Our trip around New Zealand is coming to an end. We are
back on North Island. Duncan is doing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing today (I
declined this time). Tomorrow we stop at Tauranga to see a friend from long ago,
then Auckland to see some sailing friends and collect the life raft.
We did the Otaga Rail Trail, this is cycling (on superb
mountain bikes) along an old railway track (so no steep hills!) for four days
with organized accommodation on the way. Again we were extremely lucky with the
weather. From there it was Dunedin, for a trip on Taieri Gorge train, some gold
panning on the way to Lake Tekapo (Duncan did find a speck of gold)
and Christchurch. We stopped at Hamner Springs to have a relaxing morning in the
hot pools and I had a (I thought well deserved) massage.
Blenheim in the Marlborough wine area was great. We did
a wine tour at Montana, wine tasting at Cloudy Bay, lunch at Alan Scott. Next
day wine tasting at Saint Claire winery and Gibson Bridge, a small winery
run by a couple who had won many prizes. So we have a boot full of a variety of
excellent wines. Back to Nelson next and a day's kayaking in the Abel Tasman
National Park.
We have seen and done a fair amount and are now gearing
up to finish the work on Sea Topaz and get her back on the water, ready to set
off for Fiji towards the end of the month.
