Two Americans emigrate to New Zealand from Colorado,
USA.
We talk about
our life in Nelson, New Zealand.
April 2009 | Blog home | June 2009
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5 May: Driving through Central OtagoAfter we left the Catlins on our southern swing, we went inland from Milton to Lawrence, Roxburgh, and onto Alexandra, Clyde and ended the day in Cromwell, from which we would stay for two nights to do the Central Otago wineries - a MUST for any wine fan. The best pinot noir in the world (a fact) is made right here.
If you're lost, I'll refer you back to the original trip blog for a map of the area we travelled.
Inland from Milton we went through about an hour of rolling green hills like above, just outside of Balclutha.
The we hit the cutest town with the loveliest little cafe - Lawrence and The Lemon Tree, respectively.
What a picturesque cute little town, probably only of a few thousand or so. It seemed to be very community oriented and friendly. The town had several art shops and an award winning fabric artist who did amazing weavings from local wools.
Inland we kept going and the scenery became more and more mountainous, reminding us of parts of Colorado and the west.
To the right the Clutha River, mighty enough for two dams and plans for a third, wends its way through the hills that didn't come through as colourful in this shot as they were.
I think I've said this plenty, but if you plan to visit this region, April is 'the' time of year to do it - incredible colour and scenery.
Don took many spectacular shots, like this one to the left, all along the way. He had a good time playing with his camera and I became increasingly irritable at his wanting to stop every few minutes - but it was worth it in the end with all his great photos.
We stopped in Roxburgh after driving through town and doing a 360 after I saw a yarn shop sign - it was this old lady in a raggedly little shop, and the back wall full of homespun, hand died Central Otago wool.
I asked her who spun the wool and she said it was her sheep and her farm, just down the road. Her family has had that farm for ages and she works in the part time shop selling it, along with various knick knacky trinkets. I grabbed myself a handful,
paid cash as credit card is nonexistent in those parts it seems, and packed up the car with many bundles of knitting joy.
A side note - you won't see many if any dairy farms in these parts, these people are proud sheep farmers and we saw sheep for miles and miles, this was the real New Zealand in that regard!
As we made our way closer to Alexandra - probably the main city in Central - the river got closer to the highway as well. We stopped for many shots, even with partly cloudly skies.
Above the shot of the reflection on water is taken just outside of Alexandra.
As you arrive into Alexandra, you see this signature bridge to cross the Clutha, right next to the original bridge built from 'olden times' where the road crossed above and passengers walked below. The river was an incredible colour this day.
We arrived in town in the mid afternoon and first thing went to some of the wineries on the Alexandra side - one of which was this lovely spot with the pinot noir grapes under netting to protect the fruit from the birds. It was pretty much a universal sight to see the vineyards with netting, but only a few vineyards were located on the side of a craggy rock hill like this one. I guess with a crop this good, you try to grow them wherever you can fit them.
Here's another shot of the mighty Clutha river, at one of the wider parts we saw, as it is backing up to the Clutha Dam, which created Lake Dunstan on the opposite side, the Cromwell side.
Between Alexandra and Cromwell lies Clyde, most famously for Angela as the home of Touch Yarns. Unfortunately this lovely yarn label didn't have a seconds shop near its mill, just a firsts where I paid as much as I would in the stores - but the selection was incredible and worth the stop. Don took heaps of cute photos here of wee Clyde.
As we made our way toward Cromwell - for the next blog - here is the Clyde Dam I mentioned above, one of two already on the Clutha. A third is in the plans to start, so this river must be long and wide.
The next day was winery day, and we enjoyed that one immensely! Next time...
A friend from work had been in the Cromwell area about two weeks prior to us heading down there. He recommended going up Nevis Road for the spectacular views. The plan was to drive up Nevis Road prior to the wineries opening for tasting (probably a good idea) so we set out around 9am.
Just outside of Bannockburn the road turns to gravel and we slowly head upwards. The views are outstanding and really reminds me of several of the scenes from Lord of the Rings (big surprise). The skies were clear but the wind was blowing and fresh. We went to the top and turned back but the road does continue on down, eventually leading to a 4wd only stretch before reaching Garston. It doesn't match Trail Ridge road in Colorado for altitude but the views were as good and we didn't have to follow a line of tourist buses up.
