or even scooting right up on top of each other.  Sticking with Rus was nearly impossible through the rapids because the water threw everyone every which way.  It was so fun!  The sun was now over the mountains and beating down on us, and it felt great to be in the water. Our guides were telling us to swim from one side of the river to the other in order to get in the best positions to ride each set of rapids.  With all of the gear and the water moving so fast, it was physically challenging; much more than I expected!  I couldn’t imagine doing it as hungover (or still drunk) as Team Denmark.  At least they had a good rinse and weren’t going to stink up the shuttle on the way back!

After hitting the rest of the rapids (it took about 20 minutes from start to finishing the rapids), the river widened a little and smoothed out (though the current was still strong and swift).  We reverted to relaxation mode for another 20 minutes or so; floating down the river nicely and finally able to catch our breaths!  Think “Lazy River” multiplied by 100.  At that point, with the hot sun and the cool water, I could have stayed in the river all day.  It was glorious!

One of the guides, Brad, got on the jetski that was downstream and rode up the river to give us all rides on the raft attached to the back.  It was essentially a foam float with hose fashioned as handles.  Pulling yourself up onto that thing from the river required a reasonable level of upper-body strength, that’s for sure!  I knew I was going to be sore the next day.

We were towed to the shore line, where we had originally put on our wetsuits, and I thought the fun was over when we were told to take off our flippers and set our boogie boards aside.  Once the group was reunited and had completed these instructions, we climbed up some steep and dangerous steps to the edge of a rock where we were all offered the chance to do “rock jumps”.   Several of us opted to do the 10m (30ft!) jump off of a rock ledge into the river.  I did it, and it was horrible!  I did not like it a bit!  I took a deep breath, and it felt like it took forever to get to the water, so much so, that I wanted to take another breath but was afraid I’d be underwater by the time I took it.  Plus, once I entered the river (unevenly, which made me smack my rear-end and back of my legs pretty hard), without my flippers, I had trouble propelling myself to the side.  I have small feet for my size, so combined with limited arm movement because of the life vest, it was a lot of effort for me just to keep my position.  I was able to finally get myself over to the shore to get my adrenaline and heart rate back under control.  Needless to say, I do not think I will be doing a jump like that again, and I have a lot more respect for the power of rivers!

There was still more!  I went down the big metal slide, like one that used to be used to put silt with no gold back in the river (remember, we were at an old gold mining site).  A hose was set up to lubricate the slide, and participants go down on their boogie boards any way the choose (sitting up facing front or back, laying on your stomach or back, etc.) and end up skipping across the river - fun!  Once stopped, the jetski comes by and gives a tow back to a ladder to climb to reunite with the rest of the group.  Climbing up the ladder from the river repeatedly with a sopping wetsuit and life jacket was its own workout.  Rus said he was going to skip the slide since he got a nose-full of water when he did the rock jump; he changed his mind and went while I was getting towed back.

Last on the list was a rope swing that swings over the river; I did that twice - it was super fun!  At one point, I lost a booty, so a guide had to jetski down a hundred yards or so to pick it up for me; no problem.  The skin on my lower leg above my ankle was exposed to the water and red and cold - thank goodness we were in wetsuits!

Finally, after everyone in our group was finished with all of the activities (and thoroughly worn out), we climbed up the most treacherous pathway ever. I kept thinking, “this is a liability insurance nightmare”!  Shallow, steep, uneven steps with a steel cable as a handrail, ducking under said handrail, water dripping mud on some of the steps…yikes!

Once safely at the top, we got out of our wetsuits (which should be listed as another “activity” for the day) and rinsed off at one of the hot shower heads there.  We dried off and got dressed - and felt about 11kg (25lb) lighter!  It was just after noon, and Rus and I both felt like we had already put in a full day; it made me glad we went in the morning.  Jonno, who was staying and waiting for the next group, guides three trips per day, four days per week.  I do not know how he does it; we were exhausted after just one trip!  We said thanks and were off to the shuttle to go back to Queenstown.

