Tag: New Zealand

Wine Tour South-South, Wine Tour North-South And What’s With All The Pumpkin Soup?

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz26 Comments

Recently I was perusing my drafts folder and realized I have a lot of unfinished business. Most of it I will trash, but this post that I started 2018 after my 13 day trip to New Zealand with Kelly, well, I really wanted it on my blog for prosperity. I wrote a few other posts about our trip and the adventure of this Florida girl driving on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road in a winter white-out. SO many unexpected things happened, but I can say for certain this is a country I would visit again. (if you care to read, I have a tag on the side of my page labeled New Zealand.)

After previewing this post and all the wine photos, I thought to myself: Kelly and I need a meeting.
But ONLY if that meeting includes wine.

I don’t know when it exactly happened, but at one point in the early 2000’s we switched from enjoying Italian Pinot Grigio to NZ Sauvignon blanc. I suppose I could go back and look at stock reports for the vineyards and see an uptick.

The wine was ONE of the allures to see NZ. Also, seeing my youngest favorite daughter.
I still can’t believe she traveled to NZ all by herself, although she does have an adventurous spirit. And had she NOT visited NZ, I never would have went there myself.

If you don’t know (because I didn’t) NZ is two islands; The North and The south Island.

We had two wine tours booked; One on the south part of the south island. The other on the north part of the south island.

FIRST WINE TOUR

While in Queenstown, (our first stop in NZ) our travel agent booked us a wine tour.
We didn’t know what to expect, other than wine tastings. We were picked up by a sweet gentleman and we were accompanied by another couple from the states. The tour was full of beautiful scenery, lovely stops to enjoy the views, learning some history of the area, some food and of course, wine.
Appellation Boutique Wine tour

OLIVES=GAG

The south part of the south island is known for its Pinot Noir vineyards because it is a much cooler climate than the north part of the south island. And this is where our New Zealand tour began, on the Southern part of the south island. Are we confused yet? No? but wait, there’s more.

The north part of the south island is where our beloved Sauvignon blanc is produced. That is the Marlbourough region.

We had many adventures on the south part of the south island, but this post is mainly about WINE and me typing north and south.

SECOND WINE TOUR

We thoroughly enjoyed the Sounds connection wine tour-Marlborough region; it was just a driver, Kelly, myself and a young couple from Australia who didn’t care for wine. I still can’t figure out why they did a wine tour; maybe they misread it as a Mine Tour? You know how kids are…

Spy valley was a really cool vineyard to visit; their cellar room was very modern and minimalistic. They are very close to a Spy Base that is part of the “five eyes” of intelligence alliances: the US, New Zealand, Canada, UK and Australia. Supposedly the spying is led by the US and of course, there is some disapproval around it all, but they, I need my NZ wine! Fun Fact: All bottles of Spy Valley Wine have Morse Code somewhere on them.

We really enjoyed the Framingham vineyard visit and occasionally I can find this particular wine at Total Wine and I have myself a travel flashback. (Currently, I can ALWAYS find it at Total wine and it’s high on my list!)

Cloudy bay has always been one of our favorites; Surprise Surprise, it’s also one of the most expensive. What can I say? I never had Trailer Park taste, even while I was there. Kelly actually spent a good part of her childhood in a trailer park too, so we often giggle about that and the fact that WE’RE IN NEW ZEALAND DRINKING our favorite WINE!

Lake Chalice was one of the smaller vineyards we visited in Marlborough. We were very impressed with the quality of the wine, the friendliness of the hostesses and the fact that they served us some food to go with the wine. Our other favorite thing aside from drinking NZ wine is snacking.

Pumpkin What?

While we were in NZ it was their ‘spring’ time. The weather was cool and crisp and we noticed that everywhere we ate they offered ‘pumpkin’ soup. I’m not sure if that is a year round option, or just in the cooler months but we partook several times and it was always a little different at each restaurant.

We finally asked someone and found out that it’s not always PUMPKIN even thought it’s called PUMPKIN. Sometimes it actually a variety of squash. Well played New Zealand, well played.

After 11 days of touring/driving the South Island from south to north, I was happy to drop off the rental car and to hop on a Ferry and head to the south side of the north island where Lindsay was visiting.

We had a such a great time. I would love to go back and see more of the South Island.

Soon after we arrived in Wellington we met up with Lindsay at a little restaurant for dinner and Kelly and I were….wait, what’s the word? It’s the opposite of impressed. Disappointed? Shocked? At the size of the wine glasses. So.very.petite. But at least the company was great and the wine delicious.

Ok. That was a lot of wine talk. If you don’t hear from me soon, I’ll get back to you in about 30 days.

Have any of my friends visited New Zealand? If not what is the ONE place you would like to revisit?

The little things and the little nothings that keep Suz sane and happy.

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz10 Comments


Sometimes it’s the littlest things that make me happy.
Like finding one of my favorite NZ wines at Total Wine this week.

I had a flashback to our trip to New Zealand and how much Kelly and I loved visiting this (unknown to us at the time) winery. ‘Twas a great day and a great trip.

A majority of the big trips that I’ve had, I say, “I don’t need to go again, let’s see something new”, but I don’t feel that way about New Zealand.
NoSireeBobCatTail.

***

Sometimes it’s the fact that I can put my head in the sand, and not know what is happening outside my little world that brings me happiness.

I know that a lot of people like to watch the news, read the papers, be in the “know” about what is happening all around the world.
Me? I honestly do better just tending to my home, garden, my people, my community, keep the dirty clothes hamper empty, etc….
I get overwhelmed with the worries of the world, the sadness, the despair of it all.
And guess what, sometimes it’s pretty damn depressing. So, if something really important happens and I need to know, the Coach will inform me. He’s very much ‘up to date’ with the world outside our area code.

