Where on earth..?

Where did we go, what did we do?

Good question, I might add, as it seems almost impossible to remember all we've done ourself when so much happens in a short time. The pictures help, though... (Getting old and senile here)

We spent easter in the city of Dunedin and also explored the fabulous Otago peninsula where we saw wild sealions among other things! Just right there at the beach! There is also a picture where Raine tries to be one =) A major part of this time was stuffing oursef with as much chocolate as possible, as it was easter. Driving further south along the coast we saw the very rare yellow eyed penguine. They are about 40 cm tall and you cant get very close, so the pictures are not that great, but they were out in the wild, all around at the beaches at dusk. Just like the ones in Antarctica but smaller. Soo cute! Felt quite unreal actually.

The most southern point of the mainland, where you are about as close to Antarctica as the equator was a memorable place, very windy with a small lighthouse ( love those) in a dramatic setting. You could lean against the wind in a 45 degree angle without falling!

Super duper tourist attraction Milford sound in the Fjordlands was for me as I had expected a major letdown, not my scene at all, but Raine did a cruise at the sound and apparently liked it even though it was raining crazy. The waterfalls are impressive, must admit. I was happy when we got to Queenstown, suddenly we had the sun out again and the city was just beautiful next to a stunning lake with snowtopped mountains at the back. Wanaka at a lake with the same name was equally nice, both places where you can do any extreme activity you could think of. We concentrated on the scenery cos next up was glacier land and the two glaciers of Franz Josef and Fox. We both ended up doing a full day hike up Franz Josef, which for both was one of the highlights of the tour. We saw grottos of clear blue ice and walked up and down the icy cravades of the glaciere for many hours. Hard work I tell you, but so worth it!

The Nelson region up north was set in a lovely countryside where for the first time we saw something else than sheep growing on the fields... Appletrees, grapes, rasp- and boysenberries everywhere, it was like being in a garden. Had a picnic lunch in a winery and enjoyed the warm weather. The city of Nelson itself is quite an artsy one, and besides enoying civilisation again in the form of shops and cafes I even visited an art gallery. Good for the soul!

Next up was what I had been waiting for almost the most, the wine region of Marlborough, that is the biggest in New Zealand. 30 years ago the area was waistland, the soil so dry you couldn't grow anything there, not even grass for the sheep. Then they realised the climate AND the soil is just perfect for cold climate grapes and the rest is history. Now the wine for both the local and the export markets together with a substential tourism industry has changed the once poor countryside to a fastly developing very wealthy area, and every hectar of the best land is covered with grapes. Now this is a time span even I can relate to! The approach to wine making is quite different from that in Europe, if something can be done more efficiantely it will, cos there are no traditions to hold on to. The unbelievably fruity taste of the Sauvignon Blanc only from this small area is apparently a result of dry soil, warm days and cold nights. The difference in temperature between day and night is key, and as a result the wines from this area have a very different taste from those even just from Nelson. We visited many many wineries and tasted many many many wines...!

It was now almost time to return our camper van, just had time to see Kaikoura at the east coast and saw some more seals and some more very beautiful coastline. Kaikoura is a major seafood town, and I tried some lobster for the first time in my life. The last two days we've spent in Christchurch again, and after doing a bit of flight changing (were supposed to fly out from Nelson but this is better) we'll fly via Auckland straight to the kingdom of Tonga tomorrow!

posted by Carina @ 10:46 AM