On the way back, we were asking Brad, one of the other guides, all sorts of questions.  Brad, in his late-30s (?) spends the Southern Hemisphere summer in Queenstown guiding riverboarding tours and summers in the Northern Hemisphere in the UK and various other parts of the world guiding kayaking and rafting trips on some of the world’s toughest rivers.  He said some of his favorites were in Turkey and Nepal.  The season is essentially November through March, since it’s too cold outside of those months, even with wetsuits.  I was still reliving how much fun it was, and he told me I should come work for them for a summer (*gears turning in head*).

We dropped off the girls from the UK at Kawarau Bridge bungy jumping (home to the first commercial bungy jump) before continuing on our way.  We looked through the photos that Dave, the photographer, took, and we decided to buy some.  When we got back to base, he ended up giving us all of the photos (probably because it was just easier than sorting through them) on a CD.  We thanked the guys again and promised we would be back!

We stopped by the hotel to change out of our bathing suits and drop off the wet towels.  At this point, we were starving, so we bought fish-n-chips from a chips shack on the street that seemed popular.  We were going to phone Christian to see where he was, but we actually ran right into him on the street - perfect!  He said he had been paragliding all morning.  He has his certification, so he took the gondola up to the top of the mountain where his friend had secured a parachute for him to use.  Then, he spent 90 minutes in the air, up and over Lake Wakatipu, then finally landing.  Cool!  The day could not have been better; the sun was shining, the temperature was about 21C (70F), and the wind was low.

After we ate (it was not that great), Christian said that if we wanted to go wine-tasting, we had better get going.  No need to twist our arms - we went straight to the car and off we went.

On our second day in Queenstown, the alarm went off at 6:30AM.  And not the radio or cool mobile phone ring tone, the super-annoying, loud buzzer alarm - which Christian couldn’t figure out how to turn off.  Anyway, Christian had to leave early to attend to some important business.  As an aspiring sommelier, his important business involves networking with winemakers and vineyard owners and essentially spending the day drinking vino (he said he had his first glass at 9:00AM - tough work!); therefore, he was up an out the door about an hour before we got out of bed.

Once we did venture outside, a downright chilly morning awaited us (New Zealand weather is fickel and temperatures vary, which means Rus and I have gotten good at wearing layers; Queenstown is no different).  The sky was cloud-covered, but it looked like they would burn off as the sun got higher.  We went to a cafe called Halo for coffees (Rus gets cappuccino; I get Mochaccino) and eggs and bacon (did I mention that bacon in New Zealand is amazing!?).   After breakfast, we took the gondola up to the top of one of the mountains in Queenstown.  In addition, we purchased five rides on the Skyline Luge at the top.  The ride up the gondola was awesome, and we took lots of pictures, needlessly, as it turned out, because the view from the top was even more spectacular.  We did get to see some of the mountain terrain, the super-tall trees, and where a few insane people bungy jump.

Once at the top, a truly magnificent scene was before us.  The dark blue lake, the bright blue sky, the tall mountains everywhere, all of it breathtaking.  Queenstown is a tourist mecca, and they’ve done it right at the top of the gondola: a cafe, lots of areas for picture-taking, history, a Maori show (which we did not attend), lots of walking trails and picnic tables, etc.

After snapping what had to be nearly 100 photos, taking some video, etc., we decided to take our first ride on the luge.  There are two ways to get to the start of the luge.  One, you can walk.  It is not far, but it is steep, and it sort of winds up the mountain.  Two, you can take a short chairlift, which we did to get up the first time.  Once at the start, there are two tracks: “scenic” and “advanced”; the “scenic” one is required for your first ride to warm up (truthfully, I do not know why they call it “scenic” at all because you don’t spend much time looking at anything but where you are going!).  The luge was really fun!  We rode it a few times and decided to take a break to get a snack from the cafe and walk around.  There were little mountain trails where people had ventured off the paved paths, and we explored a few of these, literally at the mountain’s edge.  I couldn’t help but notice that beautiful little trails like these at an American commercial tourist spot like the gondola would never fly; they would be roped off with “Warning” signs.

