Wine Tasting - 29 November

What a wet day in Queenstown - November 29 2006. It did not stop raining and was pretty cold with it.
Last night (Wed) snow fell down to 600m level (Queenstown is at about 350m above sea level, so did not affect the town) - nevertheless the mountains appeared to be covered this morning. Summer starts on Friday!

However, we largely avoided the rain all day by dint of us going on a wine tasting tour, visiting some of the Central Otago wineries and tasting various of their splendid (and not-so splendid wines).

The varities that we sampled were : Pinot Noir de Blanc (a very good rose), Pinot Gris (very similar to Pinot Grigio), Riesling, Some champagnes (Pinot Noir/Chardonnay blend) and the best of all, Pinot Noir. The 2005 Pinot Noir was the very best that we sampled - owing its quality to the fact that there was a very poor harvest that year (frost killing many vines), which in turn - we were told - produced a more complex wine.

Pinot noir is only produced in three areas of the world - Burgundy, Oregon & the Otago region. Co-incidentally (or not, probably), these are all on the 43rd line of lattitude. Spot the difference : the 1st two are in the Northern Hemisphere of course.
Anyway, evidently my four hour trip (and approx. 20 samples of various products) have turned me into a wine expert. All I know is this, I like the taste.

I think I will pass this post over to Rita now in order that she can expand on the day's events..

Mornin' Chaps. It is a wet Thursday morn in Qtn so good oppo to bloggo. Surething, we 'hit' a few Wineries yesterday with a guide and managed to continue sampling and tasting without a guide once we were back at our 'pad', sans guide/sans sense. Apparently we ate and watched a film after that but to recall the detail now is all a tad hazy. Anyway you don't really want to know what we dined on, do you? I mean, a blog from 13,000 miles away in fantastic NZ should not really be reduced to the Banal should it, about what was on our plates? Oh, you do? You peops are so unbelieably inquisitive or are you just humouring us? Well, ok then, if you insist. It was leftovers! Ha! ha! More of Leigh's home cooking. Chicken a la Merrix on a bed of sphagetti al dente. (Needed a few more minutes - but didn't get it!) with a chilled to perfection Marlbourough SB.

But more about the Winery visit...

On the blurb it gave us the option of pre-selecting lunch either hot meal or a cold lunch (sandwiches and a piece of fruit). We decided to pass on this in favour of bringing our own packed lunch in the interests of ensuring quality food and not being ripped off. The memory of a lunch we had in Haast whereby a tourist only passes thro' once, dictated the culinary standards of the chef and we had no choice but to be subjugated to it - was still ripe in our collective memory, so Leigh popped off to the supermarket early doors so that when lunch arrived we were able to produce our own fare. So far so good. On the coach we were introduced to our fellow winery-goers (winery-growers came later): Mr and Mrs Middle-aged from Chicago, Mr and Mrs young marrieds from York (work for GNR), Mr and Mrs Early-40's from Auckland and Two Post-Grad Female from Holland and your's truly our Two Valiant Brits (us!). Ten in total plus Driver-cum-guide (Goldie Hawn).

There were four Wineries lined up. One pre-lunch and 3 post lunch. First Winery was tantalizing as we sipped wines that barely covered the surface of the glass and the interludes in between fills were longer and less interesting by the word. The cave we stood in surrounded by barrels was echo -ee and cool. We were then ushered into a Posh, high roofed, subdued dining room. The table was set for 10 but food was produced for 8. (Quite so, 8 had prepaid and ordered their luncheons - two had not!).
I admired the table setting. The table itself was highly polished, with oak tall back chairs, the linen napkins (I used to call them serviettes but recently learnt that was so Del-boy), were crisp white and so starched you needed your Dad to unfold it for you. Cutlery was heavy, silver and shiny, extravagant crystal oval shaped glasses and colonial ambience. Polite conversation ensured and timorous social smiles and oh, so terribly reserved and then the food came out. Crickey it was a bloody banquet. I dare barely glance at it for fear of looking deprived/envious. Out of the corner of my eye I observed the most fresh top quality looking food ranging from freshly cooked pasta al dente (not a second more or less than perfection) and cheeseboards

Thurs eve:
... Look here, I've got to cut Rita short. I'm back in Internet cafe Thursday evening. It's still cold & wet but have done good bike ride in interim.
Rita's not here at the mo', but in the interest of keeping things up to date, I'm going to publish and be damned. I'm sure I will be.

