goodbye NZ

What is likely to be our last blog entry from New Zealand comes from Sumner, a sleepy and adorable little town right near christchurch. We've parked ourselves here for a few days before we head to Australia, for some of our last new zealand beach, biking and running. Our campsite is a little spot on the side of a road that leads up some hills and bluffs around Sumner, so we go to sleep at night looking out at the ocean, and lights of sumner and christchurch in the distance. It's a pretty awesome spot, hence our decision to stick around here until we say goodbye to the camper on friday.
The last week couple of weeks we've been relaxedly making our way from the Queen Charlotte Track, down through Picton, into the Marlborough wine region, back to Picton, down to a beach near amberly for a few days, up to Arthur's Pass, and now in Christchurch. A few highlights:
- A brownie Gavin discovered at a little dutch bakery in Picton that he believes are THE BEST brownies he has ever had! We had to go back and get more (hence the return to picton :) so that I could taste the brownie in order to try and copy it when we get home!
- Our day of biking through the vineyards in Marlborough, wine tasting as we went. We lucked out a couple of times...at our second vineyard, they asked us to join a 'gourmet' tasting with another couple (who had paid, we hadn't...I guess they liked that we asked lots of questions)! The tasting involved about 6 different wines, with bits of food / grapes from the vines etc. to go with it to see the different tastes and how they were brought out in the wines. Then, our third vineyard, we randomly lucked out again, and once a few of the other people tasting had left and we got to talking (and more questions...)the lady doing the tastings brought us to the back where they were in the middle of the harvest and the making of the wines, and gave us a little ad-hoc tour! Again, VERY cool - we even met the principal wine-maker who gave us some sniffs of the wine in the casks...delicious Pinot Noir. All in all, we visited about 6 vineyards that day, and learned all about the organic / sustainable wines, in addition to the harvesting techniques etc. The major wines in the area are Sauvignon Blanc and some other whites...but also some good pinto noir (including a bottle that we bought from Mahi vineyard to have on our last night in NZ!)
- Chilling by beaches - we spent a few good days just parked next to beaches, going for walks and relaxing. very fun.
- Our hike (which made the top list of hikes that we've done) in Arthur's Pass - Avalanche Peak / Scott's Track - straight up (litterally, had to use our hands to pull ourselves up rocks)...and then along a ridge or two (a little bit scary!) and then to the summit and straight down. Phenomenal views and a totally rewarding day :) The only issue with Arthur's pass was the cold - there was frost on the ground at night...and it was COOOOLLLDDD waking up in the morning!
- Christchurch - we've now been in christchurch since friday, have had a day in the city (some weekend arts market browsing, exploring the downtown, window shopping), enjoyed ANZAC day, and a night out at Dux de Lux, drinking local micro-brews (delicious), and our nightly camping spot in Sumner, which has been accompanied by mountain biking in the area (for gavin, too advanced for me), and running. Fun fun!!

Our plan is now to be in Sumner/Christchurch until Friday, when we fly to Brisbane. We're rocking the marriott points at 'Surfers' paradise' for a week (showers for a whole week...woohoo!), then two weeks of random wandering in Australia, with one week at the end in Sydney!! We're excited for it, although have some difficulty believing that our time in NZ is almost over.

Huge hugs,

a