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The road leads up. |
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Hawks were abundant and on our way up, and down, we caught one feasting on something beside the road. |
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Just over the saddle the range in the distance is the Remarkables that sit near Queenstown. |
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Sign at the top. This converts to 4,265 feet. Considering we started at about 213 meters (700 feet) we gained about 3500 feet in 10kms. |
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Views to the southeast as we head back down. |
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The wild animals that roam freely, this one didn't look too friendly. Or maybe he wasn't happy to see us leave. |
The crown jewel of our trip into the heart of the South Island was a visit to pinot noir wine country, which is really a swarm of vineyards in the Clutha River valley areas around Cromwell, Alexandra, Clyde and then a handful over into Arrowtown and Queenstown. It's a pretty small slice of land producing the most fabulous pinots in the world (but then, I'm slightly biased even tho I am no expert on wine whatsoever!!).
More than 30 wineries are located in the area and a good way to get a grasp of what to do and see would be to visit http://www.otagowine.com/ where you can get information and wine trail maps.
We visited about a dozen wineries because the rest were listed as by appointment only. As it happens, the harvest had just started so sometimes the cellar doors were closed and most often people were out in the fields rushing in to help us with our tasting. We ran into only two other people the entire day so we had the entire region to ourselves! Or maybe another way to think about it is that we were the rudest tasters in the world, arriving during harvest and demanding free wine at the door. Eh, whatever!
Of the dozen we visited, we only disliked two and walked out without a purchase. A couple of places we bought more than one - and at more than I care to admit we even disobeyed our rule to accumulate only pinot noir and purchased whites because they were so good! At one spot, we found a fabulous cabernet sauvignon which is somewhat rare in this country (to be made here, they carry imports of course) as it is far more often mixed with merlot for a cabernet merlot, which I rarely like.
Every winery seemed to have both their cellaring version of the wine ranging from $30 - $50+ that would be at it's best served after a few years in cellar, but entirely drinkable now. Each also had their 'ready to drink' version that you could distinguish by the lighter taste and lower price. Sometimes we liked the ready to drink version better, which helped the fact that we don't have a wine cellar. Anyway, it's all a matter of personal taste.
One spot was particularly memorable.
BannockBrae Estate is a relatively new winery. When you drive up you don't realise it until you get to the front door and read the sign - the cellar door is the owner's personal home. It's not lavish, and you have to ring the bell and walk through their living quarters - pretty awkward - to the tasting area out on the back patio overlooking their vineyard. The owners were friendly and their small range of four wines were tasty.
Most memorable was the dog. As we finished the last drop of our tasting and paid for our bottle, the lovely golden retriever spread out his four paws and got in the familiar position of needing a good up-chuck. Yum. But rather than chucking up far away, the dog was right in front of us and gave us not just one or two good piles of vomit to stare at, but three colourful pools of whatever irritated his stomach. The owners poo poo ed the dog but sure didn't rush to clean it up or get a hose! More like they just had a hearty laugh about it. Yikes, hopefully they cleaned it before the next people arrived. Needless to say, I'll remember the name and the wine and the experience more than any that day!
We are making our way slowly through our collection from the trip, enjoying every drop!
Normally - at least over the last three years - in our part of New Zealand winter doesn't really hit until June and then it gets its most furious in July and August. It's typically just cold temperatures that bother, but don't hinder much activity because the sunny days with blue skies make everyone cheery.
But May has hit us hard this year with blasts of cold air in Nelson that you can feel down to your toenails. Snow has been dumped down south in Christchurch and Dunedin twice already that I've seen on the news, and I don't even watch every day so it could be more. This morning the national radio station I listen to while getting ready for work has had a top five about "It was so cold yesterday ..." to lighten the somber freezing mood!
It's been cold. Have I mentioned? Everyone in Nelson that I've talked to has noticed the same. The past few nights have been down to near freezing, only 1 and 2 degrees celcius. In May!! It's autumn still!
Our home heating efforts have begun in earnest, and it takes awhile to acclimate to the change each year, especially one so sudden. Last year in May both Don and I were out cycling on weekends in 16 - 18 degree days - this May I think Don's been out once and I haven't bothered at all! But for Don to go out only once is saying something. He's ready to hibernate for winter at this point, and we're worried winter will be long!
I am reminded of the emails I often get from people looking to emigrate who enquire about the weather and home heating. It is by far the top issue for newly arrived immigrants - how do I keep warm in the winter, indoors? Houses don't have central heating. They are heated room by room, and it is as expensive to do it in the States as it is here. People still use wood fireplaces in large numbers, but with the air quality standards rules in place these are becoming less the norm. In a recent study, it was shown that using a fireplace - often touted as the most cost effective heating method - cost about the same as an electric heat pump, which are installed on walls here to heat larger rooms or a larger collection of rooms that are linked together.