Look out for this post being amended though, probably in a couple of days when we're on the Otago bike ride. See yous later.

Queenstown - Monday

"Pots at Queenstown craft fair"




Did a reasonable bike ride last night which tested the old knee - seems to be ok so next weeks Otaga Rail trail ride still seems on.

The Kiwis (people not birds - although this might also apply) are very laid back & friendly. It makes you reflect when you're in different countries, which seem to offer much more than the UK. Loads of space, clean air, lack of significant crime, relaxed pace of life, kids all enjoying the outdoors, freedom!!! Or is all this just coloured by the fact that we're on holiday. Not entirely.

Good Morning Chaps! Leigh gone to refill cappacinos so I have moved on to his computer. I note his last line was about being on holiday. Well, this Monday morning is like being at the office. We are both on computers in this internet cafe during their 'Happy Hour' between 9am - 11am it is only $3 per hour as oppose to $6. This affords us a computer each and cappacinos. So, more costly in the end but better value, n'est ce pas? We have to rack our brains this morning to transfer funds and e-mail bank manager and letting agencies and do such business like stuff that it already seems really alien. And so taxing! There is only so much one can do in advance of going away and unforseen issues arise that need answers and it is so hard to think beyond where one's next ice cream is coming from...

This coming week we have only two trips planned so no exciting physical challenges (thank goodness!). One is a jet boat trip upon some beautiful but unpronoucable lake and the other is an all-day Winery Tour, lunch included. Otago wines I believe. Leigh and I (how queenly! well, tis Queenstown)have found ourselves quite partial to NZ wines. Quel surpris, I know! Oyster Bay, Pinor Noir and Marlborough SB all excellent but expensive. There are no Tesco deals here.

So, this is just a bit of a humdrum week as we will be making it up as we go along. This town is highly touristy full of quaint cafes, bars, restaurants and lots of attractions. So, very easy to while away time plesantly in the sunshine reading newspapers, our books and reading menu boards as we make tricky decisions about lunch/evening meal etc. All very good but makes one so lazy. Lazy is good whilst there are so few demands.

We have been invited for complimentary drinks this evening by our host and hostess (we have had a glimpse of them)and to meet the other residents. Leigh not too motivated by this prospect (that is an understatement) but for me, a complimentary drink is not too be sneered it. I put forward my most persuasive argument and you all know what that is: 'If you look after your pennies the pounds will look after themselves'. Leigh retorts that 'I get more like Molly everyday'! (I take this as a compliment!). Oh, I will just let you know that Leigh has been doing some healthy cooking. The kitchen is this apartment is well equipped and spacious. Leigh cooked a rattouille which we had on Saturday night with sweet potatoes and as left overs on Saturday night with chorizo sausage chopped into it with beetroot, salad and crusty bread. All very good while it lasted. Tonight we plan for a curry. Fascinating this blog isn't it? Well, read it at work then, - that way you will feel that you are not missing anything.


Next blogging content will be telling you about our Jet boat and Wine tour so for the next few days we are just going to do some sauntering, mooching around and indulging ourselves on being as lazy as hell and if the social conscience raises its head we will pour some NZ wine over it!

Toodle-pip.

Queenstown - Saturday 25 November

Hi Fans, Friends, Family and Foe,

Howya'll doin'?




We are in Queenstown now in a luxury apartment, complete with complimentary newspaper delivered each day. We certainly don't get that at home! It is an apartment for 6 so we rattle about in it a bit. Suits us!

I achieved a minor victory today and that is we have returned our car to the Rental Hire Co. so now not only are we genuine backpackers - oh the joy of carrying one's rucksack as opposed to popping it in the boot, but also we save ourselves $45 dollars a day. This means we can afford Oyster Bay SB and Marlborough Pinot Noir and maybe even a haircut for me and a chincut for Leigh!

So having spent almost 24 hours in this small busy town we have made some plans which are to go to the cinema as much as possible, to embark upon a jet boat trip and to do a Winery tour and to try out some bikes to test Leigh's dodgy knees, hips and ankles on in preparation for out booked cycle tour next week. Next week we will be truly homeless and if cycling not possible then without means of any transport. We will have to concentrate on not getting ourselves arrested as itinerants!

