Just a wee point of clarification…. we weren’t being negative about our airport and van pick up experience, we laughed our way through it – though we were disappointed that we were later than expected at Lake Tekapo, but hey ho, it was raining and cloudy anyway, so we didn’t miss much – well we missed loads really!
We have a friend who commented on their trip to NZ that the roads were long, flat and boring and I can see were they were coming from…. Wide open spaces and in the rain…
We turned off the State Highway 1 on to the SH79 towards Geraldine. I felt like a snail with my home on my back! I’m sure I’ll get used to my home being behind me, rattling along in the wake of the cab!
With 20 mins to spare, though we didn’t know that at the time, we checked in to our campsite at Lake Tekapo, navigated our way to our spot as it got dark and unpacked…. I don’t know what I was expecting but I was hoping to take my clothes out of the packing cubes…. well, at least I know where to find things!!! A glass or two of wine, a wrestle with the bed and we called it a night.
I don’t think I was expecting it to be so cold at night in our campervan…. Hopefully as spring continues over the next few weeks it will get warmer! We did come prepared with fleeces and trousers! We survived our first night and woke to an amazing view….
Great facilities at the campsite – showers, kitchen etc… We got ourselves organised, had a bit of a dander, took a few photos and then hit the road….
What a journey….
Restaurant/food/local house
Twizel was built to accommodate the workers for the hydroelectric plant. It was to be demolished in 1984, however the workers liked their rural, mountain life and refused to move. Today it is thriving with holiday homes.
To Cromwell, where we had a short diversion.
Cromwell lies in the heart of the central Otago wine region, known for its Pinot Noir and accounts for over 70% of the areas wine production.
We visited Cromwell Heritage Precinct. When the Clyde Dam was completed in 1992 (on a fault line) it flooded Cromwell’s historic town centre, 280 homes, six farms and 17 orchards were flooded. Many of the historic buildings were disassembled before the flooding and rebuilt in a predestrainised precinct beside Lake Dunstan.
We headed on to Alexandra and the Grey Ridge Vineyard where we were stopping overnight. They are part of the Okay2Stay syndicate. You park up overnight for free, no services, the expectation being that you buy some of their produce.
Paul and Sue bought the 4.2 hectares of Pinot Noir vines four years when Paul was made redundant by Shell, after 32 years working in their exploration department. For the majority of the time they work the vineyard themselves, hand tending the vines during the growing season and employ locals on an ad hoc basis over the summer season and during harvest – retirees looking for something to do a few days, young mums with a few hours to spare!
We tasted their four wines along with two harvested by the previous owners that Paul and Sue inherited!
If you are interested here is a link to their tasting notes….
http://greyridge.co.nz/tasting.php
After a pleasant afternoon we took a walk around the vineyard before settling down with a bottle of the said wine, a platter of cheeses and hams and then another bottle just to make sure it was good!
Whilst the wine and the vineyard were lovely, what we had neglected to plan was watching rugby!! Tucked up in bed at 11.15pm we listened on the radio to the first half of the Ireland New Zealand quarter final…. Despondent at half time we turned out the light in the hope that if we weren’t listening it would get better!
We were awakened at 5am by this weird, melodious “tune” that also sounded like the dial-up tone of a computer connecting to the server from the good old days!! We didn’t see what was making the noise but have been informed that it was a Tūī. Unique to New Zealand they belong to the honeyeater family, which means they feed mainly on nectar from flowers of native plants and can be locally abundant where there is good pest control and flowering/fruiting habitat – wouldn’t a vineyard provide all of that! You can listen to their call below if your are keen!
Thanks to doc.govt.nz for the info and to Tess at Glenorchy who overheard us talking about it and enlightened us!
We packed up and headed back to Cromwell as we had another Okay2Stay reservation at Aurum Winery. We discovered at the i-Site (tourist information centre) that there is a 4Barrels walking wine trail in Cromwell that includes Aurum – what a great way to taste some wine and gather up some steps!
After doing some laundry we headed out to Aurum to park up and get started!
