Posted by Emily
After Wanaka, it was on to Queenstown, which is apparently the adventure capital of the world. Not too much craziness for us though. It's really expensive! We arrived a few hours before the Winterfest Mardi Gras parade, so after resting up a bit, we headed out into the cold to check out the festivities. They started with a small parade featuring paper masks on sticks, people in colorful costumes on stilts and many children with paper lanterns. It was a far cry from the antics that take place during the real Mardi Gras parade! After this, it was a night of drinking mulled wine (to stay warm of course) and listening/dancing to various bands that were featured on the stage. Some of them were a little cheesy, but it was really fun. Dancing also helps to stay warm!
The next day we wandered around the town for a bit, checked out the beautiful lake at the center of town (see Nicki's blog for its name....) and took a gondola up to the top of the hill overlooking the city. Luckily, we had a beautiful clear day and could see the city, lake and surrounding mountains perfectly. Another feature at the top of the gondola is a luge course, and for $7, we couldn't pass it up. It involved sitting in plastic sled-like things on wheels with handlebars that acted as breaks when pulled back. It was a good time but there were too many curves and in order to stay in control, we couldn't go too fast. We also discovered an awesome chocolate shop that also served ice cream and hot chocolate in very unique flavors. I sampled the Mexican chili hot chocolate and the lavender hot chocolate. Both excellent. Who's seen the movie Chocolat? I've wanted to try chocolate and chili every since I saw that movie but had never actually seen it in a shop before
The next day we took a hike on the Queenstown Hill Walkway, which was beautiful but very icy at places. That made the hike a little less enjoyable. It was also a very cloudy day and so most of the view we could have had at the top of the view was cloaked in clouds. There was a kind of eerie looking clearing over the lake so at least we could see something. Then it was off to the airport in the afternoon for a flight back up to Auckland for our flights. Nicki just left for her flight back to the US and I will be leaving tomorrow for my flight to Tokyo. So! I better get off this computer and go entertain myself somewhere more interesting than this hostel.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Winterfest in June?
Posted by Nicki
That’s right folks, good old southern hemisphere for you. Winter in June. And the Kiwi’s know how to have a blast in the snow…in fact they seem to love the cold as everytime we go into a backpackers we find the windows open, along with no heat. Crazy people.
Anyhow, Em and I spent the last few days in Queenstown and had a great time. The city seems to be like the Aspen of New Zealand. Ski town with lots of fancy places to stay, definitely it’s fair share of fine dining to go with them, but luckily for us, also a few good cheapies and affordable hostels. The city is nestled in the mountains a looks out upon Lake Wakitupo, just beautiful.
The first night we got in was their mardi gras celebration. The evening started off with a more family oriented version of a mardi gras parade with people in masks, big puppet type things, colorful characters on stilts and the like. Lots of kids carrying little hand made lanterns as well. Then everyone met up in the center square where there was a huge bandstand set up with free live music all evening. There was also tons of food and drink stalls set up down the street. Lots of cheap yummy food, everything from beef bomber sandwiches to pumpkin soup, to waffles to thai and indian food. They also had mulled wine by the truckload. Something I’d never had before but have taken a liking too. Hot red wine with some spices, tastes kind of like cider. Works wonders for keeping warm outdoors in a freezing cold winter night. Although I ended up dragging Emily in as I was shivering, we had a great night for the most part.
The next day had more festival stuff, including crazy races and relays, a slip and slide, a drag queen obstacle course race, and lots of races involving guys dressed up in snickers bar costumes. All super fun to watch. We also took a gondola up to the top of a mountain overlooking the town. Gorgeous views. We also LUGED! Really good time, not quite on ice like the olympics, but on a concrete track around the mountain on a kind of laid back sled on wheels kind of thing. It reminded me of those sit and skate orange scooter things from the 80’s, not sure if anyone else knows what I’m talking about. Anyhow, it was great fun.
Today we wandered around and went for a hike up in the hills. A lot of the hike was through super dense forest, kind creepy, I expected some sort of creature from lord of the rings to jump out at me. But it was fun, and although the clouds were to low to see much from the top, what we could see was cool. Only problem was the ice, a lot of the track was icy, and I managed to slip quite a few times, once majorly biting the dust for a nice muddy bum, shoot. So much for my one pair of clean pants. Opps.
Anyhow, I am headed to the states tomorrow! I’ll probably post one last blog once I’m back. I’ll have plenty of time on my million hours of planes to think of something clever I hope. But I’m excited to see you all soon! Have a wonderful day!
That’s right folks, good old southern hemisphere for you. Winter in June. And the Kiwi’s know how to have a blast in the snow…in fact they seem to love the cold as everytime we go into a backpackers we find the windows open, along with no heat. Crazy people.
Anyhow, Em and I spent the last few days in Queenstown and had a great time. The city seems to be like the Aspen of New Zealand. Ski town with lots of fancy places to stay, definitely it’s fair share of fine dining to go with them, but luckily for us, also a few good cheapies and affordable hostels. The city is nestled in the mountains a looks out upon Lake Wakitupo, just beautiful.
The first night we got in was their mardi gras celebration. The evening started off with a more family oriented version of a mardi gras parade with people in masks, big puppet type things, colorful characters on stilts and the like. Lots of kids carrying little hand made lanterns as well. Then everyone met up in the center square where there was a huge bandstand set up with free live music all evening. There was also tons of food and drink stalls set up down the street. Lots of cheap yummy food, everything from beef bomber sandwiches to pumpkin soup, to waffles to thai and indian food. They also had mulled wine by the truckload. Something I’d never had before but have taken a liking too. Hot red wine with some spices, tastes kind of like cider. Works wonders for keeping warm outdoors in a freezing cold winter night. Although I ended up dragging Emily in as I was shivering, we had a great night for the most part.
