So with little standing and left to explore in Christchurch, I consulted
my guidebook for some ideas on what other activities might be a reasonable
distance from the city. Lucky me - there is a small wine country region,
the Waipara (pronounced WHY-pahrah), only 45 mins away! Not able to find
any tours operating that day, I walked to the hotel that rented cars (and which
is also conveniently our meeting point for the hiking trip). Check out
the SWEET ride they hooked me up with:
Groovy, baby!
So note that the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car.
Yup, on my first full day here I’m getting used to traffic driving on the
opposite side of the road by diving right into it, and then going drinking.
Brilliant, eh? It took me only 1/2 mile after I pulled out of the
hotel to do a curb check on the inside curb of the first roundabout and put a
few scratches on the Mini’s cute little hubcap. Oops! And I hadn’t
even been drinking yet, so I can’t blame the booze. :)
Waipara is a relatively new wine region for NZ, and is known for
Rieslings and Pinot Noirs. I visited Pegasus Bay, Waipara Springs and
Greystone, all family owned. Pegasus Bay had a beautiful estate, pretty
similar to those in Napa, while the other two were smaller and more intimate.
Here’s a few pictures from the grounds at Pegasus Bay:
And a view of some of the vineyards around Greystone:
I of course had to buy a bottle at each winery for the upcoming
trip. Unfortunately for the guides who will be handling my bag, the
suitcase just got quite a bit heavier. Good news is that it will get quite
a bit lighter as we go along. ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment