On a Wine Trail
Written: Dec 04 '00 (Updated Dec 05 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great Views, reasonably priced
Cons: None
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| RaghuKul's Full Review: New Zealand |
It was the beautiful spring of 1994, I remember. The month was October (mind you we were in the Southern Hemisphere) and I was on deputation to the ANZ Bank in Wellington, New Zealand. Our team of technology professionals was doing a final implementation of a software package we had written for the bank. We would be working really late hours. I had insisted on bringing alongwith my very pregnant wife carrying our older daughter. Her gynecologist had very valiantly eged her on to do the trip assuring her that in spite of the seventh month that she was in, it was quite all right. I was unsure if I would ever be presented such a chance of combining business with pleasure again. So that was all the encouragement I needed to hear!
The hard work was getting on all our nerves for Anita was sure getting tired of just doing the rounds of downtown Wellington and the trip atop the local hills had not been enough. That was when a colleague at work suggested an excursion to the beautiful South Island. Some of our other colleagues were going to go on a whale watch. The more experienced ones amongst us did say to us that the whale watch meant waits of sometimes two to three hours in a small boat on the sea. This was sure to make my wife seasick and we were not prepared to take that risk. Which was why we decided to go on the wine trail and boy were we glad that we did!
New Zealand is essentially two islands, the North Island and the South Island. The sea separates them. Wellington is at the southern tip of the North Island and is only a ferry ride away from the South. The South Island consists of a lot of wine country and some of the finest exports are made here. The package tour that we took included fare for the ferry ride in addition to visits to six different vineyards. These visits included free tasting and if we felt like it indulging in some exquisite dicsounted wine shopping was an option.
The ferry ride itself was simply superb. We began very early in the morning, at about six am or so. After a nice breakfast in the pantry section of the ferry we settled on the upper deck. It was a first time for the both of us on board a ship of this size and boy was it exciting. I even have a great picture of my wife as she climbed down a ladder from the upper to the lower deck. It was rated a 'Great Shot' and recommended for enlarging by the local Ritz camera equivalent!
The countryside was very picturesque, very reminiscent of Europe. I made a quiet mental note of making sure that in the future, when my brother made his feature film(he was planning on going to film school) this would be a highly recommended location.
We landed at Picton after about three or four hours. The company that did the conducted tours to the various wineries met us there. I forget the name of the company after all these years but the experience was truly memorable. The driver was a pleasant gentleman, turned out smartly in shorts, shirt and a tie. It was a truly glorious day with the sun completely out, yet not too hot, a typical spring day. All the people who were to ride with us on the bus had by now arrived from various locations. A lot of them had ridden the same ferry as us, but some were already holidaying there for a couple days. Once every single one of us was on board we started driving through the valleys of Picton.
Again, seeing was believing. The view was outstanding, the bus driver who doubled as our guide as well was courteous, humorous and everything a perfect guide should be. Very thoughtfully he even made a short stop at an ice cream parlor en-route. This was a typical touristy place that stocked an adequate number of flavors. We took a picture here on our timer equipped self-clicking Minolta, for posterity's sake.
We also did a quick stop at a small village for lunch. At one of the local stores we met a friendly old lady who had done work in India. She was a regular multi-national basher and was well aware of the patent rights wars that were being waged against the traditional herbal methods and products such as the 'neem' soaps. The friendliness of all and sundry was very pleasant and welcoming. We were truly warmed up to this small getaway by now.
Then began our stops at the various wineries. Every single one of them explained how they made their wines and which was a flavor of preference. This being our first exposure to the world of wine making, we just 'drank' in all the information. We also picked up about half a dozen bottles of Riesling for souvenirs to take back home. By the time we reached the third winery we had made sufficient friends amongst people riding the bus thanks to the wine that had gone in at the tasting sojourns! There was by now enough camaraderie for someone to suggest that the child being born to us was going to take a more than necessary liking to spirits in general and wine in particular. At one of the wineries was a world map on the wall. Small pins on the map indicated origins of people from where they were visiting. We were very pleased to be only the second ones from the Indian subcontinent.
By the time we were done with the six wineries our spirits were truly soaring and we had had a fine time by far. We were delivered back at the Picton harbor in the evening to take our ferry ride back to Wellington. We had enough time before that to have a cup of tea and eat some oily chips at a local deli. Our trip back to Wellington was done when it was dark, so there was not much to see on the decks yet we went and hung out for a while to gaze at the stars, and the 'Titanic' had not even been made! It got to be too nippy for my wife's comfort so soon we scrambled back in to the warm ensconces of the ferry.
All in all a fabulous time was had by the both of us and till date we relate this trip to everybody, especially our six year old, who arrived later that year in the month of December. We named her Rtusha, to mean the dawn of a new season, that had actually all begun in the South Island of New Zealand, that spring of 1994.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
RaghuKul
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Location: Minneapolis, MN
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
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