The next day had more festival stuff, including crazy races and relays, a slip and slide, a drag queen obstacle course race, and lots of races involving guys dressed up in snickers bar costumes. All super fun to watch. We also took a gondola up to the top of a mountain overlooking the town. Gorgeous views. We also LUGED! Really good time, not quite on ice like the olympics, but on a concrete track around the mountain on a kind of laid back sled on wheels kind of thing. It reminded me of those sit and skate orange scooter things from the 80’s, not sure if anyone else knows what I’m talking about. Anyhow, it was great fun.
Today we wandered around and went for a hike up in the hills. A lot of the hike was through super dense forest, kind creepy, I expected some sort of creature from lord of the rings to jump out at me. But it was fun, and although the clouds were to low to see much from the top, what we could see was cool. Only problem was the ice, a lot of the track was icy, and I managed to slip quite a few times, once majorly biting the dust for a nice muddy bum, shoot. So much for my one pair of clean pants. Opps.
Anyhow, I am headed to the states tomorrow! I’ll probably post one last blog once I’m back. I’ll have plenty of time on my million hours of planes to think of something clever I hope. But I’m excited to see you all soon! Have a wonderful day!
On Top Of The World
Posted by Nicki
First off, edit…in the last post I mentioned that the south island was a world heritage site, I meant the west coast of the south island, not the whole south island. Just fyi.
So, I have officially decided that I want to move to Wanaka (rhymes with Monica) and be a ski bum. How much fun would that be? Em and I had a wonderful time in the little ski town and an even better time on the mountain. The first night we were in town we went to this old little movie theatre. Although the film we saw was extremely bizarre and didn’t make any sense, the movie theatre was great. You sit on old comfy couches and arm chairs, there was even an old vintage vw bug you could relax in. Then, they have an intermission with fresh baked still warm from the oven cookies and homemade ice cream! Yum! It was great.
The next day we hit the slopes. We went to a place called Cardrona, and it was fantastic. We were acutally on a mountain, none of this silly Minnesota hill stuff. Seriously, we were above the clouds, it was incredible. At the top of the run I felt like I practically had to pinch myself to realize I actually was in this awesome place, skiing in New Zealand. As you go down the mountain you look out on what I believe were the southern alps, if not, still just spectacular snow capped mountains, majestic as any I have ever seen. I was breathless everytime I saw them. The day was perfect for skiing as well. Blue skies and sunshine, mid thirties, not cold at all. It was wonderful. The only complaint I would have is that Cardrona doesn’t like to label their runs…you’d go over a ledge not really knowing whether it was a green, blue, or black dimond. Not exactly the best way to do things, but hey, it made for an adventure…or something like that.
At night we even found a bar that was playing Desperate Housewives! A little dose of home, only they shut it off when Grey’s Anatomy came on! Boo! Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.
For now we are in Queenstown, a great little town surrounded again by beautiful mountains and Lake Wakitupu (sp?). Winterfest is on and we’re having a great time. Hard to believe we’ll be back in summer weather in just a few days!!
First off, edit…in the last post I mentioned that the south island was a world heritage site, I meant the west coast of the south island, not the whole south island. Just fyi.
So, I have officially decided that I want to move to Wanaka (rhymes with Monica) and be a ski bum. How much fun would that be? Em and I had a wonderful time in the little ski town and an even better time on the mountain. The first night we were in town we went to this old little movie theatre. Although the film we saw was extremely bizarre and didn’t make any sense, the movie theatre was great. You sit on old comfy couches and arm chairs, there was even an old vintage vw bug you could relax in. Then, they have an intermission with fresh baked still warm from the oven cookies and homemade ice cream! Yum! It was great.
The next day we hit the slopes. We went to a place called Cardrona, and it was fantastic. We were acutally on a mountain, none of this silly Minnesota hill stuff. Seriously, we were above the clouds, it was incredible. At the top of the run I felt like I practically had to pinch myself to realize I actually was in this awesome place, skiing in New Zealand. As you go down the mountain you look out on what I believe were the southern alps, if not, still just spectacular snow capped mountains, majestic as any I have ever seen. I was breathless everytime I saw them. The day was perfect for skiing as well. Blue skies and sunshine, mid thirties, not cold at all. It was wonderful. The only complaint I would have is that Cardrona doesn’t like to label their runs…you’d go over a ledge not really knowing whether it was a green, blue, or black dimond. Not exactly the best way to do things, but hey, it made for an adventure…or something like that.
At night we even found a bar that was playing Desperate Housewives! A little dose of home, only they shut it off when Grey’s Anatomy came on! Boo! Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.
For now we are in Queenstown, a great little town surrounded again by beautiful mountains and Lake Wakitupu (sp?). Winterfest is on and we’re having a great time. Hard to believe we’ll be back in summer weather in just a few days!!
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Hitting The Slopes In June???!?!
Posted by Emily
That's right, it's the end of June and time for the ski opener in New Zealand. From Fox Glacier, we took a bus to Wanaka, a very beautiful little ski town at the foot of the Southern Alps (I think....). The was a lovely, and very cold, lake near the center of town and surrounding the entire town are beautiful snow-capped mountains. The clouds were so low at times that it wasn't even possible to see the snow at the top. It was interesting to see the clouds so low but that also meant a cloudy, cold day for us.
The first night in Wanaka we went out to a very quirky movie theater with recliners, couches and even a vintage car instead of proper theater seating. There is an intermission during the movie during which they serve fresh baked cookies and homemade ice cream. The theater itself was amazing but the movie was a bit of a disappointment. It was called Hidden, Cache in French. The reviews of it were so good and it won an award at the Cannes Film Festival, so naturally we thought the movie would be brilliant as advertised. Well, it was certainly one of the strangest films I have ever seen, mostly because there is no real resolution. It reminded me of all those times, while writing the conclusion to a paper in college, that I thought to myself "Why do I really need a conclusion? It will be understandable without one." This is apparently what the writers thought to themselves, "The audience will be intelligent. We don't need a conclusion or a resolution. They will be able to figure it out for themselves." Oh well. To make up for this I suppose, the stars were beautiful on the way home. In case there were any doubts, they do really look different in the southern hemisphere. They seem to be more bunched up and there is line of stars (a galaxy I think) that extends in a large arch through a good portion of the sky. Too bad it was so colder we would have stayed out longer to enjoy them!
They next day we got up before the sunrise (stupid winter) and prepared ourselves for a day of skiing. We got picked up by a shuttle bus and taken to a ski area called Cardrona about 40 minutes away. I slept for most of the way there so I didn't see the scenery change but the views were quite amazing when we got there. The slopes are at the top of a mountain, and because of this, we were well above the clouds. It was beautiful and sunny and a perfect day for skiing. We got our lift passes, rented our skis and were off. Having taken ski school and having been skiing far more times that me, Nicki was the winner for ski skill. I managed to fall down every single time I went down a steep hill. I even took 3 tumbles down one hill. I swear, I've never been this bad at skiing before! It didn't help that they seem to have decided that labeling the runs was a waste of time. They were vaguely marked at the top, but get down the hill and get to a fork in the run, you just have to take a guess as to what you are going to encounter on the other side of the ledge (that you usually couldn't see over....). Oh well, it was still a good time and the day was filled with stunning views of the mountains and lots of sunshine.
That's right, it's the end of June and time for the ski opener in New Zealand. From Fox Glacier, we took a bus to Wanaka, a very beautiful little ski town at the foot of the Southern Alps (I think....). The was a lovely, and very cold, lake near the center of town and surrounding the entire town are beautiful snow-capped mountains. The clouds were so low at times that it wasn't even possible to see the snow at the top. It was interesting to see the clouds so low but that also meant a cloudy, cold day for us.
The first night in Wanaka we went out to a very quirky movie theater with recliners, couches and even a vintage car instead of proper theater seating. There is an intermission during the movie during which they serve fresh baked cookies and homemade ice cream. The theater itself was amazing but the movie was a bit of a disappointment. It was called Hidden, Cache in French. The reviews of it were so good and it won an award at the Cannes Film Festival, so naturally we thought the movie would be brilliant as advertised. Well, it was certainly one of the strangest films I have ever seen, mostly because there is no real resolution. It reminded me of all those times, while writing the conclusion to a paper in college, that I thought to myself "Why do I really need a conclusion? It will be understandable without one." This is apparently what the writers thought to themselves, "The audience will be intelligent. We don't need a conclusion or a resolution. They will be able to figure it out for themselves." Oh well. To make up for this I suppose, the stars were beautiful on the way home. In case there were any doubts, they do really look different in the southern hemisphere. They seem to be more bunched up and there is line of stars (a galaxy I think) that extends in a large arch through a good portion of the sky. Too bad it was so colder we would have stayed out longer to enjoy them!
They next day we got up before the sunrise (stupid winter) and prepared ourselves for a day of skiing. We got picked up by a shuttle bus and taken to a ski area called Cardrona about 40 minutes away. I slept for most of the way there so I didn't see the scenery change but the views were quite amazing when we got there. The slopes are at the top of a mountain, and because of this, we were well above the clouds. It was beautiful and sunny and a perfect day for skiing. We got our lift passes, rented our skis and were off. Having taken ski school and having been skiing far more times that me, Nicki was the winner for ski skill. I managed to fall down every single time I went down a steep hill. I even took 3 tumbles down one hill. I swear, I've never been this bad at skiing before! It didn't help that they seem to have decided that labeling the runs was a waste of time. They were vaguely marked at the top, but get down the hill and get to a fork in the run, you just have to take a guess as to what you are going to encounter on the other side of the ledge (that you usually couldn't see over....). Oh well, it was still a good time and the day was filled with stunning views of the mountains and lots of sunshine.
What's Cooler Than Bein' Cool? ICE COLD!: Hiking On Fox Glacier
Posted by Emily
As Nicki said, our trip to the glacier was amazing. It's definitely an experience unlike any other I have ever had. I may be from Minnesota, but I have never hiked around on such a large chunk of ice. When I was little I had some sort of educational book series that had a section about exploring Antarctica. I don't remember too much about it but I do recall there being info about hiking through snow and ice and sometimes people falling through the ice/snow into crevasses. Now, I never had the fear that I would fall into a hole, but it did make me think of an Antarctica-like landscape. Mountains and mountains of ice. At times when I stopped to think about and look at what we were actually doing, it was pretty crazy and would have been very dangerous had we not been wearing our crampons (the metal spikes). At times we were walking over very narrow ice ledges and down steep stairs where one wrong step could have sent you falling onto the hard-as-concrete ice. However, the crampons dug into the ice and kept us safe so we could enjoy the hike without being scared the whole time.
