I wasn’t going to post today but it ended up being a pretty interesting day. We left the glacier area and headed towards Queenstown, which was a lot further away than we expected.
We drove a few hours and were almost there when they stopped us for a 10-15 min road delay. Apparently helicopters were collecting water from the river in front of us and we couldn’t cross. But right when we stopped, a construction truck going the other direction handed all the cars a little bag of COLORING SUPPLIES and road safety stickers to keep us occupied while we waited. Even traffic delays are fun here! So I colored a picture and fashioned a tiny cardboard bus, and by the time I was finished, we were ready to go again.
We made it to Queenstown around 4. So far I’ve pretty much hated all of New Zealand’s other big cities but I love Queenstown. It reminds me of Vail and it’s a really good walking town; everything is close. It’s right on a lake and the rest is surrounded by mountains.
We went souvenir shopping for a little bit and then went over to a wine tasting place we had read about. The wine tasting place was GENIUS. It’s completely automated. They give you what looks like a credit card, you stick it in the machine of the wine you want to taste and it spits out either a taste, a half glass or a full glass. All of the prices and descriptions are on each wine and you just keep going until you’ve had enough, you’re drunk, or you’ve spent too much money. Then you just turn in your card at the end and pay out. The wines are behind a glass thing in a chiller so they’re exactly the right temperature and you never get cheated on a pour (I HATE that). Katy and I got the name of the machines they use and we’re going to open up one of these wine tasting places in Austin. Investors welcome:) I love New Zealand wine, excuse me, any wine, so I bought 4 bottles to take home. I’ll be carrying them around with me until Katy’s family comes to Australia and I can send it home with them. I’m going to try not to drink it right away and save it for special occasions or when I have people over. We’ll see how long that lasts.
After we got a little tipsy wine tasting, we walked across the street to the place we planned on going for dinner. I got some bluff oysters and seafood chowder. Both were amazing. Bluff oysters are known as the best oysters in New Zealand. We haven’t been to Bluff yet but now I can’t wait because they were the best oysters I’ve ever had, by far. Totally melt in your mouth.
Now we’re back at our campsite and someone turned on Lord of the Rings in the TV room. Spare me. EVERYTHING here is about Lord of the Rings. I get that it was filmed here and a lot of people come just for that reason, but NOT ME. On almost every tour we’ve been on they’re like, “Oh! On your right is the jewelry store where the ring from Lord of the Rings was made” or “Oh! The bird that just flew by was featured in Lord of the Rings”….who cares. Finally one of our tour guides was like, “hey see that rock…it WASN’T in Lord of the Rings’…at least someone realizes that it’s getting ridiculous. But umm, no offense if you actually like Lord of Rings.
Tomorrow is the rest of Queenstown ;) and then moving on! We only have about a week or so before we have to turn in our van in Christchurch.
We drove a few hours and were almost there when they stopped us for a 10-15 min road delay. Apparently helicopters were collecting water from the river in front of us and we couldn’t cross. But right when we stopped, a construction truck going the other direction handed all the cars a little bag of COLORING SUPPLIES and road safety stickers to keep us occupied while we waited. Even traffic delays are fun here! So I colored a picture and fashioned a tiny cardboard bus, and by the time I was finished, we were ready to go again.
We made it to Queenstown around 4. So far I’ve pretty much hated all of New Zealand’s other big cities but I love Queenstown. It reminds me of Vail and it’s a really good walking town; everything is close. It’s right on a lake and the rest is surrounded by mountains.
We went souvenir shopping for a little bit and then went over to a wine tasting place we had read about. The wine tasting place was GENIUS. It’s completely automated. They give you what looks like a credit card, you stick it in the machine of the wine you want to taste and it spits out either a taste, a half glass or a full glass. All of the prices and descriptions are on each wine and you just keep going until you’ve had enough, you’re drunk, or you’ve spent too much money. Then you just turn in your card at the end and pay out. The wines are behind a glass thing in a chiller so they’re exactly the right temperature and you never get cheated on a pour (I HATE that). Katy and I got the name of the machines they use and we’re going to open up one of these wine tasting places in Austin. Investors welcome:) I love New Zealand wine, excuse me, any wine, so I bought 4 bottles to take home. I’ll be carrying them around with me until Katy’s family comes to Australia and I can send it home with them. I’m going to try not to drink it right away and save it for special occasions or when I have people over. We’ll see how long that lasts.
After we got a little tipsy wine tasting, we walked across the street to the place we planned on going for dinner. I got some bluff oysters and seafood chowder. Both were amazing. Bluff oysters are known as the best oysters in New Zealand. We haven’t been to Bluff yet but now I can’t wait because they were the best oysters I’ve ever had, by far. Totally melt in your mouth.
Now we’re back at our campsite and someone turned on Lord of the Rings in the TV room. Spare me. EVERYTHING here is about Lord of the Rings. I get that it was filmed here and a lot of people come just for that reason, but NOT ME. On almost every tour we’ve been on they’re like, “Oh! On your right is the jewelry store where the ring from Lord of the Rings was made” or “Oh! The bird that just flew by was featured in Lord of the Rings”….who cares. Finally one of our tour guides was like, “hey see that rock…it WASN’T in Lord of the Rings’…at least someone realizes that it’s getting ridiculous. But umm, no offense if you actually like Lord of Rings.
Tomorrow is the rest of Queenstown ;) and then moving on! We only have about a week or so before we have to turn in our van in Christchurch.
youre seriously making me jealous with all this wine drinking and seafood eating. they just opened a Pappadeaux across the street from my work. i think im gonna go in and order some oysters and pretend im eating some awesome New Zealand oysters.
ReplyDeletei fell asleep watching LOTR 1. i gave it a 2nd shot some years later and quit about 45 minutes in. so stupid. it is cool to see where movies are filmed, but i didnt expect New Zealanders to make that big a deal out of it...