Sunshine beckons and one minute left on screen before I lost text. Good bye!

Fox Glacier, Arrowtown & arriving Queenstown

We've now driven back from the West coast and are in the Queenstown area (not a million miles from Wanaka!).
We're governed a bit at this early stage by the fact we booked some accommodation (weeks1 & 3 in NZ) with our timeshare points - which, incidentally, we wished we'd never bought - and this has caused us to take an odd route on our travels . i.e. travelling north from Wanaka to west coast and then back down same roads, but further south towards Queenstown.
We're actually in a quaint little town called Arrowtown today. It's a reconstructed gold mining town (very twee!). It has got a superb little cinema though, where we went to see 'Beyond the Sea' last night. Film's about the life of Bobby Darin and stars Kevin Spacey. Would recommend it (definitely one for Mr Pashley as music is right up his street!).
Oh we had a small incident in Franz Josef the other night. I managed to lock the car keys in the boot of the car. The car naturally was locked as well. This resulted in us having to call the AA man, who proved to be very congenial chap and managed with the aids of wires and inflatable air bags to reach the internal boot open mechanism next to the footwell of the car. Because of this delay though we revised our original plans which were to go further North and then head back towards Queenstown via Arthur's Pass.

Hey - I'm now in a different Internet cafe, same day, different place. We're in Queenstown. Rita's replying to e-mails.
First impressions of Queenstown weren't good, lovely setting, horrible buildings. Since then things have picked up and we're now by the lakeside and the sun's out (sporadically), so things are not too bad.
Already spotted a cinema and I think we'll go and watch 'Departed' (Jack Nicholson, Leonarda Decaprio & Matt Damon) tonight. We like films.

Anyway, let's cast our minds back a little to Fox's Glacier.
I know the mints have been around a while, but I think that the actual glacier is even older. We just viewed this one, rather than walking on it.
We stayed in the village of Fox on Tuesday 21/11/2006. Accommodation was fairly tight, but we struck lucky. We booked in at a backpackers hostel, but ended up in a 3 bedroomed bungalow which we shared with two other couples. This proved fortuitous, because we got on really well with our fellow travellers.
In fact we're meeting Alan & Sue (from Halifax) in Queenstown sometime this week and we went out for a meal with them in Fox. They are fellow veterans of the Tod Boundary walk.
The other couple Jim & Sue were Aussies and had spent over 3 hours stuck on the top of a glacier during the day because the helicopter could not take them down until the cloud lifted a bit. They didn't seem too dispirited by this experience though - at least they had the right gear on which is more than some in their party did.

Oooh I shouldn't go without having a quick moan about my decrepit joints (non-smokables). I had cortisone injections in my hips before I left the UK and these seem pretty effective. Trouble is my knees are giving me gyp now, particularly the right one , where the underlying problem has been exacerbated by the Glacier expedition. Rita tells me I'm getting more like Jack (my dad) every day and now I seem to have a limited flexion of my leg, in the same way that he has. His problems been with him for the last 55 years though, since he broke his leg playing footie at the age of 31! Anyway, Rita's getting more like Molly.

West Coast - Haast & Franz Josef

Blogging from this bus





Have left Wanaka now and travelled up to a place called Haast on the West Coast, where we spent one night.

The drive is absolutely stunning - even when raining. You essentially travel through a high mountain pass and the lush vegetation of rainforests.
We've had a heck a lot of rain.
The average for the West Coast of NZ is in the region of 5 metres per year - compare this with somewhere like London which has only 300mm per year (or to Phoenix which this year to date has had 0.63 inch!)and you can see that it's pretty wet.
Even for NZ they've had a very wet spring/early summer. So whilst all you folks back home are basking in the warm November sunshine, think of us.


Franz Josef Glacier (Our view from inside the Glacier)


L & R have conquered FJ Glacier

Yes Peeps that is really us, Leigh and me - we have not paid anyone to superimpose our cardboard cutouts up there on the glacier (We are saving that trick for the bungi jumping!).