Also, doing laundry pays around here.
I found $150 in the dryer this week.

Don’t tell Uncle Sam.

We’ve been so very busy lately. Lots of house projects finishing up before Turkey day and the Coach is inundated with work-work. But that is something we never complain about; work-work brings in the laundry cash.

Have a great weekend!
XOXO

Queenstown to Mt. Cook, NZ ~~They said getting there would be the most fun.

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz5 Comments

Our first adventure after enjoying a few days in Queenstown was a drive to Mount Cook to see the famous Tasman glacier.

We’d noticed the day prior that it was getting REALLY windy as we were exploring the area. Someone in a shop mentioned something about a cold front coming through the next day, hence the wind.
We didn’t think much about it. We woke up in the morning and started getting ready when I opened the curtains and noticed some snow flurries.
What? 
It’s spring in NZ.
I put on the tv and the local news said that a lot of roads would be closing as well as the airport.
I was thinking: These people are really exaggerating….it’s just a few flurries.
Again, I’m a Florida native, so I know winter weather.

By the time we were dressed and we ate our breakfast, it was FULL-ON WINTER.

I don’t have any photos of the full-ON winter because I was FULL-on driving on the left side of the road in the right side of the car while it’s FULL-ON snowing.
It was at least 3 /12 hours before we arrived in clearer weather.
I was stressed to say the least; both hands on the wheel the entire time. My body so tense it would take at least 3 glasses of wine and a full body massage to get back to my normal.

We were about an hour short of our destination when we the weather cleared up and we found a spot to stop, stretch our legs and thank the good Lord that we made it through the snow storm.

We couldn’t believe our eyes when we came around a corner and saw this huge BLUE lake; we had to stop and take it in.

After about 10 minutes we were back in the car towards our destination: Mount Cook.
We didn’t know what to expect at a hotel that was located in a national park, but we loved our quaint little bungalow.

It was really overcast and dreary again by the time we arrived at our room, then the sun went down. The next morning we opened the curtains and were able to see the view from our window.

It was a beautiful, clear and crisp morning and we were ready for our glacier tour.
We were driven to a national park, and had about a mile walk till we reached the boating area.

We were so happy for clear skies!

They loaded us onto small boats/rafts that held about 15 people and we zipped around the lake and learned all about glaciers and icebergs. 

Iceberg

How did I make it on this planet for 51 years and not realize that a glacier and an iceberg are two different things? Apparently, my Florida public school education didn’t focus on such things.

mountains behind us
Iceberg
GLACIER!!
Behind us here is the Tasman Glacier. The huge lake we were boating on was once part of the glacier, but like everything else, it’s melting. In about 40 years, the (very large) glacier will most likely be gone. 

We got up close and personal with an iceberg. Inside it are rocks, dirt, debris….whatever the glacier picked up from the earth as it formed. When the iceberg breaks off of the glacier, it floats around, melts and drops all the debris into the lake. Our tour guides said that every day (sometimes by the hour) the view of the icebergs changes as they melt and others come off the glacier.

It was a really cool (brrrr) learning experience and also a bit sad. This is proof that our ecology is changing at a really rapid pace and it appears that we’re not going to be able to halt it the way we (humans) live. 
I skipped a great day on our wine tour on the Southern part of the South Island before we moved onto Mt. Cook, but I’m going to combine it with our wine tour of the Marlborough region. 
So.much.good.wine. 
XOXO

The one where I can’t stop gushing about New Zealand and SHEEP {pt 3}

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz4 Comments
For the last few weeks, I keep coming to my blog page and I attempt to write/document about our super duper fabulous once in a lifetime trip, but then my brain goes
BOOP. 
BOP.
BURP.
The burp was from a ginger ale. 
There is so much to write and share it becomes overwhelming. 
***
We started our trip on the South Island so we could drive north while seeing all the good stuff prior to meeting up with Lindsay in Wellington. 
Our tour people set up some good stuff for us. One was this boat cruise to a working sheep farm with a beautiful dinner. Sadly, this was on our first night….although we really weren’t jet-lagged, we did want to go to bed at 9pm {NZ time} 
But, when you get on a boat, you can’t just willy-nilly walk back to your hotel when you want to go to bed. 
You’d have to swim, but the water was really cold. 
beeUtiful views for days. 

We watched a sheep get all its hairs cut.
It was awkward. for me and the sheep.

New Zealand is known for it’s Merino wool which comes from Merino sheep.
You knew that.
Merino wool is unlike most wool. It’s soft and fine. It doesn’t make your skin feel like it’s going to itch until you insist on one of those white straight jackets.

So, this night was our first encounter with NZ sheep.
During our next 13 days, we encountered eleventy billion sheep.
Around every corner on our drive were fields and fields of sheep.

“Does this wool make my butt look big?” 
Kelly and Suz with some sleepy sheep. 
Something else that was interesting. They sell items everywhere made from Merino wool; sweaters, socks, hats, scarves….all very soft and lovely.
We also noticed lots of these items that were a mixture of Merino wool and possum. 
I’m.not.kidding. 
Possums in NZ are not native and they’ve become very invasive pests. Mostly because they kill all the flightless birds in NZ. Yeah, the poor Kiwi bird is a dying breed and possums are one of the reasons. 
So the NZ’ers have found that while trying to reduce their numbers, they can use their coat for clothing items.
Pretty darn smart if you ask me. 
Now, I’m off to find another gingerale and gather my thoughts. 
XOXO