11-30-2009
Woke this AM to an overcast sky with the Remarkables totally gone. Had breakfast - no other guests present. No special plans for the day. Put the laundry away and got ready to go. Visited Arrowtown about 20 minutes away, nice shops with nice clothing and a few nice galleries. Small, but good museum about the gold mining history of the area, very similar to the California Gold Rush. Walked through the nearby remains of the Chinese community and then left. Decided to drive a little further out and visit a few wineries. Stopped at Amisfield on the way to the main highway. The fellow serving the wine was from Chicago - worked at one time at the Hyde Park Co-op which he told me is now closed. Then went on and came upon a bungee jumping center. Stopped and as I walked up to view it, a woman was being secured for the jump. As she stood on the ledge, she refused to move, but after an arm around her shoulder and much coaxing she finally jumped. I guess this is the only jump where one actually touches the water below. She ended up upside down swinging in the air and was then “rescued” by a small raft. Nothing I would ever do! Walked out on the walkway to the jump platform and met some Israelis - first I’ve run into here.
Went to the winery associated with this place and tasted some wines there including Freefall wine. Interesting to compare three different pinot noirs, two were the same but different years, and two pinot gris. A man came in from The Cheesery down the road to discuss his project to put together a cheese-wine tasting menu and wondered if the winery might be interested. I listened in and then left and drove down to the The Cheesery, also associated with a winery. I sampled some cheeses and then ordered a cheese board which served as my lunch as I had only eaten an apple. I really liked the Kumaru blue cheese, a very light blue cheese. They make a sheep’s milk pecorino, a very hard cheese, a Cheddar style, and a Havarti style cheese. I had the blue, the Cheddar, the Havarti, with a few fruits and some quince chutney. Quite nice.
When finished I decided to head to Te Anau. The drive took about 1 12/ hours south and then west. I checked in at The House of Wood and set out for some dinner. Ate at The Olive Tree Caf� and had a wonderful chunky tomato soup. The “mains” was the absolutely worst meal I have eaten here, a chicken satay that was essentially a big bowl of mush with some oily peanut sauce on it. Yuk! - couldn’t eat it, told the waitress how bad it was, she said she would tell the chef, but that was about it. Had to pay for the whole disgusting dish. Then went to the supermarket to pick up a few lunch items, some fruit, yogurt, some trail mix bars. Back to the B&B and time for bed.