And so, what day is it? Oh yes, it is Monday, 20.11.06 and this morning we met our guide at 8.30am and embarked upon our Franz Josef Glacier trip. We had heard it was not for the faint hearted, so I knew instinctively that this was for us! (ha! ha!). To our one guide there were 12 of us in the group, 5 Germans, 5 Japs and us two valiant Brits. For once, I was not the weakest link. So, a multi-faceted new experience one might say. Yoko occupied that dubious pleasure. For a start she had the most unusual way of crossing the many fast flowing streams that we had to face on the 2 mile walk to the glacier itself. She would successfully and urgently step on the first two or three rocks (within the stream itself that is, that the guide had just skillfully skipped across on, followed by the rest of us, all except Yoko that is, cos she and her loyal husband were always at the back/last)and so...

Then as we waited and observed, Yoko would veer to the right and wade into the stream, carefully avoiding any further rocks as she strode across like a trapese artist trying to maintain his balance. And then, Yoko's husband would do exactly the same thing almost as if a game of copy cat was on the go between them. With each stream the procedure was the same. Suffice to say this couple ended up wet through to their knees. From our dry-land position this was fascinating. We concluded that this is some ancient Samurai custom.

Once having ascended the intrepid JF glacier and calmed my jelly legs I was able to summon all my reserves of bravery and actually open my eyes and look around me. Crickey me...all the ice. And ice with blue streaks at that! It was a tad chilly too, I can tell you! It was especially hard on the knees on the descent as you had to stamp hard on each step to ensure your crampons spiked the ice properly so as you did not slip. Our guide had warned us to be extremely careful to stamp each step on the ascent as it was steep and slippery and if you did slip it was a long way down and you could take someone else 'out' with you. As you can imagine these warnings posed a real dilemna for me as I did not know whether to have Leigh in front of me (soft landing but how could he help me if he were in front?) or behind me as he can be a tad cavalier and not one for detail!

Btw, we are not sure what the stream wader's name really was. It would really be a coincidence if it was Yoko though! (If I saw Yoko n a pub, I'd say: 'Oi, Ono, No,No, Ono').My goodness, we are really sensible, aren't we?.

Soon leaving Wanaka..

Just a note really to let you know that some photies have been added to Rarotonga post - blimey, what a palava!

Hi Chaps, I've been skiving whilst Leigh does all the keying in and technical stuff with uploading photos. So, just to let you know that I am still around but not coming back 'with a vengeance' as I noted Leigh stated in previous blog-text. I really can't understand how Leigh can attribute this 'vengeance' characteristic to me...

We've had a great week in Wanaka and tomorrow we have to be out of our luxury apartment by 9.30am and take up our usual 'homeless' status. Only, this time not even a Motorhome between us. Just our feet and heavy rucksacks. Oh deep joy! Oh, I am not being truly honest here as we do have a smart rental car. It is gleaming white and is brand new and its make is a Toyota Camry Sportif (2.4 litre) - Leigh likes it anyway. 'Sod the shuttle and coach' he says. 'A car is the thing' This being on holiday lark is good fun when the most exacting challenge is how to set the blooming DVD. Luckily we managed it, adjudged (adjudged???) by the fact that we have watched a few films this week: Good Night and Good Luck; City of God; Brokeback Mountain; March of the Penguins. Oh, I've got to end this blog as Leigh has just pointed out that the program I want to watch tonight starts at 9.30pm and it is already 8pm and we have yet to dine and walk back to our luxurious over-looking-Lake Wanaka-complete-with-absolutely-topnotch-everything apartment. (Oh, 2moro is Budget Backpackers Hostel). And the program I want to watch? Well, its Gordon Ramsay at La Gondola in Derby bringing staff and furnishings into the 21st century. Dario's Dad owns it, so it has some personal interest. Not seen Dario since 5.08.06 at Ben's wedding. Soooooooooooooo, time to go. Goodnight and Good luck.

Wanaka - Thursday

So, back in the old dub,dub,dub Internet cafe in Wanaka.

We did a cracking walk yesterday, which took us into the Mount Aspiring National Park - scenery & weather were magnificent. Today it's raining, but warmer.

After the kayaking trip a couple of days ago we managed to lose between us a red swimming costume, a black waterproof (complete with room key in pocket) and a little white towel. It must have been all the excitement.
Fortunately the guys who run the Kayak place have kept them safe for us and in fact, I've just picked them up.
Most unlike us two to lose anything!.

