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.

Foul Voices on the Air

We arrived in Wellington on Friday, rented a car and made our way to the Inn. We had arrived to sunshine, but that quickly went south on us.

The Sevens tournament was in town along with us, so were were just happy when we found that the hotel we booked with online actually existed and had our room. 

(The Sevens is a fast pace world Rugby Tourney where the teams play in 7 man squads).

Probably the most interesting thing about our time in Wellington was the tournament and how the Kiwi's dress up and celebrate. Lots in cool costume wearing groups of mates could be seen in town. But for whatever reason, I just wasn't taking pics. 

Nic and I were in bed I think around 5pm friday night, thinking we'd having a nap, but when we woke up at 11pm, we gave up on our dinner plans and slept through.

Waking up in the morning we quickly made our plans as we often do. Although I'm starting to think we need to work a little harder on our plans. In the end we decided that as we had paid for a car, which we really didn't end up needing, that we should take a road trip. 

Starting at the Weta Cave, we would pay our $20 and get a quick tour. No photos allowed unless your in the gift shop.

 Afterwards we started on our Journey up Island along the Classic Wellington Wine trail.

The Wine trail truly starts on the South Island in Marlburough and continues along the east coast of the north Island , through Wellington all the way up to Hawke's Bay. Lovely, Right? mmm.....

This is where some better planning and knowledge of the area would have helped us.

We left Wellington and headed towards Martinburough,  a small community just 20 minutes off the path of the trail. We stopped at one winery that was recommended to us in town. Nic and I each bought a bottle of something we liked and went on our way back up the trail. In leaving Martinburogh, we left behind roughly 8 or 9 other wineries.

The rain pestered us for the entire day, coming and going. We arrived in Masterton, another wine based community to find that we had already driven by the main Wineries in town, of which there were only 3 or 4. So we decided not to backtrack and pushed on.

What would have been helpful is knowing that in this region, the I-Sites (Tourist Information Offices) all closed around 2, meaning that without internet, which we didn't have, and without better planning, which we didn't do, we'd be flying in the dark hoping for some luck.

Getting into Woodville, we re-assessed the situation. As highly rated as Hawkes Bay was the best we could hope for was dinner. We had been on the Road for about 4 hours and Hawkes bay was 2 more hours moving us away from our Hotel. (Keep in mind we had to fly out at 11 am the next day).

We gave the rest of the trip a miss headed for Wellington. There is still a chance of making it to Hawkes Bay in a later chapter.

For people reading this thinking of doing the same kind of adventure, I have some advice. If you are in Wellington and want to drive the Classic Wine Trail, split it up into 2 days.

This is how the road out of Wellington is meant to be taken. Google maps says 3.75 hours but dream on. Wellington is a very sluggish City to get in and out of. Especially along State Highway 2.

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Cut yourself some slack. Martinborough can be done on its own in roughly 3 - 5 hours  there and back to Wellington on its own depending on how many stops you make and if you have lunch.


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Do note that this route takes you along State Highway 2, which for 30 or so minutes can be fairly twisting and treacherous.

THEN: on day 2, head up to Hawkes bay, staying along State Highway 1 through Palmerston North, over to Hawkes Bay. This journey will be longer than 3.5 hours as well. The state highway 1 is less treacherous than 2, but still tends to crawl until you are out of Paraparamu.



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 Some will disagree, but you are probably ok to skip the Rif-Raf in between Martinborough and Hawkes Bay. After all, when you are traveling in a Country where petrol is $2.16 a liter , it should all be about bang for the buck. 

I'm not sure what gets into my head sometimes. I think between the rain and the aggravating drive I went to bed Saturday night just wanting to pack up and head back home.

Not to worry though. South Island to the rescue............
  

Away from it all....

After the Superbowl, Tracy and Jeremy arrived at LAX. A short while later, we took off for Rarotonga. The flight was almost 10 hours but seemed longer.

The weather in Raro was a mixed bag for our trip. Which I really like since I'm not much into constant 40 degree heat with humidity.

