An Unexpected Journey - Nine

April 18, 2016

An early breakfast, shared with busloads of Chinese tourists, fortified us for our nearly three-hour drive.  Tim got some last pictures of the sun coming up on Mt. Cook and we were on our way.  We transitioned from snowy mountain tops and lakes to wide open plains, then the rocky hills of the Dunstan Range.  We enjoyed more beautiful autumn colors, especially the towering poplar trees planted as windbreaks that lined the roads with their bright golden leaves.  We also saw many incredibly tall and dense hedges as property dividers.

Sunrise on Mt. Cook

Just outside of Queenstown, we stopped at a pretty little park on Lake Wakatipu for some pictures, then continued on to the Rees.  The travel company, New Zealand Self Drive Tours, originally said this place was fully booked, so they would have to change our accommodations.  When I compared the second place online, it didn't hold a candle to this one.  The internet showed rooms still available, so I asked our travel consultant, Christina, to please try again.  Not only did she get us a room, she got us an upgrade to a luxury apartment for no additional cost.  So we were anxious to check out our upgrade.  We were not disappointed - a full kitchen, washer and dryer, living room with fireplace, two bedrooms and a lovely deck with a great view of Lake Wakatipu.  Way to go, Christina!

We quickly got settled in our room, then headed to the lobby to wait for our pickup for our afternoon Appellation Central Boutique Wine Tour.  Our guide for the tour, Martin, met us in the lobby, and led us to the van where six other guests were already waiting.  He made quick introductions, and we discovered we were all Americans - two retired couples from Pennsylvania, and young newlyweds from California, here on their honeymoon.  Although it is possible to communicate with other English speakers, sharing the same nationality allows for an entirely different style of conversation.  It was quite a treat.

Our guide, Martin, and the beautiful Gibbston Valley

 Martin was a fount of knowledge and kept us well entertained as we headed back out to some of the vineyards we'd passed on our way into the city.  We visited Amisfield, Carrick, Mt. Difficulty, and Mt. Rosa wineries, with beautifully scenic drives in between.  We sampled lots of Pinot Noirs, the specialty of this region, along with several others, including Pinot Gris, Reislings and Rose-Gamay.  I am far from a wine connoisseur, so I will spare you from any attempt to review these wines.  It was the first time I'd done this kind of tour, and just enjoyed learning how it all works.

Our first stop, Amisfield

vineyards fill the nooks and crannies of the landscape

At the Carrick Winery, workers were just bringing in the final harvest of the season, and were giddy with the anticipation of easier days ahead.  Here we enjoyed an outdoor feast of meats, cheeses, fish, green-lipped mussels (so pretty), fresh fruits and breads while chatting with the other members of our group.  It was a feast for all the senses.

Mt. Difficulty was named by one of the original settlers of this area, William Rees (also the namesake of our hotel).  As the story goes, he was trying to transport 3000 sheep from the east coast of the island to the west, and found this particular mountain impassable.  These days, an extreme mountain marathon is run annually on Mt. Difficulty.

Mt. Difficulty truck

One of Mt. Difficulty's brands is Roaring Meg, named for a storied saloon keeper - I was amused by the similarities to my own saloon keeper/sister, Meg.  A roaring river and hydroelectric station share the same moniker.

people tubing down the Roaring Meg

At Mt. Rosa, I picked up a book called Wine Dogs New Zealand.  Apparently all the vineyards and wineries in the area have dogs, and their photographs were put into a coffee table book.  We met a few of these "celebrities."  Cute idea.

www.winedogs.com

The netting over the vines is meant to stop birds from indulging

Eight Americans and a Kiwi
(Leah, Andy, Liz, Tim, Martin, Carol, Norm, Jan and George)

Once back in our lovely hotel room, we realized room service was no more expensive than the menus we'd seen, so we enjoyed a rare night in, with the lovely view and the cozy fireplace.  We had to be up early the next morning.

The lovely view out our window