We had the pleasure of meeting Tony at Aurum. The vineyard was a hobby for Tony and Joan until they retired to Cromwell. Their son Barry studied wine making in Australia before moving to France where he met his wife Lucie – who is the winemaker! A family business, they manage 4.5 hectares, growing the grapes and producing their own wine – the only process done off site is the bottling.
https://www.aurumwines.com/category/tasting-notes/
As in most cases the conversation changed to weather and while there had been a huge dark cloud over Cromwell most of the day, Tony assured us it wouldn’t rain. However, he advised they were expecting an earthquake! Apparently they happen every 300 years, and you guessed it, it’s been 300 yrs since the last one. We purchased a bottle or three, stashed them away in the van and tramped down the road to our next venue.
Allan Scott, with over 40 yrs experience in wine making, was one of the first independent wineries to be established in Marlborough in 1990. Scott Base Vineyard is the family’s southern base producing 90% pinot grapes and 10% Chardonnay over 6.9 hectares. The tasting room, known as Space at the Base, is a cosy and relaxed venue. Though it was the busiest of the four venues we visited.
We tasted the sparkling Emperor Brut, followed by the Scott Base Sauvignon Blanc, the Scott Base Rosé, the Scott Base Pinot Noir and a wee extra, the 2017 Pinot Noir Reserve. Along with a plate of bread, oil and dukkas and some deer sticks!
For those interested in finding out more about Scott Base – follow the link – https://www.scottbasevineyards.co.nz/
We had spent quite a bit of time here and the afternoon was moving on so, on the advice of Tessa, our next stop was Misha’s (only because they closed at 4pm). A march back down the hill and over to the other side of town!
I am not even going to begin to write about Misha’s Vineyard. The couple who own it, Andy and Michele (Misha is Andy’s pet name for her) had regional executive roles in marketing and sales for global companies for over fifteen years. The tasting room and their website are amazing – the marketing of their story and their produce second to none on this trail.
The tasting room was bright and modern and even though it was nearly closing time Sue, a retired chef, welcomed us in, was friendly, funny and informative. We were presented with a list of tasting notes and offered five to choose from. The wines were delicious. Misha’s has an arts background, training as a ballerina, and her mother, Gloria, was an opera singer therefore the wines are named with a musical theme in her memory.
I’m sure some of my readers will enjoy their website – well worth the visit!
Tasting done, bottle in bag and it was a quick march back down the road to The Wooing Tree Winery.
We were greeted in the tasting room by Kyla, a bubbly, engaging business and marketing student who told us the story of the vineyard and talked us through their wines. Their claim to fame is that Reece Witherspoon tweeted about their Blonde Wine and put them in the global stage.
We started with the 2018 rose – Pinot Noir grapes which are left overnight with skin on. Producing strawberry and cream notes it has less of a nose than blonde, which had hint of liquorice. Low in sugar, 3.7g and 13% proof apparently this one is better if you don’t have blondie! It is a gold award winning wine, 2018 was very good with more flavour! Next was a
Pinot Gris, 2018, oaked in french barrels. It contains bought in
Chardonnay and is more citrus. Next was their beetle juice. A 2018 Pinot Noir, a small proportion of their proceeds goes to protecting beetles!
2017 was their best year…. We finished with Tickled Pink a 2019 dessert wine made from Pinot Noir grapes with strawberry undertones – we are reliably informed it is good with ice cream and blue cheese!
The day was done! With a few bottles in our bag we were very grateful to Barbara from Wooing Tree for the lift back up the road to Aurum.
Two happy bears, we had a platter of cheese and ham with some wine, did a few TripAdvisor reviews and called it a day!! Contrary to Tony’s prediction it did rain and blew a gale overnight but thankfully, no earthquake!
We met really lovely people today and wish them all the best for the future…
H&P Adventures 
Another fabulous chapter, keep them coming, it’s like holiday by proxy… 😎 we can almost taste the wine, I wish!! 🥂😁
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Glad you are interested in reading them…. Great memories 🍷🥂
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Is a camper van the next purchase?
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Nope!
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