Before heading to the tiny glacier town, we headed to another small town called Hokitika, known for it's jade because of the close proximity of a mine. We were hoping that the jade there would be cheaper because of its nearness to a mine, but no such luck. We had originally planned to go to the town because it is possible to do your own jade carvings there, but when we looked into it more, the price wasn't exactly right. I for one decided that I didn't want to spend 8 hours sanding down a carving that would might actually end up costing more than one I could buy in the store and possibly look worse. Nicki still kind of wanted to do it I think but we ended up not really having enough time anyway.
Although there wasn't too much to do in the town, there was a beautiful beach to walk on. We walked on it a bit the night we got there but then the sun went down and it got entirely too cold. We went back the next day when the sun was out and walked for quite a while. I liked this beach because it wasn't the generic pretty palm tree, perfect turquoise water type of beach. It was more rugged with lots of driftwood, sea-smoothed rocks and crashing waves. Sometimes I like this kind of beach more because it's more unique I guess. In a way, it has more personality that the post card perfect beaches.
As Nicki said, our trip to the glacier was amazing. It's definitely an experience unlike any other I have ever had. I may be from Minnesota, but I have never hiked around on such a large chunk of ice. When I was little I had some sort of educational book series that had a section about exploring Antarctica. I don't remember too much about it but I do recall there being info about hiking through snow and ice and sometimes people falling through the ice/snow into crevasses. Now, I never had the fear that I would fall into a hole, but it did make me think of an Antarctica-like landscape. Mountains and mountains of ice. At times when I stopped to think about and look at what we were actually doing, it was pretty crazy and would have been very dangerous had we not been wearing our crampons (the metal spikes). At times we were walking over very narrow ice ledges and down steep stairs where one wrong step could have sent you falling onto the hard-as-concrete ice. However, the crampons dug into the ice and kept us safe so we could enjoy the hike without being scared the whole time.
Before heading to the tiny glacier town, we headed to another small town called Hokitika, known for it's jade because of the close proximity of a mine. We were hoping that the jade there would be cheaper because of its nearness to a mine, but no such luck. We had originally planned to go to the town because it is possible to do your own jade carvings there, but when we looked into it more, the price wasn't exactly right. I for one decided that I didn't want to spend 8 hours sanding down a carving that would might actually end up costing more than one I could buy in the store and possibly look worse. Nicki still kind of wanted to do it I think but we ended up not really having enough time anyway.
Although there wasn't too much to do in the town, there was a beautiful beach to walk on. We walked on it a bit the night we got there but then the sun went down and it got entirely too cold. We went back the next day when the sun was out and walked for quite a while. I liked this beach because it wasn't the generic pretty palm tree, perfect turquoise water type of beach. It was more rugged with lots of driftwood, sea-smoothed rocks and crashing waves. Sometimes I like this kind of beach more because it's more unique I guess. In a way, it has more personality that the post card perfect beaches.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
The Fox.
Posted By Nicki.
After our wine tour Em and I have made our way down the west coast of New Zealands south island. Apparently the entire West Coast of the South Island has been declared a world heritage site by UNESCO, and for good reason. The scenary is beautiful. Towering, majestic mountains on one side, go around the corner, powerful surf crashing into the beaches. It was nothing short of incredible. I enjoyed the long bus ride just watching the landscapes pass us by.
On our way south we spent one night in the little crafts town of Hokitika. Nothing too exciting, pretty deserted hostel, but lots and lots of jade…most of it unfortunately out of our budget. Who knew a little sculpture of greenstone could retail for 5-11,000 dollars? There was a lovely beach to stroll down though, and a delicious fudge shop. Always room for chocolate.
After Hokitika, we made our way further south along the coast to the little village of Fox. The township exists we are told, for one reason, the Fox Glacier, the reason we came. There are two main glaciers that tourists come to see in New Zealand, one is the Franz Joseph, and the other is Fox. Fox is the bigger of the two and by far cheaper to explore, so we went with that one.
We signed on for a full day walking tour with Alpine Guides and set out around 9:30 yesterday morning. The gave us boots, full crampons (metal spikes that you attatch to the bottom of your boots, and yes there are half crampons), and extra wool socks. Even with two pairs of wool socks, my feet still froze though, shoot. Anyhow, they drove us out about 15 minutes to the front of the glacier area. It starts way up in the mountains, but then curves a river of ice down into the valley below. The landscape is gorgeous. Snowcapped mountains falling into temperate rainforest below. A powder blue glacial river runs from the head of the glacier out into the valley.
We hiked uphill through the rainforest area and then came onto the glacier a little past the front. There we stopped to attach our crampons, and onto the ice we went. The glacier itself is enormous. The people we could see walking around on it looked miniscule. There were steps carved into the ice for the most part, but in other places our guides hacked away with ice axes to make out a track. We had about 3 hours on the ice, and it was amazing. For sure an experience like none other. The glacier was beautiful, something you might not always expect I suppose from a big hunk of ice. The curves of the crevasses and towering peaks were really magnificent. Lots of great pictures. We hiked up and down and around and through crevasses, some so narrow girly hips don’t exactly easily fit! Also, the ice is actually blue! Something I never expected. Apparently, according to our guide, the ice of the glacier is under so much pressure that it squeezes out all the air, the causes it to be super dense and actually refract the light differently turning it a shade of powder blue.
