Wine Tasting - Wanake - Central Otago

December 23-24

Lake Wanake

A nice sleep in and woke up to a beautiful view of Lake Wanaka.  Had breakfast and then walked the 25 minutes around the lake to the town of Wanaka. Larger and busier than Te Anau but the town shops and cafes were parallel to the waterfront rather than perpendicular as in Te Anau.  Met my tour at 1pm in town. Tour was a wine tour through the Central Otago region. There was a young couple from Iowa Kelly and Coda (2.5 month newlyweds) and than another newlywed couple from Hong Kong. 

We went to 4 wineries well-known for Rieslings and Pinot Noirs as this region is along the 45th Parallel south of the equator  similar to 45th parallel north of the equator where it falls in the Bordeaux area of France and in Northern California / Oregon area  in the north. 

The first one we went to was the Rockburn Winery - I enjoyed Three Barrels Sauvignon Blanc, Spitfire Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir (2010), and  Twelve Barrels Pinot Noir.
Then we went to Akarua Winery - I liked the Pinot Rose, Riesling  (2012) and the Pinot Gris (2011).  And Akarau RUA Pinot Noir (2011). 
Next we went to Mt. Difficulty Winery and they had a restaurant attached to it  and it reminded me of Linden in VA.  here I liked, 

The last one we went to (just before they closed) was Northburn. And they matched their wine tasting with food!  I liked the  Pinot Noir (2009). 

After the wine tasting and driving along the river near Cromwell an area popular for pitted fruit thus the gigantic plastic pitted fruit structure we returned back to our accommodations. We asked John our tour guide for restaurant recommendations and he suggested to Alevate and nicely called and made reservations for us, Kelly and Coda asked me to join them for dinner. S we had dinner there overlooking the lake and watching the sun set and then skirted over to Patagonia for an ice cream!

Kayaking Milford Sound

Sat. Dec. 22

good way to start a day!

Was checking out and getting picked by 6:30 am, the whole gang from yesterday plus a brother-sister from USA and a girl from Germany also joined our trip. 
It was a perfect day. The scenery to Milford sound was spectacular!  We saw a rainbow!  There were wild lupines everywhere, gorgeous dark purples, light purples, blues, pinks and even some yellows. 

all my layers on!

magnificent!

sailing back!

There were very windy roads. The tunnel that Sarah had told me about did have a traffic light to control people entering it safely and supposedly this is only I use during high peak seasons. There is 15 minutes interval light switching times. 

Altogether there were 24 of us but then we put into 3 groups of 8, each with a guide - Nicole was my guide. After changing into our black thermal pants and long sleeve tops, it looked like we wearing long johns, we then had to put on a vest, the splash skirt, the peachy coloured wind jacket and the the PFD.

The kayaks were doubles and so I was with this girl Stephanie from Germany who was wearing wedged dress sandals as her water shoes and had never kayaked before, needless to say I had to do a lot of work.  She would be considered a lily dipper. There kayaks had rudders on them which was my most difficult as my feet kept slipping off the pedals and it was close to impossible to re-position them. 

We paddled by the 163 meter tall waterfall called Lady Bowen Falls and then up the coast of these large rocks called Stirling Falls.

Lady Bowen Falls

However the paddle was good and the views incredible! And the weather perfect!  After lunch we had a tough paddle out to the middle of body of water against the wind but then all rafted together and held a sail up and sailed back the way we came. 

I quickly changed and Luke the driver drove me up to the Milford sound bus/boat terminal for me to catch my bus which did go back through Te Anau and then on to Queenstown. 

I was a little concerned about how I was going to get to Wanaka as I arrived in Queenstown at 7:45 and the last bus left at 5:30pm. But Mark had arranged a driver to pick me up and drive me to Wanaka.  Barbara was quite pleasant and I was able to stop at a few places to take pictures of the scenery and the lupines. But that taxi ride cost me $160 bucks!

South Island - NZ -Te Anau

Te Anau - December 20-22

Road to Te Anau.  GREEN
So much undeveloped land, flat land sheared and un-sheared sheep
Mountains on either side with the water to my right 
Then flat green land some with cows - black Angus, some black and white ones all beef cows
Pens of deer, random!
But mostly sheep!

Aside:  Te Anau is an ancient Maori name which means 'Cave with a current of swirling water.'

Lake Te Anau

Te Anau has the second largest lake  but deepest lake in NZ. 
Fiordland National Park - NZ largest World Heritage Site. 

see the helicopter on the right?

In the afternoon, I went to the Fiordland Cinema to see a wordless movie, only music that showed the fiordland from a helicopter. 

Just before 8pm, I got on a ferry that took me across Lake Te Anau to see the glow worm caves.  The caves are about 12,000 years old and is still being carved out by the force of the river ("Tunnel Burn")  that powerfully flows through them. These caves are part of a 6.7 km four-level limestone labyrinth. 

postcard photo

Glowworms 'fish' for food by dangling as many as 70 "fishing lines" which are 20-150 mm long and covered with thick sticky droplets of mucus.  The glowworm's light is produced as a by-product of excretion. 

