Now anyone who knows us knows we love wine! We wouldn't miss out on an opportunity to drink some wine and that's exactly what we did.
Booked a tour for the four of us and let David do the driving! Visiting four wineries in the Otago Region of NZ.
Gorgeous day about an hours drive from Wanaka. First winery, Wild Earth, had food pairings and it was spectacular! To get to the winery, we had to cross a foot bridge across a gorge with riverbed below where folks mined for gold back in the mid-1800's. Second, was a corporate winery, scenery more spectacular than the wine. Third and fourth were small family owned and operated vineyards. They spoke to us about their wines and it was so heartfelt as they have been part of this land for generations. The wine industry in NZ is only about 20 years old, but they were farms and pastures before the creation of vineyards.
Awesome to have a more relaxed day.
Monday morning, Dan and Kathy are heading out for a hike and Bill and I will enjoy a walk around Lake Wanaka, lunch and shopping in town.
Only 40 degrees this morning, but we are hopeful of a warm up this afternoon. Wanaka is really like a ski resort town. They are a ski destination for Kiwi's but in comparison to American resorts, quite small. Weather is very erratic here. We arrived in a rain storm That lasted into the next afternoon. Experienced an overnight snow on the mountains that closed the road to Milford. Then, had a lovely sunny day with temps in the mid-fifties. Was glad for the sun as we have a long drive to Mount Cook. Sunny will be better than rainy for the guys to drive on these winding roads and on the opposite side of the road. They have done great! Kathy and I have no interest in driving.
Loved Wanaka but time to move on!