For now we have made our way to Wanaka, a cute little ski town. We’ll be hitting the slopes tomorrow, then it’s off to Queenstown where we apparently will be making it just in time for the annual winterfest mardi gras parade! This could be trouble….We’ll keep you posted!
After our wine tour Em and I have made our way down the west coast of New Zealands south island. Apparently the entire West Coast of the South Island has been declared a world heritage site by UNESCO, and for good reason. The scenary is beautiful. Towering, majestic mountains on one side, go around the corner, powerful surf crashing into the beaches. It was nothing short of incredible. I enjoyed the long bus ride just watching the landscapes pass us by.
On our way south we spent one night in the little crafts town of Hokitika. Nothing too exciting, pretty deserted hostel, but lots and lots of jade…most of it unfortunately out of our budget. Who knew a little sculpture of greenstone could retail for 5-11,000 dollars? There was a lovely beach to stroll down though, and a delicious fudge shop. Always room for chocolate.
After Hokitika, we made our way further south along the coast to the little village of Fox. The township exists we are told, for one reason, the Fox Glacier, the reason we came. There are two main glaciers that tourists come to see in New Zealand, one is the Franz Joseph, and the other is Fox. Fox is the bigger of the two and by far cheaper to explore, so we went with that one.
We signed on for a full day walking tour with Alpine Guides and set out around 9:30 yesterday morning. The gave us boots, full crampons (metal spikes that you attatch to the bottom of your boots, and yes there are half crampons), and extra wool socks. Even with two pairs of wool socks, my feet still froze though, shoot. Anyhow, they drove us out about 15 minutes to the front of the glacier area. It starts way up in the mountains, but then curves a river of ice down into the valley below. The landscape is gorgeous. Snowcapped mountains falling into temperate rainforest below. A powder blue glacial river runs from the head of the glacier out into the valley.
We hiked uphill through the rainforest area and then came onto the glacier a little past the front. There we stopped to attach our crampons, and onto the ice we went. The glacier itself is enormous. The people we could see walking around on it looked miniscule. There were steps carved into the ice for the most part, but in other places our guides hacked away with ice axes to make out a track. We had about 3 hours on the ice, and it was amazing. For sure an experience like none other. The glacier was beautiful, something you might not always expect I suppose from a big hunk of ice. The curves of the crevasses and towering peaks were really magnificent. Lots of great pictures. We hiked up and down and around and through crevasses, some so narrow girly hips don’t exactly easily fit! Also, the ice is actually blue! Something I never expected. Apparently, according to our guide, the ice of the glacier is under so much pressure that it squeezes out all the air, the causes it to be super dense and actually refract the light differently turning it a shade of powder blue.
For now we have made our way to Wanaka, a cute little ski town. We’ll be hitting the slopes tomorrow, then it’s off to Queenstown where we apparently will be making it just in time for the annual winterfest mardi gras parade! This could be trouble….We’ll keep you posted!
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Wine By Bike
Posted by Emily
Yesterday Nicki and I headed from the little town of Picton to the slightly larger town of Blenheim in a very popular winery area. We got picked up in town by one of the owners of Wine By Bike, a little outfit that rents bikes to those adventurous enough to drink wine and then pedal along the roads. Apparently, they have recently been featured in an article in The New York Times. And for the even more adventurous, they are open in the winter. That was us. We decided to get over the cold weather and bike around the area and do a little wine tasting. A good thing about going in the winter is that there is pretty much no one else out. We got bikes easily (I guess they actually have to turn some people away in the summer) and were usually the only people at the wineries.
Actually, wine tasting and riding a bike isn't as bad as it sounds, so no worries about that. Although the wine samples do add up surprisingly quickly, we were nowhere near drunk and we were still driving in a straight line by the end! Plus, there was very little traffic on the roads.
Anyway, we started out at the wineries that were closest to were we got our bikes (that were even equipped with a wine rack on the back to carry purchases) and worked our way out. Another advantage of being the only people around is that you can ask a lot of questions and learn quite a bit. We learned from the very chatty woman at the first winery we visited that the area around Blenheim is known for its white wines because the weather is cooler. Red grapes do better in a warmer climate. There are a few reds around, but I didn't like them so much. Many of them were quite bitter, in my opinion anyway, and smoky flavored.
I don't know about many of you, but I have never been able to taste the flavors that are listed in the descriptions of wine. Like, "Fruity mixed berry flavor with a tobacco and chocolate finish." I always thought that was a bunch of crap but I could actually taste flavors. I was amazed. Many of the white wines had pear, apricot, passion fruit and guava flavors, though not all at once of course. We had a lot of fun just trying the different wines that the different places had to offer.
Although it would have been nice to be able to buy several of the wines that we tasted, it wouldn't have been very economical for us and the bottles also would have been very hard to carry because there was no way we were paying to have them shipped home. We did buy one bottle each though, a dessert wine that was amazing, and I usually hate dessert wine. I think we bought it because it was very unique and the winery itself doesn't even know when they will be making it again. The wine is made from grapes that are partially spoiled by a fungus but I guess they can still make wine from the grapes. Since the fungus dehydrates the grapes, it causes the wine to be sweeter. Mmmm....sounds appetizing, huh? But really, the wine was amazing!
