The Lepri Hotel

Big thanks to the Rosano, Kylie, Oliver, Mia and Chewy for putting us up while in Sydney.

We brought the Vancouver weather with us, but considering our options, I'll take it.

Wrapping up QT

Our last full day in Queenstown and we found ourselves on a wine tour again. Not much to write about, but some good scenery, food and wine.

This was our second trip to the Gibston winery. A tad over-rated and a bit in love with their own story. The wine is good but not the best we have found in NZ.

Carrick Vinyard was our next stop. Right away, better wine along with some really nice views out their back door.

 Over to Northburn. Again, a full on Vinyard that doubles as a restaurant. This is where we had our lunch, serving up a combo platter for us to share with generous portions of salmon, lamb, cheeses and veggies. Yum.

 Not much to report from the last 2 wineries we visited.

 Just in case you need to make pavlova......

Nic and I werre pretty full at the end of our day. 2 big tour days in a row and we decided to spend out last night in with a cheese platter and some wine.

The next morning we'd be on our way to Sydney.

Milford Sound, Really?

Milford Sound is a famous fjord on the west coast of New Zealand that opens up onto the Tasman Sea. Since we were in Queenstown, I decided that I wanted to check it out. So Nic and I got up at 6 and loaded ourselves onto a tour bus.

The bus ride over to Milford takes yo through an Alpine pass and I would actually say the bus ride was more interesting that Milford Sound itself.

We had a few opportunities to stop and stretch our legs. The bus driver, Adrian, correction, very knowledgeable Adrian, would stop at key points so we could take pictures of the area.

 As you can see, the sun decided to leave us this day. As good a day as any not to be on our bikes.

One stop was at Mirror Lakes. Oooh, see the reflection?

 And another stop was near the top of the Alpine highway.

 This is a Kea, and an alpine parrot only found in NZ. This guy was not camera shy but I think she was cold. She kept trying to get into some guys car.

 After the top of the pass, we stopped at another location called the Chasm. Another nice place to get out and stretch our legs.

 Finally getting to Milford, we got loaded onto the Milford Mariner.

 We headed up the south side of the sound and back down the north side.

 Sterling Falls

 Furry Seals.

 Looking out onto the Tasman.

 And heading back a closer view of Sterling Falls.

Thoughts?

Cheese & Rice! What a long fuckin day! 7am pickup and not dropped off until after 8pm. For a total of 10 hours on a bus and 2.5 more on a boat. Some people love this stuff , especially people of the diaper wearing variety. Having done Milford I think I have found the upper limit of the tourist in me. Moving forward , sight seeing activities are going to be kept to convenient activities. Case in point, the Wanaka Helicopter ride from a few days ago. Now that's how to you see the country side.

Advice?

If you decide to do this, think about booking it as a fly in and out tour (costing only an extra $350). If you decide to bus it, try to position yourself in Te Anau and try the tour from there. You'll save about 5 hours. Also, weather can be an issue. On the day we did it, flights could not get in or out. For best conditions and best waterfalls, try to pick a sunny day that follows heaving rain.


New Zealand is a beautiful country. Wanna see it? Take a wine tour, go biking or go on a road trip. Maybe just youtube Milford Sound.

Parking it

Nic and I did a half day at the bike park in QT.

Half day is tons of time for this hill. Definitely looking forward to Whistler Season.....

A View of Wanaka

3 hours of lunch and day planning in Queenstown and we were on a bus for Wanaka, about an hour up the road. If I could compare Wanaka for you, it's like a Squamish to Queenstowns Whistler. 

The Town of Wanaka is on Wanaka Lake.  The hills and the surrounding area often reminded me of Kamloops. But best of all: no rain here yet. According to the locals, the South Island had a dodgy summer - cool, windy and rainy. But the kids all went back to school so I guess the sun decided to come out. I'd say the average temperature has been around 25 degrees C since we got here.

This is why you leave Vancouver in the Winter. It Summer somewhere.

 We puttered around on our first afternoon here. Monday would be the Really Big ticket item on our trip.

 We got picked up in front of Racers Edge on Ardmore St.  in town. Perryn(from Nelson on the South Island) and her friend Jo (Josephine? from Edinburgh) would be our guides for the trip. Usually Perryn runs the show on her own, but intel from Nic suggests Perryn had a crash a few days before and asked Joe for an assist in showing us around. Actually, this would also be Jo's first time on the adventure as well.

They drove us out to the airport. Efficiently our bikes got loaded onto the Helecopter. A short jump over to pick up Perryn, who had to shuttle the Jeep for evac and we were on our way up the hill. The Helicopter ride was really cool. I can see why so many people want to learn how to fly them.

 Nic at the top, shortly before the Heli leaves us on our own.

 We would ride by rocky outcroppings like these often.

 I think its safe to say that the pictures do a better job of telling the story than I can. The ride was made up of 5 in all. Perry and Jo, Me and Nic and Johan from Sweden.

Jo had a really good eye for photograhy. She asked for my Camera so she could get this one of me and Nic in the distance.

 The ride itself was not overly difficult. If you are looking for a day long epic with lots of technical features, this may not be the ride for you.

 Instead what you get is a are awesome - no, stunning views of Mt. Pisa and the surrounding area. Perryn did a GREAT job of stopping us and giving us the story of each section of trail. If there was an area that might trip us up, she let us know so we could take care.

 Make no mistake though, there are many places on this trail where your speed can get away from you. I can imagine how often Perryn needs to swap out brake pads on her fleet of Giant Trances.

We really lucked out with the weather. Even Perryn was happy with the temperature and visibility. February seems to be prime time to do this ride.

 The ride goes in 3 stages. We start on a rocky Moon like setting, then in the middle we get what reminded me of Grand Junction and Fruita. In the end we ride through  a farmers heard of sheep and cows and grazing greenery.

Very happy with the ride and our guides. If the ride was more technical that it was I don't think I could have last for 3+ hours. It was nice to relax, shut of the brain and get some warm sun and views.

As long as your not looking to shred, shralp, or rip it up getting some epic shots of yourself riding crazy $h!t, then I would highly recommend Wanaka Max Vert.