Down Under - Day Four, Sunday, February 9, 2014

When I ask my son "What did you do today?" he always starts with, "Well, I got up ... and then ..."  It always tickles me when he starts his account of the day with "Well, I got up."  But that's exactly how my day began.  I got up ... at 9:00 a.m.  The latest I've slept in months.  And it felt darn good to sleep in.  And THEN, Stevie and I hoped in a car and drove to wine country.

Our first stop was in an adorable little town called Arrowtown.  Originally a mining town, Arrowtown is very artsie, small, warm and friendly, and like taking a step back in time.  We passed two beautiful churches that deserve to be mentioned.

Especially since we visited Arrowtown on a Sunday morning.   They were quite lovely, but surprisingly, empty.  Guess I missed the service this morning, which is fine because they were probably preaching about pre-marital sex and tithing, which I'm sure is an interdenominational and international thing.  Just sayin.

Anyway, since we missed the service, we moved on with tour.

Our driver, Hamish, took us to four wineries and to the Bungie Jumping bridge.  We made him sign an agreement that even if we beg and plead, DO NOT LET US BUNGIE JUMP.  I have to admit, after the second winery, I was a player for the Bungie.  But alas, Hamish took us at our word and dragged us back to the car.  Gibbston Winery was our first stop.   Known for their Pino Noir, I fell in love with the velvety smooth Pino.  Never have been much of a red wine drinker, but I promptly ordered a case of this to be shipped to Aspen.  It will likely be a "no share" item, but since I don't like to drink alone, it's a pretty sure bet that if you're at my house in Aspen, you get a glass.  And I'm sure you'll love it, too.

Next stop was Peregrine Winery.  Enough said.  NEXT.

A short drive later, we found ourselves at yet another quaint little church called Waitiri.  As Flip Wilson said,  "This is the church of the what's happening now."  (If you're under 50, you don't have a clue, but for those of us over 50, we know.) 

This "used to be" church is now a winery nestled amongst a vineyard and surrounded by mountains with a fragrant lavender lined walkway from the parking lot to the front door.  Waitiri introduced us to a Chardonnay that is less that 1% sugar AND it was very tasty AND because it's less than 1% sugar, they said it was GOOD for us.  Since this used to be a church, I'm sure they were speaking the truth.  So I bought a couple of cases.   Again, I'll share this with you when you visit me in Aspen.  Trust me ... you 'll LOVE this wine.  We can have our wine without worries of the added calories of sugar.  Now this is my kind of wine AND my kind of church.

Our final vineyard on the wine tour was called Amisfield.  The wines were good, but the cheese plate was better.  Hamish joined in for the cheese snack and we learned more about him and New Zealand. When Hamish (pronounced with a long A) is not driving people around to the vineyards, he drives earth moving equipment, so after we ate all the cheese and drank ALL the wine from 4 vineyards, he felt quite comfortable trowing us in the back of a pick up truck for the drive back to Queenstown.  Guess he didn't want to mess up the Beemer!   

Cocktails at Sundeck Rooftop Lounge

Hamish dropped us at the hotel and we went straight to our favorite hang out in Queenstown, the Sundeck Lounge.  I mean why stop with the day drinking just because the wine tour ended???  

Cocktails at Public Kitchen - Dockside

After all, it was cocktail hour and we were getting ready to go to dinner at Public Kitchen where an incredibly tasty dinner awaited.  And since we finished dinner before 0-dark thirty, we stopped at the hotel bar for a night cap to properly transition us from "day drinkin' to night drinkin'.   If we set out to drink ALL the wine and martini's in Queenstown, we ALMOST succeeded.  

Time to pack the bags for our trip back to Auckland tomorrow.  Over and passed out!

Martinis at the hotel lounge.  I'm seeing a pattern here.