We had time to see several wineries and make it back to the Wine By Bike place just in time to miss the rain. That would not have been a fun bike ride! From Blenheim, we got on another bus headed for Nelson, about 2 hours away. We had to stay there for the night to catch our bus to the little town that we are in right now called Hokitika. It's primarily known because of the nearby jade mines. We only have one night here as well and we are hoping to be able to entertain ourselves until tomorrow afternoon when we get on another bus to Fox Glacier, where we are going to do a full-day glacier hike.
Yesterday Nicki and I headed from the little town of Picton to the slightly larger town of Blenheim in a very popular winery area. We got picked up in town by one of the owners of Wine By Bike, a little outfit that rents bikes to those adventurous enough to drink wine and then pedal along the roads. Apparently, they have recently been featured in an article in The New York Times. And for the even more adventurous, they are open in the winter. That was us. We decided to get over the cold weather and bike around the area and do a little wine tasting. A good thing about going in the winter is that there is pretty much no one else out. We got bikes easily (I guess they actually have to turn some people away in the summer) and were usually the only people at the wineries.
Actually, wine tasting and riding a bike isn't as bad as it sounds, so no worries about that. Although the wine samples do add up surprisingly quickly, we were nowhere near drunk and we were still driving in a straight line by the end! Plus, there was very little traffic on the roads.
Anyway, we started out at the wineries that were closest to were we got our bikes (that were even equipped with a wine rack on the back to carry purchases) and worked our way out. Another advantage of being the only people around is that you can ask a lot of questions and learn quite a bit. We learned from the very chatty woman at the first winery we visited that the area around Blenheim is known for its white wines because the weather is cooler. Red grapes do better in a warmer climate. There are a few reds around, but I didn't like them so much. Many of them were quite bitter, in my opinion anyway, and smoky flavored.
I don't know about many of you, but I have never been able to taste the flavors that are listed in the descriptions of wine. Like, "Fruity mixed berry flavor with a tobacco and chocolate finish." I always thought that was a bunch of crap but I could actually taste flavors. I was amazed. Many of the white wines had pear, apricot, passion fruit and guava flavors, though not all at once of course. We had a lot of fun just trying the different wines that the different places had to offer.
Although it would have been nice to be able to buy several of the wines that we tasted, it wouldn't have been very economical for us and the bottles also would have been very hard to carry because there was no way we were paying to have them shipped home. We did buy one bottle each though, a dessert wine that was amazing, and I usually hate dessert wine. I think we bought it because it was very unique and the winery itself doesn't even know when they will be making it again. The wine is made from grapes that are partially spoiled by a fungus but I guess they can still make wine from the grapes. Since the fungus dehydrates the grapes, it causes the wine to be sweeter. Mmmm....sounds appetizing, huh? But really, the wine was amazing!
We had time to see several wineries and make it back to the Wine By Bike place just in time to miss the rain. That would not have been a fun bike ride! From Blenheim, we got on another bus headed for Nelson, about 2 hours away. We had to stay there for the night to catch our bus to the little town that we are in right now called Hokitika. It's primarily known because of the nearby jade mines. We only have one night here as well and we are hoping to be able to entertain ourselves until tomorrow afternoon when we get on another bus to Fox Glacier, where we are going to do a full-day glacier hike.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Wild in the Wilderness
Posted by Nicki
Well, so I lied, not really wild. But we were in the wilderness! Our trip to the south island was a sleepy one, Em and I both were passed out cold for most all the trip. But upon arriving in Picton, we found we’d stumbled upon some amazing scenary. The south island so far is incredibly beautiful.
Right away from Picton we got a boat into Marlborough Sounds. The Sounds are a collection of islands, bays, coves, and inlets at the top coast of the south island. Beautiful forested hills plunge into teal green waters. Serene and amazing. The area is filled with wildlife, in fact on the trip out to our hostel we saw seals and peguins! The seals were adorable. Apparently very smart as well. Our boat driver told us how it’s taken salmon farmers 10 years to figure out how to keep the seals out of their salmon. The peguins we only saw from a distance, but I can still say I saw them!
Our hostel was a wonderful little place tucked into Endeavor Inlet. We were the only ones there for most of the time, leading to a very quiet and relaxing few days. We also learned that heat is a real luxury in New Zealand. Apparently having heated rooms is a rarity on the south island. This is all well and good in the summer, but when there is snow in the forecast, not so good at all. We were FREEZING!!! We had two duvets on our beds, but ended up putting boiling water in our Nalgenes to snuggle with at night to keep warm. We kept a fire going in the living room which made things warmer the second day, but the nights were still very chilly. Going to make things interesting once we get to snow country. Luckily the second night the hostel brought us up some hot water bottles to keep in our beds.
Aside from relaxing in the hostel and attempting jigsaw puzzles, we also did some great hiking. Our backpacker (hostel in kiwi) was located right on the Queen Charlotte Track, as famous hiking trail. We went up one way one day and the other the next. A little mucky in places, but the views made it well worth it. The second day we could see a dusting of snow on the tops of the hills. Still an odd sight to see in mid June.
For now we are back in Picton for the night, our hostel has free apple crumble and ice cream, very excited for that. Tomorrow we are doing a wine tour by bike, should be a blast, we’ll see how many wineries we get to before walking the bikes might be necessary…:-)
Well, so I lied, not really wild. But we were in the wilderness! Our trip to the south island was a sleepy one, Em and I both were passed out cold for most all the trip. But upon arriving in Picton, we found we’d stumbled upon some amazing scenary. The south island so far is incredibly beautiful.
