This gallery contains 15 photos.
Today we had perfect weather – sunshine and blue skies – an ideal day for a good hike up Ben Lomond. As I had the ticket for the cable car, I cheated for the first bit and just made the … Continue reading
This gallery contains 15 photos.
Does it sound like a good idea to go for a pub crawl after a wine tour? I would say it does … 😉 We had some rest after we made it back from the wine tour, then met up … Continue reading
It was a rainy day … what to do on a rainy day? Originally I wanted to go for a good hike up the mountain … but maybe not in the rain … – – so what to do? Easy – stop whining, go wining … – a wine tour – already worked back in Argentina …
So around lunch time Sue (Sussy-Sue – not tourleader-Sue) and myself found ourselves on a wine tour bus heading out for the Gibbston Valley winery – followed by three further wineries.
For me the tour was pretty interesting as the climatic conditions down on the South Island are not too much different from my home country – and the grape varieties are more or less the same as my favorites from home … pinot gris, pinot blanc and riesling for the whites – pinot noir for the reds. It was amazing for me to see what quality those wineries down here manage to produce.
This gallery contains 10 photos.
Before I actually get started here … I did NOT throw myself of a bridge this time, I was not even tempted to bungy jump … if you want to see me in freefall – check it out here. OK … Continue reading
We made it into QT in the late afternoon and moved into our home for the next couple of days. And that home was amazing – we had a whole house just for us … felt a bit like being back to school on a class trip … we even had some teachers with us 😉 – and as we did discover over the next days, it made a good base for everything – up to building shelters.
Today Sue was nice to us – no cooking – instead we made our way to downtown for the World Bar for reduced price drinks (how does Long Island Iced Tea straight out of teapot sound?) and pizza … later on we could experience a playful Arie and live music.
This gallery contains 12 photos.
We left Franz Josef in the early morning for our drive down to Queenstown. Once more we had many stops on the way … the first already after less than an hour – at Lake Matheson for either an extended … Continue reading
This gallery contains 23 photos.
Today most of the group decided to go for a guided glacier hike / climb on Franz Josef Glacier. It turned out to be a perfect day with sunshine and blue skies – a perfect day to be outdoors. The … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
We left Punakaiki in the early afternoon, starting our 220 km journey down the coast to Franz Josef and the glacier. There was enough on the way to keep us busy – from hiking to a waterfall (which I did) … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
This morning we basically had the option to go for a hike or to stay in bed in bit longer. I (against my usual approach) decided in favor of the latter option to help ease that plane induced cold. After … Continue reading
This gallery contains 14 photos.
This morning the tour was about to start; the group came together and – after finishing the paperwork – got on the bus and left for our first day on our 21 New Zealand tour. This first day brought us … Continue reading