While on these walks, Rus had the awesome idea to attach his camera to his helmet so the folks at home could experience the luge ride with us; it must have been all that bright sunshine and fresh air!  We laughed as he figured out how to get his digital camera securely in place and ready to record.  People were watching us do this and thought it was funny.  Once he got it going, it was time to test it out on the track!  Judge for yourself: take a ride with us on the Queenstown Skyline Luge!

Once we used up our five rides, it was time to go back down to the bottom of the hill.  Rus and I took the gondola back down; however, paragliding and hang gliding were also options - we have to leave something for nex time, right?  At this point, it was 3:30, and we had somehow spent more than four hours up there!  Christian was not due back for another couple of hours, so we decided to take a 2-hour cruise of the T.S.S. Earnslaw and bought tickets for the 4:00PM departure.The Earnslaw is a cool old boat, fairly well-preserved.  We opted to sit on the bow in the warm sunshine.  Once we departed the dock, we were both glad we had our respective wind-proof vests and shells; it was cold and windy during parts of the ride.  The scenery is gorgeous through there, and, with the exception of Queenstown itself, there is very little other development on the mountains surrounding the lake.  It kind of felt like we had stepped back in time, and I have to imagine that this is what many lakes in the United States used to look like before restaurants, docks, and summer homes covered their coasts. On the boat, we met two Canadian men, about our age (late 20s), who quit their jobs in Canada and have been cycling the South Island for the last three months.  They looked like it, with their hair bleached blond and skin tanned by the sun.  They were taking the boat across Lake Wakatipu to the Walter’s Peak (where we briefly docked to drop them off and pick up other passengers going back to Queenstown) to continue their journey.  Their bikes were loaded with their only gear - backpacks, pannier bags, etc.  They said they stopped when they got tired and knocked on farmers’ doors to barter chores for food when they found themselves in between places to buy something to eat.  He said the two of them could live on NZ$100 per week.  We often meet people, young and old, with stories like these.  Cars, houses, careers, fancy clothes - all overrated.  All you need is a partner, a good bike, and the right attitude!

We toasted a glass of wine on the way back and relaxed on the ride back to Queenstown.  Once back, we called Christian, who said he was on his way and close by.  Rus and I were ready for dinner, and we met Christian at a cafe for a lovely dinner of gourmet sandwiches - yum!

After dinner, we went to a store that has wine-tasting.  Their setup is quite different; you get a debit card and put it into a machine, then select one of hundreds of wines around the store, push a button on the selected bottle, the wine comes out, and the debit is charged.  Since we had our sommelier with us, we had him point us in the right direction - as usual, he was spot on.  The three of us tasted eight or nine different wines, then decided to call it a night.  Rus and I had to be at Mad Dog Riverboarding at 7:45AM.

We’re back from Queenstown - and what a marvelous time we had!

We woke up at 2:00AM Sunday to depart for Queenstown, about seven hours away.  Christian just finished working a dinner shift at Saggio Di Vino, and I had gone to bed barely three hours earlier after chatting too late with the flatmates.  It was not easy to get going…

We had already packed, so we loaded up the car and were on the road 45 minutes later.  We drove and drove, took a wrong turn, drove some more - down dark roads (some foggy and curvy) and saw very few cars the whole way.  There is only one main road to Queenstown from Christchurch, and it’s simply a two-lane highway.  The service stations are few and very far between, as are towns and houses; therefore, Christian filled up the car and a small gas can in case we needed it.  We brought snacks and water.  I couldn’t sleep (shocker), so I manned the iPod.

Near daybreak, we arrived at our first stop - Lake Pukaki, a good-sized lake smack in the middle of the country and just over half-way to our final destination.  To describe the scene:  first, it was so quiet and peaceful.  No cars, no planes, no people.  The gentle lapping of the mini waves on the rocky shore and the first birds singing were the only sounds we heard (besides ourselves, of course).  The water was a combination of things that are counter-intuitive to me: it was crystal clear, yet milky, azure blue (like Blue Frost sports drink).  The color (which we would see again) is due to the minerals in the snow-melt from the nearby glaciers). Ethereal, and so pretty!