Right away from Picton we got a boat into Marlborough Sounds. The Sounds are a collection of islands, bays, coves, and inlets at the top coast of the south island. Beautiful forested hills plunge into teal green waters. Serene and amazing. The area is filled with wildlife, in fact on the trip out to our hostel we saw seals and peguins! The seals were adorable. Apparently very smart as well. Our boat driver told us how it’s taken salmon farmers 10 years to figure out how to keep the seals out of their salmon. The peguins we only saw from a distance, but I can still say I saw them!
Our hostel was a wonderful little place tucked into Endeavor Inlet. We were the only ones there for most of the time, leading to a very quiet and relaxing few days. We also learned that heat is a real luxury in New Zealand. Apparently having heated rooms is a rarity on the south island. This is all well and good in the summer, but when there is snow in the forecast, not so good at all. We were FREEZING!!! We had two duvets on our beds, but ended up putting boiling water in our Nalgenes to snuggle with at night to keep warm. We kept a fire going in the living room which made things warmer the second day, but the nights were still very chilly. Going to make things interesting once we get to snow country. Luckily the second night the hostel brought us up some hot water bottles to keep in our beds.
Aside from relaxing in the hostel and attempting jigsaw puzzles, we also did some great hiking. Our backpacker (hostel in kiwi) was located right on the Queen Charlotte Track, as famous hiking trail. We went up one way one day and the other the next. A little mucky in places, but the views made it well worth it. The second day we could see a dusting of snow on the tops of the hills. Still an odd sight to see in mid June.
For now we are back in Picton for the night, our hostel has free apple crumble and ice cream, very excited for that. Tomorrow we are doing a wine tour by bike, should be a blast, we’ll see how many wineries we get to before walking the bikes might be necessary…:-)
Kiwi Capital
Posted by Nicki
So after our adventures in Rotorua, it was time to begin our venture south. In order to catch a ferry over to the south island, we had to make a stopover for a night in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. We arrived at the bright and early time of 7am after having spent the night on a bus…not the greatest as my seatmate decided that playing heavy metal at 4am so loud that I could hear his headphones over my headphones was a brillant idea. I did not agree.
Although we only had a bit of time in Wellington, I really enjoyed the city and what it had to offer. I would have loved to have a few more days to explore. Wellington again, like most places in NZ is a seaside town. It has a great harbor area and lots of scenic hills overlooking the bay. We spent our day wandering Cuba Street, a really neat pedestrian avenue filled with artsy cafes, restaurants, and shops, and going to the Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand.
I was very impressed with Te Papa. It was not only free (yay, backpacker bonus!) but really interesting and hands on. The musuem included everything having to do with New Zealand from weather and tectonic plates and earthquakes, to plants and animals, to Maori culture. There was an earthquake simulation house, lots of computer games to play, and overall just very interesting and interactive exhibits. There was a memorial to extinct animals and plant life…something I’ve never seen before, and maybe should see more of. I also was interested in how well the Maori were represented. All of the musuem displays and descriptions were in both English and Maori. New Zealand seems to be doing quite a good job of promoting their heritage. In fact, while we were in Waitomo, we passed a primary school that was taught on ly in Maori. Our guide said the school only used to have 17 students. Now it has 70, some drive over an hour from the coast to attend.
In any case, our time in Wellington was much to short, but now we are in the South Island, which although is chilly, is worth the trip.
So after our adventures in Rotorua, it was time to begin our venture south. In order to catch a ferry over to the south island, we had to make a stopover for a night in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. We arrived at the bright and early time of 7am after having spent the night on a bus…not the greatest as my seatmate decided that playing heavy metal at 4am so loud that I could hear his headphones over my headphones was a brillant idea. I did not agree.
Although we only had a bit of time in Wellington, I really enjoyed the city and what it had to offer. I would have loved to have a few more days to explore. Wellington again, like most places in NZ is a seaside town. It has a great harbor area and lots of scenic hills overlooking the bay. We spent our day wandering Cuba Street, a really neat pedestrian avenue filled with artsy cafes, restaurants, and shops, and going to the Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand.
I was very impressed with Te Papa. It was not only free (yay, backpacker bonus!) but really interesting and hands on. The musuem included everything having to do with New Zealand from weather and tectonic plates and earthquakes, to plants and animals, to Maori culture. There was an earthquake simulation house, lots of computer games to play, and overall just very interesting and interactive exhibits. There was a memorial to extinct animals and plant life…something I’ve never seen before, and maybe should see more of. I also was interested in how well the Maori were represented. All of the musuem displays and descriptions were in both English and Maori. New Zealand seems to be doing quite a good job of promoting their heritage. In fact, while we were in Waitomo, we passed a primary school that was taught on ly in Maori. Our guide said the school only used to have 17 students. Now it has 70, some drive over an hour from the coast to attend.
In any case, our time in Wellington was much to short, but now we are in the South Island, which although is chilly, is worth the trip.
From White Water to Black Water
Posted by Nicki
So, upon deciding to come to New Zealand I knew I was going to have to go white water rafting. From previous experiences in Ecuador, I love rafting. However, it’s winter in NZ, this makes most rafting endevours rather difficult.
In Rotorua though, we did manage to find a river being run…it also happened to be the river with the worlds highest commercially rafted waterfall. Kaituna Cascades. All excited we called the rafting company right away, but we couldn’t go for a few days because the river was flooded.
