We immediately picked up our second car rental (a hybrid which would help save us from spending exorbitant $$$ on petrol) and headed straight for Blenheim, located in the famous Marlborough wine region. We stayed at another B&B, owned by John and Paulette, an adorable retired couple that lives in the middle of a vineyard! They quickly made us feel right at home and proved to be reliable resources for wine tasting, fantastic chefs, and quintessentially friendly and genuine Kiwis that kept us laughing for two days straight.
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| Heather under the weather drinking tea amongst the vineyards |
That first day we wasted no time in heading out to taste some of the region's famous Sauvignon Blanc. (I was feeling the onset of yet another cold and knew I needed to take advantage of my dwindling sense of taste.) We followed that up with some sundowners with John and Paulette ("medicinal sherry" for me), and then dinner at a delicious local joint, which was unanimously recommended by all the locals we met that day. As you can imagine, over the past three months we have become quite adept at discovering the local gems in a relatively short period of time!
The next day we rented bikes and toured around some of the closer wineries. It was a perfect day for an easy ride in the completely flat landscape, which I definitely appreciated! By the end of the 6 mile loop I was ready for a nap, so Stan was left to explore by bike on his own.
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| Stan and his wheels |
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| Grazing between the rows of vines, these sheep are living the good life |
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| 1 out of 1 dermatologists approve of this wine |
That evening we opted to dine at home with John and Paulette! We chose from a limited menu their special local seafood stew, complete with the largest mussels I have ever seen, rack of lamb and New Zealand pavlova. Everything was of course paired with wines specially selected from their fancypants wine cellar. I'm not quite sure how Paulette prepared it all as she chatted us up in front of the fire right up until dinner time, but it was an incredibly delicious home cooked meal, and the fantastic company was an added bonus. At the end of the meal John indulgently introduced us to two new liqueurs, Galliano and Drambuie, and we eventually stumbled upstairs. After this latest wonderful experience, home stays will likely be our new go-to mode of travel! What better way to get to know the local region and meet new people?
We headed out the next morning for Queenstown, a 10 hour drive. We had been told that the scenery of the South Island is "where New Zealand begins," and we could finally see why! Our trip took us along the winding east coast, where we saw a seal colony, impressive rock formations, clear blue lakes and rolling green hills dotted with freshly-shorn sheep and their lambs. Basically every classic New Zealand countryside landscape you can imagine.
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| Stunning mountains and plenty of lakes. Typical scenery of the South Island |
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| Baby lamb with mother |
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| Seals trying to warm up from the frigid water |
Queenstown is a vibrant young city known for its unique mountain setting, fickle weather, adventure sports and laid back attitude. It was kind of like a much colder, more adventurous, mountainous version of Austin. We arrived in town late and headed straight to the downtown area, where by some strange coincidence we ran into two fellow travelers from Perth that we had previously met at the Maiori experience in Rotorua! They joined us for dinner/drinks and shared with us all of the exciting things they had been up to in Queenstown, which gave us some ideas for how best to spend our time.
The next day we had a pow wow with the front desk manager, who after much consultation offered the following itinerary:
- 11:00 bungee jump
- 12:00 winery lunch
- 3:00 Shotover jet ride
... to which our first response was, "Wait... you mean we're bungee jumping in an hour????"
And so off we went to the world's birthplace of bungee jumping, the Kawarau Bridge! All I will say is yes, we both jumped, Stan went first, it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be (much less so than skydiving), and I would totally do it again. I think the pictures say it all.
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| Heather taking the plunge |
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| Petrifying view looking down |
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| Much happier on the way up knowing the bungee worked |
To decompress and celebrate surviving our risky behavior, we then had a leisurely lunch at the nearby Amisfield Winery, where we enjoyed a tasty "Trust the Chef" tasting while overlooking the vineyards. Hey, we trusted the bungee operators, why not continue in the same vein?
Before our last scheduled activity, we stopped in Arrowtown, an historic gold rush village known for its old Chinese Settlement. Small, picturesque and set along a small stream, it actually reminded me of an old New England town. It was no surprise to learn that, as with most scenic spots around the country, Peter Jackson filmed some river scenes from The Lord of the Rings movies in Arrowtown.
Finally, the Shotover Jet. It was basically a high-speed ride on a boat that somehow worked by pumping massive amounts of water through a fancy system and propelling us at high speed. The pump system allows the boat to quickly accelerate, stop, steer, and even do 360 degree spins at the drop of a dime, all while navigating through a deep and narrow canyon at high speeds! All in all a worthwhile activity, and it was in some ways scarier than bungee jumping! There were points when I truly believe I could have reached out of the boat and grazed the canyon with my hand as we sped past.
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| Doing a 360 in our crazy boat |
Finally able to enjoy some down time, we headed to Queenstown for coffee at the waterfront. Later on we checked out our first ice bar (a bar made entirely of ice, including glassware), and had NZ tapas! Needless to say it was an incredibly full day and we had no trouble passing out that evening.