As the sun was rising to the right of us (East), it was turning the sky different shades of purple and pink.  Looking North, toward the far end of the lake, we could see Mount Cook, one of the tallest mountains in New Zealand and completely snow-covered.  The dim light from the sunrise, not yet risen over the mountains, illuminated the snow, and made it look like Mount Cook was glowing - stunning!  Combined with the blue color of the lake and the bleached white stones, I think an artist would have trouble imagining such a beautiful scene.

As stunning as Lake Pukaki was, little did I know that more breathless scenery awaited. We hung around until the sun started to peek over the mountains before continuing on our journey.  This leg of the trip (from Pukaki to Wanaka) was remarkable for the number of animals who lost their lives as we passed through - three (two rabbits and one bird).  First off, New Zealand has a rabbit problem; they are everywhere and comprise of the majority of roadkill in the parts where we were.  Why am I mentioning this?  Perhaps I am trying to make myself feel better, even though I wasn’t driving and the damn things would literally run across the road as the car approached (like the old Atari game “Frogger”).  I have only hit one animal while driving, so to hit three in one trip seemed like some kind of record.

Anyway, I was able to sneak in a little nap in between killing the rabbits (and later a big bird).  When I woke up, we had arrived at Lake Wanaka, a small, stunning alpine lake town about an hour north of Queenstown.  This place was lush with green grass and trees and bright sunshine, a sharp contrast to the dimly-lit, nearly barren Lake Pukaki.  The town was buzzing with busy cafes, and people walking their dogs and simply enjoying the lovely morning.  As for us, it was time to eat!  We got coffees and breakfast and sat in the sunshine, taking in the surroundings.

After breakfast, we walked around for about an hour.  As at Lake Pukaki, the water at this lake was crystal clear, although it was more of the classic dark blue color.  We walked to the end of a dock and could see straight down to the bottom.  In addition, we could see several large trout and even a freshwater eel.  It reminded me of Lake Skaneateles in Upstate New York on steroids, with dramatic mountains and trees on Wanaka replacing the rolling hills and numerous summer homes and boats on Skaneateles.

Soon, it was time to get back in the car and finally go to Queenstown.  It was only 9:00AM, but it felt like we already had a full day of activities completed (for Christian, who still had not yet been to bed, I am sure it felt like several days of activities).  We took a shortcut, a little known road that runs the 100km or so from Wanaka straight to South to Queenstown.  This road started low in elevation and, and after many twists and turns and ups and downs, we ended up on top of a mountain with an unbelievable view of the wine-growing valley in Central Otago (the region where Queenstown is located and well-known for its superb Pinot Noirs).  We stopped at a lookout point where there were many other sightseers.  The visibility was completely unobstructed, and we could see for many miles in the distance, including to the lake on which Queenstown sits.  We took a few photos, got back in the car and began our decent down the mountain, a rather treacherous two-lane road with hairpin turns zigzagging the whole way down.

Finally, driving alongside one of the shorter arms of Lake Wakatipu, we arrived in Queenstown.  We saw where our hotel was located (right in the center of town on the lake!), got our room keys (actual keys and not plastic cards), and found a parking spot up arguably the steepest paved hill I’ve ever experienced.  We walked down the hill, picked a restaurant, and ordered a nice bottle of Pinot Gris to celebrate our arrival!

After the wine, Christian made his way up to the car to get some sleep, and Rus and I walked around the whole town (easy to do because it is not very big).  He was on a mission to buy some more tramping (hiking) clothes, so we price-shopped and tried on lots of items before he made a couple of decisions.  While we were shopping, we were taking in the unbelievable scenery. Lake Wakatipu is a huge (56km long) dark blue lake with crystal clear waters surrounded by Adirondack-sized mountains.  The sun was warm, but the wind coming off the cold lake required us to keep our jackets on.  The temperature with the wind chill was about 15C, or around 60F.  We saw a gondola that went up to the top of one of the mountains and vowed we would do that for sure.  Queenstown is home to one of the last coal-fired passenger ships in the Southern Hemisphere, the T.S.S. Earnslaw, which makes daily tours of the lake.  We saw it come and go several times and considered it on the short-list of activities during our visit.