Friday 
Got up early for my 7 am pick up to take me to Milford Sound for my day of kayaking  Then went and picked up a couple from Netherlands and an adult family from France. It was a very foggy and rainy morning  Then we had a problem...... The road to Milford sound was closed due the rain and the rain has been causing the rock in the mountain just past the tunnel to slide down, thus the closure of the road. So we all had a few choices of what to do and we were all able to postpone our adventure until tomorrow. And therefore I didn't really do much today.  Walked around town and then I did go see Skyfall in the 52 seater movie theatre in town. 

South Island - NZ - Queenstown

Queenstown - December 18-20

lugeing

Weather has been blue skies and sunny albeit the colder temperatures. Actually today was warmer than yesterday and I was in layers and others were in sun dresses!
Yesterday did the gondola and luge and hit the hay early. Www.skyline.co.nz

view of Queenstown

Queenstown

area where many movies are filmed here

in jet boat

 Today did the Wilderness Safari, (The 'Wilderness Safari' is a diverse adventure exploring spectacular 'World Heritage' wilderness within a National Park.) We were driven up north about 1.5 hours and saw a lot of the area used for major motion movies (Lord of the Rings, Hobbit and others), then had a walk through the woods. Then went jet-boating along the Dart River, really awesome. it is fed by a glacier. We went about 70 km/hr on the Dart River for a good hour as the mountain ranges towered above me - the mountain ranges were gorgeous.  These boats can go in shallow waters and do 360 degree turns because there are not engines like we are used to, the water is sucked in the bottom and then pushed out the back.  Www.dartriverjetsafaris.co.nz

In the forest we walked around an ancient forest where the guide told us how the Maori (natives) about the beech trees - 3 different types even though they really aren't beech trees at all but the Maori wrongly named the trees but they have stuck with it ever since. 

hollow tree - 9 adults could fit in the base!

When I got back to town came back to hotel for a well deserved nap!

Then had dinner at the Cow -a pizza joint recommended by Kerry's mom, Elaine.  Every meal is followed by Patagonia ice creams!  Then I took the only coal operated ship in the Southern Hemisphere across the lake to watch the sunrise. The Earnslaw which was celebrating its 100th year - it was built the same year as the Titanic.  

Earnslaw  Boat

Unfortunately couldn't see the bungee jumpers as I didn't have a car. Oh well. 
I think I have worn every piece of warm clothing so far. 

Dubai - October - Confers

Largest single pane window

My October trip actually turned out better than expected. After planning the Burma/Myanmar trip since April and then having all plans crumble 3 weeks before leaving, my impromptu trip to see the Confers was wonderful.

I arrived just before miah and Dwain left for work on Thursday morning and spent the day with Harper, Flannery and Melanie the nanny. As Thursdays are their Fridays, we went out into the desert with some of their friends for some dinner, drinks and hookah.

Friday we went the Dubai Mall to go to the aquarium. It's right inside the mall and has the largest single piece of glass in the world.  I can see why they have a season pass for the kids love it.  We then had lunch overlooking the Burg Khalifa.  That night Harper, Miah and I went the American School Halloween "trick-or-treating" event.

Miah and Flannery

Saturday we met Phaedra, Erik, and Atticus at the beach. We didn't stay long as the sun sure does get hot in the desert.

Harper, Atticus, Erik

Confers

Sunday and Monday, while they worked I toured Dubai on the hop-on-and-off bus. I saw all the major highlights, downtown, different souks (markets), Dubai Museum, did a walking tour through the textile areas as well as the spice and gold souks; Jumeria Mosque, went out on The Palm to see the  Atlantis Hotel and area. I also did a boat tour down the _________

Burj ____  - 7 star hotel

 One night Miah and I went to this place called Global Village, it was similar to a mini Epcot - it had pavilions from countries all over the world. It had just opened so not all the stalls were set up but we enjoyed some cultural food and bought some gifts. I bought the most things there than I did in my visit to Dubai.

One day I met a colleague from CIS whom had lived in Dubai forn4 years and was also back visiting - Heidi Collyer.

Before meeting the Kuniks for dinner, I went up the Burj Khalifa to the 124th floor which took less than 30 seconds to get up the elevator. It was a perfect, clear night and I could see a long way.  Dinner was great- Argentinian; however it was the only day in the year Dubai does not serve alcohol as it was the eve before the holiday of Eid. Dwain was not pleased.

Burj Khalifa

view from Burj Khalifa

Fortunately, they unexpectedly got my last day off for the holiday. So Miah and I did a Desert Safari in the evening. We were picked up in a 4WD car. It was us and a family of 4 from holland. And we drove out to the red sand desert area where the dunes or hills of forever to see sand rolled up and down. And we sped up and down through the desert having a "gay ole time!!!"  This then led us to a Bedouin out in the desert, a traditional campsite of the desert people. While waiting for dinner, I had a ride on a camel, got a henna design on my hand and tried on a burka. We had dinner and first watched a twirler dancer similar to a whirling dervish and then watched a belly dancer and was then home by 10pm.

Gardens at the Bay

On my 2 week vacation here in October... I started here in Singapore - so though I relaxed a lot at home, worked on my online class, I did go out and explore Singapore.  I went to a new attraction called Gardens at the Bay - my friend Bernadette and her kids we explored the Flower Dome, the Cloud Forest and walked along the Skyway in the SuperTree Groves.

Bernadette, Brody, Delaney, Jill

Then had lunch at Keppel Marina at a restaurant called Prive Cafe!  It was a lovely day!