We have two heat pumps and together they heat the kitchen, dining area, and one of our two lounges. The second lounge has a gas fireplace, and natural gas prices are expensive as well. We use a mixture of both, as sparingly as possible, but it's way better than having to deal with a fireplace as we can easily regulate the heat levels and we can control them with the flick of a button. Plus we layer and use blankets and wear lots of wool.
These two heating methods can often waft the heat into each other's areas as they are all in the main living zone - but nothing heats the bedrooms and this is the common situation in houses. Heat pumps and fireplaces are always placed in the main living zones of houses, but don't reach into other rooms blocked off by walls and doors. In the bedroom we use an oil column heater and it is on a timer on the outlet to go off before we wake up and to heat the bedroom before we go in there at night to sleep. Of course we only have to heat one bedroom, families have this setup in each bedroom. You can also purchase fan space heaters as well, but these provide short-lived heat.
Adding insulation to the home, most often these days after the fact, makes a huge difference. It also protects the interior from damp conditions and issues resulting from them, such as mold that can cause allergies. New houses are built with insulation, but so many homes in New Zealand are older and are without it - and it's an issue. The government has programmes or is developing them to help with this - I've also heard this on the news in passing, so I don't have more information.
It's a fact of life in New Zealand, there's no getting around it. You have to be happy with the way it is and adapt or I would recommend you not move here without spending some time in the area you want to live during winter to get a sense of what it's like. You can adapt, it is possible! But I know this one issue has driven many people to move back to their home country. Best to have as much information as possible before you come, and be prepared to wear layers and heat your home in this somewhat haphazard fashion and you'll do fine.
Nothing will take away the chill outside, however!! Brrr...
GO NUGGETS! Yes' we're watching!
Our final trek from Central Otago northward took us through Lindis Pass - the second best scenic drive on the trip after coming inland through Lawrence to Cromwell - up through Omarama and toward the Mount Cook area where Lakes Pukaki and Tekapo are. High tourist areas for sure, the lakes are well known for their gorgeous views and amazing colouring. As usual, pictures don't do it justice, but have a look at some from our final drive on our Southern swing.
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Leaving Cromwell early morning the sun was streaming directly at us and ont the hills around us creating the most lovely golden effect. |
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This is still Lake Dunstan as we are heading northward, gorgeous country. |
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Lindis Pass started out with the golden hills, most hidden by sun which is why our pictures came out poorly because the sun was too low in the sky during this time of day to get stunning images of the golden hills and further on the incredible fall colours, just beautiful. |
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After leaving Lindis Pass we headed in towards Omarama where we found a good wool shop and got some items on sale, but the interesting hills caught our eye as we drove by - fast by the looks of the blurry foreground (yes, I was driving). |
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Driving northward you come into Lake Pukaki first, the closer lake to Mount Cook (we didn't go up into Mount Cook area as we'd been there before and it would've taken too much time). Both Pukaki and next, the more picture-popular Tekapo are made up of sedimentation that comes off the hills where the glacial water melts that cause this light turqoise colour - spectacular. These lakes are two of my favourite spots in the country. |
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Lake Tekapo and it's lovely wee church that is on many postcards - it's hard to get a great picture here as it is crawling with tourists and buses. |
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Lake Tekapo from the other side. |
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Rakaia Gorge on the highway northward, coming over the hills you descend into this lovely river and gorge with a steel bridge that is picture worthy indeed - this one's a bit far away but it's good to give you the scope. |
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A close up of the glacial water meeting the tree covered craggy rocks at the base of Rakaia Gorge. |
The past four weeks has been a bit of a whirlwind, you may have noticed blog posts have been irregular and infrequent! I am off in a few days for a quick one week visit to the States for family reasons and will see a few friends as well, so preparing for that has taken my time. In addition, my work lifestyle admittedly has become more like an American lifestyle these past weeks with the looming deadline of launching the new Council website, I've been deeply involved in getting it ready and we're already past the first deadline and trying to make the second one, so work has been more than hectic. That should die down post-launch. Then this past week I got sick AND figured out (luckily I followed my nagging subconscious suspicions to check) that my Returning Residence Visa that allows me to get back into the country after leaving it expired a year ago (same with Don) and we'd not gotten renewals - this nine days before I am scheduled to fly to Los Angeles. Panic broke out for a few hours before we spoke with immigration and found out we could get a new, indefinite visa with same day service in Christchurch at the immigration office. So I had to buy an expensive one day ticket and hop a plane midweek (taking dear time out of my work hours) to get a new visa to ensure I could be let back on the plane in Los Angeles!! All in all, I'm pooped.
Long story short (yes, too late), I'm taking the mid-winter blog break early while I'm away in America and Don is lounging around in Nelson relaxing without me. See you later in June, there is definitely lots to discuss when I return!