You may have noticed Rita's not been blogging for a while. Do not assume that you are spared. She will be back - and with a vengeance.
At the moment she's gone to try & sort our phones out. We're still being charged at about #3 (where's that pound sign gone?) a minute for UK calls. So when some tenant calls saying that they need a lightbulb replacing it becomes a very expensive business for us. Talking of tenants, for any football (or should I qualify that somewhat), Derby County fans out there, we have a certain Jon Stead renting a property. It's the first time I've ever hoped a R*ms player would do well for the club - poor chap's only on a 3 month contract apparently.

Kayaking on the mighty Clutha...

The largest volume river in NZ and the seventh in the world, the mighty Clutha river had not seen a day like this before...
Guided by our trusty mentor, Ben, we set out to conquer 18 kilometres of this fast flowing river. So, aided only by young companions Courtenay and Sam we set about making our mark upon it.

For your delectation we have added a few photies to prove that we did it.
It was a great day and the river water tasted divine.

NB: In case you didn't realise Leigh's safety helmet colour is Green - Rita's is blue (with an 'E' on the front)...



Leigh extremely happy to be reunited with his boat



It's all plain sailing...

Arriving in New Zealand

We arrived at Aukland on what had become Friday afternoon, having set off 4.5 hours earlier from Ratotonga on what was then Thursday morning.
Problems! Rita had misplaced part of her hand luggage - viz a viz an M & S bag (posh, not carrier), containing about $200 NZ & #420 sterling (pound signs disappeared from this keyboard). Also contained her one & only waterproof for the trip and possibly some US dollars. Serious stuff for a couple of doleites such as us.
We only discoverd this missing hand lugage on landing at Christchurch (internal flight from Aukland). We stayd over night at a motel near the airport in Christchurch. Over breakfast Rita received a phone call from some Kiwi chap who had found her bag. It is now in the care of NZ Airways lost baggage and we will pick it up from Aukland on Jan 7th before flying out to Sydney.
We have since flown from Christchurch to Queenstown (rocky old flight it was too) and hired a car. We're now ensconsed at our RCI resort in Wanaka (70 odd miles from Queenstown) and I'm updating the blog from an e-mail cafe there.
It's now Sunday lunchtime - we're 13 hours ahead of the UK now.
I ended up watching Premiership footy half the night as the games in England kicked off and we have the rare luxury of TV (including Sky Sports). Doesn't sound much of an adventure, does it?

Rarotonga

No updates for a while, hey - fear not, we are still around.

Tomorrow we fly to NZ (Christchurch via Aukland) - that's when we actually lose a day. At the mo' we are 10 hours behind UK time, tomorrow (or should that read Friday) we will be 12 hours ahead. It's like magic.

We had a bit of a dodgy landing at Rarotonga - the pilot 'thumbs' Gilligan was obviously unsure of where the runway began and ended , but all was well in the end. Truth be told it was very windy.
Day one's weather was dull, day two there was a torrential downpour. Since then it's been brilliant - as soon as this tropical sun rises it scorches.

I'm going to let my dear wife contribute once more in a few minutes, she is busy replying to e-mails at the moment as we sit in Dougie's Internet cafe working on separate PCs.

Rarotonga is a bit of a throwback to fifties Britain- not much in the shops and everything shut on Sundays. We did manage to find a restaurant open on Sunday lunch, but when I asked for a beer, I was told that they couldn't serve me one. It took some convincing them that I was over eighteen . I then found out that they don't serve alcohol on Sundays anyway.