At check-in time (4:00PM), we met Christian at the car on top of the crazy hill, and he drove it to a more managable parking spot.  We grabbed our stuff and went to the hotel, which is actually a backpackers’ hotel.  This means cheap prices and modest accommodations.  It also means that it has a kitchenette and phone and internet facilities, basically everything one would need for long-term travelling (since there are so many travellers, we see these types of accommodation a lot here in New Zealand).  We got a room with a double and a twin bed so we could all save some money.  Our room had a bathroom ensuite (although this was not the case for all of the rooms) and a view of the lake - not bad for NZ$100 per night!

We grabbed much-needed naps, got showered and dressed for dinner, and made our way to a restaurant a stone’s throw from the hotel called Captain’s.  Our roommate, Radu, recommended it as one of the best places to eat in Queenstown.  Rus ordered grouper, I ordered salmon, and Christian ordered venison.  Our meals were spectacular, the wine excellent, and the service and company, well, fabulous. We ordered creme brulees to top of the meal then went for a walk around town to top off the evening.

We were still tired from the trip and little sleep the night before, so we turned in early to get a jump on the next day, which will be detailed in “Day Two”, coming up next!

We are off to Queenstown until Wednesday evening.  Queenstown is New Zealand’s premier town for everything outdoors!  It’s a small, picturesque village located on Lake Wakatipu.  We’re already booked for activities like river boarding (essentially boogie-boarding down white water river rapids), something I have wanted to try since I found out about it!

Anyway, it should be a good time, so stay tuned!

Today was one of those awesome days that suddenly makes you allergic to waiting in line, paying full price, eating what is on the menu, etc.  Today, Rus and I went V.I.P. wine tasting with our flatmate, Christian.  Christian, 25, has studied viticulture in Vienna in his home country, Austria.  He works as a server at Saggio di Vino, which is arguably one of the best restaurants in Christchurch - just around the corner from our house.  An aspiring vintner and sommelier, he spends his free time rubbing elbows and tasting wines with the world’s finest. So when he said he was going wine tasting, we were happy to invite ourselves to tag along :)

Christian called ahead to the Pegasus Bay vineyard in Waipara, about 50km (30 miles) north of Christchurch, to schedule a tasting.  The drive out to Waipara was emblematic of the scenic beauty we see in New Zealand.  Within a blink of an eye of leaving the city limits, we were treated with a vast rural flat landscapes stretching on to dramatic hills covered in tall, dry grasses…and sheep.  We saw more sheep, alpaca, deer, and cows than we could dream of counting - all happily chomping away in the chilly summer air (Rus thought aloud that he’d like to mountain bike down one of those awesome hills; I just wondered what it would look like from up there.  Okay, mountain biking down one sounds fun too!).

Pegasus Bay is unassuming; the sign marking its place could easily be confused with one advertising a small farmer’s roadside vegetable stand.  A short drive down the unpaved road, and we were greeted with a lovely old home surrounded by lush gardens and well-appointed hardscape.  Christian told us that Pegasus Bay winery, one of Waipara’s largest commercial ones, started with the owner simply wanting to put his three lazy children to work; one was responsible for reds, one for whites, and one for the on-site restaurant.  The building itself has lots of character: hardwood floors, stained glass windows, and decorative trim that is hard to find nowadays.  Once inside, we were greeted warmly by our hostess, a German expatriot, who vacationed in New Zealand frequently before deciding to move here permanently 19 years ago.

We tasted eight different wines, starting with the wine that boosted New Zealand wines onto the world stage - Sauvignon Blanc.  After that came a beautiful Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend, Dry Reisling, Sweet Reisling, and Chardonnay.  Then came the reds - Pinot Noir, Merlot/Cabernet blend, and one that was apparently so good, I can’t remember! (wink)

All of that wine-tasting worked up an appetite, and we opted for a fabulous lunch of caprese salad, ciabatta and olive oil, and a glorious seafood chowder in the winery’s restaurant.  The food was excellent, and this was the first time since we arrived in New Zealand that I ate buffalo mozzarella (as you may already know, I consider fresh mozzarella a food group!).  Once finished, we were allowed a very brief tour of the fermentation warehouse, and then it was off to Winery #2 (evidently, Christian had us on a tight schedule).