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| Enjoying a frosty beverage from an ice cup (gloves required) |
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| The lap of the ice bear was not as comfortable as I had hoped |
For our last full day in Queenstown, we kicked things off with a hearty breakfast of meat pies from Fergbaker. As it turns out New Zealanders love their savory hand pies. Everyone - bakeries, convenience stores, supermarkets - seems to have them, and they are delicious everywhere you go. (It's also an economical meal in this land of $8 coffee.) From mincemeat to chicken cranberry Brie to rosemary lamb kumara (sweet potato) to fish and even mussel pies, they are all mouthwatering and the perfect roadtrip food. Kiwis even hold an annual national competition to judge the best pies in the land! I would gladly volunteer for such an esteemed judges' panel.
We then headed to the Kiwi Wildlife Center, where we got up-close and personal with the famous birds indigenous to NZ (they are too elusive and nocturnal to see in the wild, at least given our timeframe). Finally we hopped on the gondola, headed up to Bob's Peak (which provides postcard-worthy views of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu) and took in the sights of Queenstown in the most ridiculous way possible - by paragliding! It was a first for each of us, and completely thrilling. I didn't find out until later that this activity is often hampered by weather - we were lucky enough to enjoy one of only 4 days of possible paragliding in the month of September.
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| Unfortunately we don't yet have paragliding photos but this was the view from our launch point |
Finally, we headed over to the bungee center to sign up for the Nevis Swing - the world's tallest swing, set in a huge canyon! Much to my abject dismay, they had stopped taking reservations due to some sort of morning backlog. Sadly, there would be no more adrenaline pumping adventures in our future. Instead Stan headed to the links for a solo round of 18 holes and I headed to the spa. Not a bad way to cut our losses!
That evening we went Fergburger (the more popular of the Ferg establishments), where we ate some of the largest burgers I have seen in recent memory. In addition to pies, New Zealanders seem to have a real affinity for burgers, and Stan and I have thoroughly enjoyed testing out offerings from the various competing entities.
For our last big adventure, we headed to Doubtful Sound for an overnight cruise. It was a relaxing and surprisingly interesting way to observe one of the most pristine settings NZ has to offer. We kayaked in the sound before jumping into the 12 degree water (!), spotted bottlenose dolphins, and even made it all the way to the normally choppy Tasman Sea, where we saw Fiord yellow crested penguins and fur seals. The next morning we hoisted the sails and drifted into one of the arms of the sound, where our captain shut off the motor and we were able to take in the glassy water, mountains and waterfalls all around us. We spent tons of time and megabytes trying to capture the incredible scenery, but our shots just do not do our trip justice. Which, now that I think about it, describes much of the last few months!
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| Doubtful Sound from the pass leading down |
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| Dolphin playing with the boat's wake |
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| Kayaking with some unbelievable views |
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| Jumping against our better judgment! |
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| Wind-free reflection shot |
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| Panoramic views of the sound |
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| View of Lake Manapouri |
Since our final flight home departed from Christchurch (an eight hour drive), we headed north from our stay in Doubtful Sound, this time taking the even more eye-poppingly scenic western route before stopping for the night in Hokitika. For almost 5 straight hours, we were surrounded by mountains, oceans and rolling pastures with cows and sheep. It's really no wonder people flock to this country to see the famous landscape.
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| Lake Matheson at dusk |
The next day we set out bright and early to make it into Christchurch with enough time to survey the earthquake damage before flying back to Auckland. That plan was almost derailed when, midway through the scenic and completely unpopulated Arthur's Pass, we discovered that we were running dangerously low on fuel! We turned off the air, unplugged all of our electronics, drove in neutral on the downhills and held our collective breath for about 80 km before finally coasting into the last gas station until Christchurch! But, as they say, everything happens for a reason, and for us that reason was award-winning meat pies, which we found in the shop next door.
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| New Zealand pies are delicious! Stan chows down on the national 5th place winner: a lamb-kumara-rosemary pie |
As expected, Christchurch was in quite a sad state, and as we drove through the town it became obvious that it will take years for the city to rebuild. Cranes now dot the cityscape and entire city blocks are closed in the downtown area as workers continue with the demolition of unstable structures. In one abandoned restaurant some of the circular tables were lying on their sides, presumably untouched since the earthquake in February 2011.
As we headed to the airport we reflected on the rich experiences and truly hospitable people we have met in this beautiful, diverse and slightly European country. As always, there was not nearly enough time to do everything we would have liked, and yet we experienced a good cross-section of both North and South Island cultures. Hopefully we can one day return and explore the scenery in the ever-popular motor home, as was recommended by my grandparents who did this years ago!
It's hard to put the experiences of the past three months into words. One thing we do know is how fortunate we are to be able to take so much time off at this point in our lives and to have such supportive families that have helped enable us to do so.
After 87 days, 14 countries, two dozen books read, countless bottles of wine imbibed, 10 leeches and various articles of clothes and adaptors lost along the way, we are emerging from this once-in-a-lifetime adventure enriched, humbled, inspired, energized, and eager to start our new life together on the West Coast. We only hope that through this blog we have been able to infect our friends and family with the very same travel bug that will continue to lead us to destinations far and wide.
Bring it on, Sac-town! And to all of our peeps, come visit any time!!
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| Random shopfront in Bali |
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| Perpetually getting our blog on |