I've abandoned (oh, this is me, Mrs M btw), that screen due to being outrun by the egg-timer so it was a 'read-only' experience. Very frustrating these internet cafe computers, you end up paying for time you don't actually get and one would be better off sunbathing instead! Sunbathing? Oh yes, it might be November (is it really?) but everyday - apart from the first few days here, crickey me what a turnoff that was - has been brilliant. So much so that we are actually swimming in the sea to be precise, in the lagoon, before breakfast each morning. Yesterday, we went kayaking. Our enthusiasm more than made up for our lack of synchronisation and after a few concentric circles we were able to 'steer' in a straight line. One point I would like to elaborate on is the rain we experienced when we first arrrived. I know you thought you were being let off lightly with a mere aforemention alluding-to. Let me tell you that as the rain plummeted down in relentless sheets so did Leigh's spirits ebb. There was talk of booking out and changing flights to go to NZ earlier than planned. (Hence the title of our blog...'Follow the sun'). Never mind that we are paying over 100 quid a night here; never mind that there would be a not altogether insignificant fee to change our scheduled flight; nevermind that we would have to pay for extra accommodation once we arrived in NZ, (Christchurch actually). But hey presto by mid morning on Monday it brightened up. The clouds cleared, Leigh cheered up immensely and so did I. Sod the fluctuations of the weather, Mrs M is keeping tabs on what she calls 'unnecessary expense'. For the rest of the day I heard Leigh breaking out into song - such was his renewed found humour - 'Hello Mudder, Hello Father, wait a minute it has stopped raining...etc'

Must fly as I am about to be timed out and this 'Post' is endangered!
(scary!)
Publishing right now...

Some photos of Rarotonga - inserted on 16/11/2006...

Reflections on Rarotonga

Now that there's bit of distance (2500 miles) and 2 days, between me and Rarotonga, I've been reflecting on what a wonderful place it is.
O.K., when I first arrived , I entertained such thoughts as, "blimey - there's nowt in the shops" and "all the cars are clapped out" and "what are all these dogs and hens doing strolling around the streets". Well, yes all that still applies, but the reasoning behind it is now clearer.
Rarotonga is the antithesis of the Consumer Society. Any goods that are sold here, excepting fruit & vegetables have to be imported.
The nearest major countries to Rarotonga are NZ (2000+ miles), West coast of USA (4000 + miles) and Australia (2000+ miles). Rarotonga has only one tiny port (and a population of around 10,000 + a smattering of tourists to feed), so it would be totally impractical to import the many varities of produce that we in the West enjoy.
The Hens are truly free range, the dogs seem to live idyllic lives basking in the sun and running along the beach. They dogs seem as laid back as the people. I think there are so many dogs here because when asked where they wanted to live, the nearest place name that could be detected in their answer was RARO - TONGA.
Tha cars are clapped out, because there is no urgent need for them and posessions don't equal status here. There is one road which circumnavigates the Island - it's 20 mile long (or round). Not much point having your 6 litre V12 SUV here.

The great thing about Rarotonga, is it's very remoteness.
It will never become a major holiday destination, but just be the place one comes across when travelling between Los Angeles and Aukland.

It's so tranquil and relaxed and those beautiful blue lagoons, with the white beeches and the soft breezes blowing through the palm trees.......

Enough. I must crack on.

LA Airport - flight delays

Just a quick note - our flight's been delayed by 3 hours (the Pilot's poorly), so I'm using airport facilities for Web access - it costs 25c per min, so having now checked e-mail, I thought I'd just add this short Blog. Will update, hopefully when in Roratonga......

Well, I'm back - It's Friday evening in LA (6:00 pm)- our flight is not leaving until 3:00 a.m. tomorrow. We then lose a day (I think) on the way to Roratonga. All being well it will still be November when we arrive.
I've left Rita reading the Stephen Knig novel ,Cujo - all about a rabid dog. She's enjoying it.
It's quite difficult to leave this airport as walking seems to be prohibited within the the bounds of the City. Apparently (I am reliably informed) there are 400 million cars in the US - 100 million of those are within the Los Angeles basin (which I guess includes al the satellite cities such as Anaheim, Long Beach & Santa Ana etc.) Hey, what about this for a moneyspinner as well - I'm paying 25 cents per min for this access and holding down the keys (as in arrow keys) doesn't work, so everything is slowed down and the time clicks on.
Anyway, today we returned the RV and were given a free lift to the airport, so arrived here at 12:00 pm - blimey by the time we fly we will have been here 15 hours!
In compensation we have been offered a buffet meal at the LA Hilton - can't wait.

We've had a really good time in the States - some pre-conceptions have proven flse, some correct, but I reckon we'll definiitely be back. There are ssome things which are the same as in Blighty, particularly all the fast food outlets - which I guess were all here first anyway. You know the sort of thing Macdonalds,Dominoe Pizzas, Pizza Hutx and the old Elvis Presley franchise, Burger King.

Hoping we can catch up with some more blogging v.soon.