This is what we got off the plane to at around 7am.

 

There is nothing quite like for your first day in Rarotonga. Within 2 hours of arriving we had rented scooters, gotten our Raro drivers licences and had gone for a swim on the near by beach. Nic didn't want to drive so I was her Chauffeur for the trip. I learned how to drive within a few minutes, and had a big grin on my face as I zipped around the Island.

 This is our first shot of the Beach near where we were staying.

 On our way to the Beach, we found the local Brewery. What a great find this place it. Right down the road from one of the better beaches in the area is the Mutata Brewery. Fresh beer in 4 flavors, each well designed for island consumption. Thumbs way up from Karate Monkey.

Just a few beach shots.

 Our first night we cabbed our way to one of the Restaurants.

 I don't want to get into what these daiquiri's cost, or the whole meal plus cab ride.

   But lets just say our subsequent 2 dinners were done on the BBQ at our villa. I should also send out a big thumbs up to our Hosts, Eric and Roselle at the Cook Islands Oasis. Very friendly and helpful and a nice little Mom and Pop establishment.

Nic finds herself relaxing in the water during Captain Tama's boat and snorkel tour. Which to me was pretty funny. We each paid $75 for a tour, basically to be loaded onto a boat and taken back to pretty much the exact same location we did our first days snorkeling at. Haha!

Lunch was done for us at the end of the tour. Fresh Tuna and BBQ Bananas. Yum!

 Just a few odds and sods from Muri beach. Nic and I got up early on Tuesday to catch the Sunrise.

Yep. A little bit more than a little bit hammered that evening. Good times for sure. 

 Our last day Nic and I tried to do a round up of all the Photo's we wanted to get.

 On our journey, we walked into the local bike shop. Its a new business here on the island that opened its doors a few weeks before Xmas. They had already moved roughly 250 bikes, mostly to young riders. Thats Lee in the blue shirt who also spent some time living in Vancouver.

 
Asking about Mtn bike trails on the island, they pointed out that they had been given a 2 million dollar grant from the pacific development fund. Once some land issues get sorta we may expect to see some trail building happening on Rarotonga.

Can you imagine what Digger could do with 2 Mil???

The proposed 38km of trail would make Raro a great vacation destination  indeed!

Not that it isn't already.

3 days on the island was the perfect amount of time to untie our knots. We had our 2nd BBQ at the villa. Then, fully relaxed, Nic and I got picked up and taken to the Airport.

Next stop, Wellington!

Limbo

Vacation Time for Nic and I once again. But I want to get my last ride on the shore before I go as I don't know what I'll be getting back to in a few weeks. I was pretty cocky when I started peddling up from. Sure that the snow line had not crept down so low, turns out I was wrong and had some sketchy wood work on the way down.

Still, a nice day to look at.

Free Wifi for me for the next few weeks so get used to smaller images.

 7th was fine but I'd suggest staying off the wood.

 After 7th, I hooked up with Lee and Tracy for a quick lap on Expresso.

 Blurry Lee

 Blurry Tracy.

We wrapped up the ride, which did not get any warmer the further down the mountain. Happily we packed up the bikes and headed to the Pub.

Nic and I got up early the next morning. Her Brother, Dom, was good enough to get us to the Airport.

Arrived at LAX as advertised. Took up on a suggestion to go to Manhatten Beach to kill some time. Pics below.

 Wandering around was nice, but not really enough to do and see to keep us interested. We moved back and forth between the Beach and starbucks. A bit like being in Limbo.......

We contemplated hanging around in town to watch the Super Bowl. But splitting a plate of Nachos killed our appetite and We  felt that we would be loitering in any establishment. Instead we took a cab back to the Airport. Presently we are watching the game in a public area mooching TV angles and tables near a bar at LAX.

It's half time now and Seattle has a 22-0 lead. I still think Denver is dangerous, but hope Seattle can keep it together.

Looking forward to seeing Tracy and Jeremy. Been a long day tho, with a long flight ahead.......

We should all arrive in Roroatonga around 7 in the morning tomorrow.