Another drive literally over the river and through the woods (and in and out of arguably the smallest town I’ve ever seen), a near-missed left hand turn and screeching brakes, and we arrived at Pyramid Valley Vineyards.  Hidden off a lonely (self-named) road less traveled, this obscure vineyard - barely distinguishable by the half-barrel sign that read “Pyramid Valley Vineyards, Open By Appointment Only” - looked more like a antique shop than a winery worthy of Christian’s discriminating acclaim.  Alas, appearances can be deceiving, as we were greeted by the vintner himself, Mr. Mike Weersing.

Mike looks to be in his early-40s, with bright blue eyes and an already-white head of closely cropped hair.  Dressed in cargo shorts and a plaid button-down covered with a heavy wool sweater (yay Summer!),  he immediately suggested we jump in the truck and go see the vines.  You can see a video of Mike describing his land here. Pyramid Valley is interesting; Mike grows Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on site, and leases vines of different varieties in Marlborough, New Zealand’s largest wine-making region (have no fear, dear readers, Rus and I will definitely be visiting this part of the country soon!).  He drove us to the top of one of those magnificent hills I had wondered just moments ago what it would be like to look out from.  It was cold, barely breaking 60F, and my 2″ sandals were no match for the foot-tall grasses.  Mike was telling us about how he chose the spot to start his vineyard, the composition of the soil, about the weather, the birds, etc. - all very interesting!  The brisk wind, however, kept his lesson from atop the hill short; we got back in the truck and drove back down the hill to the small tasting room.

We tasted several lovely wines (mostly whites), but for me the most memorable part of the afternoon was listening to Mike.  I have gone wine-tasting before and learned a lot about how it tastes, what food it should be paired with, etc.  On the other hand, it is a truly rare opportunity indeed to experience any product with its producer, while surveying the beautiful land on which its grown, and listening to him describe how and why it was made the way it was made.  Pyramid Valley Vineyards clearly has a lot of passion and a lot of love there - for wine, for nature, for New Zealand.  I found the day exhilirating and soul-quenching in a way that is hard to put into words.

After this special adventure, it is surely going to make all other wine-tasting pale in comparison.

*A special thanks to Christian Esser for allowing us to share this wonderful experience with him (and for driving)!

Yesterday we decided to hop on the Number 28 bus to Lyttelton to see the sights and eat at a highly recommend restaurant called London Street. Along the way we passed through a tunnel (which saves probably 30-45 minutes of travel time) and the bus stopped to exchange some passengers at the Christchurch Gondola. We are holding off on the gondola experience until family and friends visit. After about 40 minutes, we departed the bus at the last stop which was located on the actual shipping docks. The town of Lyttelton is very quaint, small, and hilly.  From almost every house there is a beautiful view of the harbour with its Caribbean-coloured water.  Lyttelton is a historic town and is one of the major international shipping hubs for New Zealand.  There was a huge cruise ship docked along with other various fishing boats, cargo ships, and dolphin-sightseeing boats.  We proceeded to walk around town and shop a bit.  I found two interesting bottles of wine in a cool little organic wine shoppe/food market/restaurant.  One of the bottles is a 1997 Australian red blend and the other is a 2002 Cab Sav from Australia.  I will be sure to post a review after we pop the cork!

We continued to walk around town and eventually decided that there wasn’t anything else to do.  We didn’t feel like waiting around until the restaurant opened, so we walked back to the bus stop and came home.  Our plan is to take the bus out to Lyttelton again just for dinner during the week sometime; maybe to celebrate a work milestone (there are some coming up soon).

I took some great photos and posted them into a Lyttelton Set on our Flickr page. Please have a look and check out our other photos while you’re there!