NZ: Queenstown to Christchurch

At my first stop in Queenstown, I did a wine tasting tour of Central Otago wineries. We only went to four wineries, and I do have to say, I was slightly disappointed. The quality was good but not excellent. I visited Amisfield, Gibbston Valley, Waitiri Creek and Chard Farm, with Chard Farm having the best Pinots. I did find some worthwhile Pinots on my return visit to Queenstown though, at a store called Wine Taste - one of those “insert a card and press a button” to get a taste, half glass or full glass of premium wines. I had a fantastic time there, tasting 10 new Pinots, and buying three bottles of wine in total to bring home with me.

Two of the wines I had tasted before at the Hawke’s Bay Wine Festival (Alpha Domus 2004 Navigator red blend) and in Martin borough (Ata Rangi Celebre red blend), respectively. The third was a NZ Pinot Noir by Mt. Difficulty, also in Central Otago but farther out from where I had tasted. And finally, I did get a hold of a Nautilus Four Barriques Pinot Noir to bring home as well. My friend Annette is lodging with the Sales and Marketing director there, so I had her ship me a bottle to my hostel in Christchurch. I have the four bottles all packed up and ready to go in my bags. If I get any hassle at customs in the US, I am prepared to pay the tax, as from what I can tell, it is only something minimal like 3%.

On the way back to Queenstown from Dunedin, our bus had a blast preparing for St. Patrick’s Day with face painting on the bus, and around 3pm, stopping at a liquor store for some beer. At one point, about 30 minutes before reaching Queenstown, we had to wait 20 minutes on the road for some construction, so we all piled out of the bus to throw a rugby ball and enjoy the sunshine. As we pulled into Queenstown and dispersed to our hostels, we made plans to reconvene at the pub to kick off St. Patrick’s Day!



There are more than a few Irish pubs in Queenstown, but we made Pog Mahone’s and the Pig & Whistle our main stops. As a very random aside, I ran into a friend of a friend at the pub. Her name is Naomi, and she grew up with my friend Rich in London. Turns out she travelled on a Stray bus with some of the people who were on my Deep South tour. Very random, but here is a picture just for Rich and Andy Hanlon to have a laugh!

The pubs had live Irish bands and lots of travellers and locals dressed up to celebrate. This was my best St. Patrick’s Day next to a hilarious night in San Francisco with the Real World Presidio household a few years back. Another pic of some of us out...

The next few days in Queenstown I relaxed by sleeping a lot, recovering from a cold I had been fighting off, purchasing my wines to bring home and watching movies at the hostel. I also had a lovely meal out with a friend at a French restaurant in Queenstown called Solera, where I had a seafood bouillabaisse and a bottle of the Ata Rangi Celebre wine (same one I am bring back to the States). On Friday I took my final Stray bus up to Christchurch, where I am staying two nights before flying back to the US on Sunday.

These last few days, I really have not been into cooking at the hostel, so last night, I treated myself to a nice meal of grilled squid, green-lipped mussels in a garlic, white wine and cream sauce and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc at a restaurant called Ferment on the strip of restaurants along the river. Today, I slept in all the way until 12 noon, over 12 hours of sleep! I also bought 5 books at a used bookstore for my flights home and my time in the US. Tonight I have dinner plans with a friend, and since I found an extra 100 NZD cash in my bag, I have a bit to splurge with as well! (It's only 50 USD equivalent, but that goes a long way here; it has been my daily budget for food, accommodation and activities).