Wandering around Lake Wakatipu
Today we had a very long, but very wonderful day. We got picked up at our hotel at about 8:00am for a guided nature walk along an especially beautiful little section of Lake Wakatipu. Our local guide was incredibly friendly (like every Kiwi we've met, it seems) and extremely knowledgable. She knew the names, growth patterns and traditional medicinal uses for every plant we came across, and is apparently a bird whisperer, since it seemed like entire flocks of little beautiful song birds were following us all day.
A little black fantail even landed on my walking stick.
I don't really know how far we walked. I was paying too much attention to the constant tidbits from our local guide and the scenery. We walked around Bob's Cove, which apparently acted as a calm, safe harbor for early explorers. We had afternoon tea (or "elevensies", as the Hobbits would say...Kiwis never miss it...one of the reasons I love it here...) at Bob's Cove before we were taken to downtown Queenstown.
View from the high point of our nature walk
We rendezvoused with Appellation Tours for our adventure through the Central Otago wine region. It's true that Marlborough, where we started our New Zealand Adventure, is perhaps the most famous wine region in New Zealand. However, Otago is up and coming. While Marlborough has made its name with white wines, especially Sauvignon Blanc, Otago, with it's cooler and more variable climate, specializes in reds, like Pinot Noir. We went to four wineries (Peregrin, Cerrick, Aurum, and Mt. Rosa) and tasted about five wines at each. The wineries here look very different than the ones in Blenheim. The terrain here is very sparse and rocky, almost desertlike, and hardly ever flat, since it's surrounded by mountains. Yet, the grapes here seem to be thriving. Everyone on our wine tour was incredibly friendly, knowledgable and informative, so I really feel like I learned a lot.
An Otago Vineyard
At Mt. Rosa's Cellar Door
After our wine tour, we spent some time relaxing at the hotel before hitting the town. It's Daddy's birthday today, so we took him out New Zealand style. We went to a South African style steak restaurant that serves entirely local New Zealand meats. I had a filet and it was delicious. We celebrated with good food and were back at the hotel for the night late, but well fed and happy. I'm so glad I could take Daddy to New Zealand for his birthday.
Celebrating. Only real men wear bibs in public on their birthdays. Besides, it's manly when you're wearing it with a giant plate of meat in front of you.
*DISCLAIMER: I'VE JUST NOTICED THAT ALL THE DATES ARE WRONG ON MY BLOGS FROM NZ. RIGHT NOW, IT IS 7:30 PM ON MARCH 5TH HERE IN QUEENSTOWN. ON THE CLOCK, WE ARE 5 HOURS BEHIND U.S. CENTRAL TIME, BUT ON THE CALENDAR A DAY LATER BECAUSE OF THE INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE. JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY IN CASE ANY READERS WERE CONFUSED*
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