Finally, a few days later, they let us on the river. We were picked up, and then they suited us up in fleeces, wetsuits, booties, helmets, and life-jackets. Then we headed out. We knew beforehand that it was going to be short, but I guess I didn’t realize it would be this short. The actual rafting part was probably about 40 minutes or so. Going over the waterfalls was really a good time, definitely exhilerating, but somehow they actually weren’t as big as I thought they would be. There also weren’t many rapids at all if you didn’t count the falls, I was a little dissppointed by that. I expected a little more from New Zealand!
Also, just fyi, it’s really freaking cold when you raft in the winter. Our guides thought it would be super fun to do what they called “river surfing”. This involved putting someone in the front of the boat and then paddling towards a fall\rapid so the front of the boat would get pulled by the water and a big wave would fall over the boat. This, when it’s 80 degrees might be fun, however, mostly it just made me really crabby when the weather is so cold you can almost see your breath. I don’t mind getting wet going over rapids, but just getting wet for the sake of being wet, not my idea of fun.
However, the black water experience was MUCH cooler! Although we originally wanted to go black water rafting, due to budget constraints, we opted just for a normal tour. So, black water you say? Yep, well sort of. In an area called Waitomo, about 2 hours southwest of Rotorua, there are heaps and heaps of caves. Lots of these caves involve glow worms, and that’s what we came to see.
We got on a bus from Rotorua early in the morning and they took us out to the little village. A quirky woman named Katie picked us up for our tour the “spellbound”. Good times. It was about a half hour drive through beautiful New Zealand countryside. We arrived at the first cave and it was all a walking tour. The cave is called “Cave of the Spirit” due to the cold winds that are known to blow through it. Not as exciting as the caves we saw in Hungary, but cool nonetheless. Then came the black water.
After some tea and biscuits (cookies for non-kiwis), we walked to the wet cave. We followed a bridge over a river into the cave and then walked down a bit to observe the glow-worms in the light. Basically, just like little tiny worms. The glow worms craft these elegant silk strings that waft down from the ceiling of the caves which they use to catch their food. After getting our fill of glow worms in the light, time to hit the lights.
We crowded onto a river rafting boat, and our guide flicked the switch to bring the cave to pitch black. Using a rope to guide our little craft she brought us down the river. What we saw above our heads was amazing. Thousands and thousands of glow worms, each with it’s own little blue-green light. It was as if another galaxy of stars was shining down from inside the cave. I have never seen anything like it. Although there were no rapids, it was a relaxing ride, I was left very impressed and amazed. Sometimes you don’t always need the adrenaline.
So, upon deciding to come to New Zealand I knew I was going to have to go white water rafting. From previous experiences in Ecuador, I love rafting. However, it’s winter in NZ, this makes most rafting endevours rather difficult.
In Rotorua though, we did manage to find a river being run…it also happened to be the river with the worlds highest commercially rafted waterfall. Kaituna Cascades. All excited we called the rafting company right away, but we couldn’t go for a few days because the river was flooded.
Finally, a few days later, they let us on the river. We were picked up, and then they suited us up in fleeces, wetsuits, booties, helmets, and life-jackets. Then we headed out. We knew beforehand that it was going to be short, but I guess I didn’t realize it would be this short. The actual rafting part was probably about 40 minutes or so. Going over the waterfalls was really a good time, definitely exhilerating, but somehow they actually weren’t as big as I thought they would be. There also weren’t many rapids at all if you didn’t count the falls, I was a little dissppointed by that. I expected a little more from New Zealand!
Also, just fyi, it’s really freaking cold when you raft in the winter. Our guides thought it would be super fun to do what they called “river surfing”. This involved putting someone in the front of the boat and then paddling towards a fall\rapid so the front of the boat would get pulled by the water and a big wave would fall over the boat. This, when it’s 80 degrees might be fun, however, mostly it just made me really crabby when the weather is so cold you can almost see your breath. I don’t mind getting wet going over rapids, but just getting wet for the sake of being wet, not my idea of fun.
However, the black water experience was MUCH cooler! Although we originally wanted to go black water rafting, due to budget constraints, we opted just for a normal tour. So, black water you say? Yep, well sort of. In an area called Waitomo, about 2 hours southwest of Rotorua, there are heaps and heaps of caves. Lots of these caves involve glow worms, and that’s what we came to see.
We got on a bus from Rotorua early in the morning and they took us out to the little village. A quirky woman named Katie picked us up for our tour the “spellbound”. Good times. It was about a half hour drive through beautiful New Zealand countryside. We arrived at the first cave and it was all a walking tour. The cave is called “Cave of the Spirit” due to the cold winds that are known to blow through it. Not as exciting as the caves we saw in Hungary, but cool nonetheless. Then came the black water.
After some tea and biscuits (cookies for non-kiwis), we walked to the wet cave. We followed a bridge over a river into the cave and then walked down a bit to observe the glow-worms in the light. Basically, just like little tiny worms. The glow worms craft these elegant silk strings that waft down from the ceiling of the caves which they use to catch their food. After getting our fill of glow worms in the light, time to hit the lights.
We crowded onto a river rafting boat, and our guide flicked the switch to bring the cave to pitch black. Using a rope to guide our little craft she brought us down the river. What we saw above our heads was amazing. Thousands and thousands of glow worms, each with it’s own little blue-green light. It was as if another galaxy of stars was shining down from inside the cave. I have never seen anything like it. Although there were no rapids, it was a relaxing ride, I was left very impressed and amazed. Sometimes you don’t always need the adrenaline.
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