Wandering Wine-o

America! New Zealand! South Africa! New Zealand!

2012-02-23T01:09:00.000-08:00

18 Feb 2012

So remember last time, when I said I was bad at blogging? Apparently, I’m worse than I previously thought. I always think “Hey, I should sit down and pound some stuff out!” But other things always win. Like drinking wine, or laying in the sun.

Sampling in the barrel chai @ Justin

Last time I updated, I was just getting back to the states! Well, let me tell you...I learned a lot back in California. I worked vintage from August-November at Justin Vineyards and Winery. It solidified my passion for wine and taught me so much. We made such amazing wine at Justin, I even stowed three bottles to bring back here to NZ.

At Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula, North Island, NZ

I came back to NZ! Oh, so briefly. I returned shortly after Thanksgiving, 29 November to Auckland and into the loving arms of Sean. He rented a sweet campervan for us, and we scuttled around a bit of the north island for a week. After that week we flew to South Africa (with a short 6 hour layover in Perth, AUS).

The only things in Johannesburg, South Africa that loved me more than Sean, were the mosquitoes (or ‘mozies’ in SA tongue). I was covered in bites! The mozies even had the audacity to sink their noses into the bottom of my foot. As some of my family will recall, I used to get the crap bit out of me in Alaska in the summer time…the little buggers used to bite my eyes when I was sleeping! Do you know how hard it was to roll around as a 4 year old with two swollen eyes? Let alone being my parents and trying to convince everyone that they were mosquito bites…

Playing with cubs at the Lion Park

Aside from the insect wild life, Africa had a lot to offer. We visited the Lion Park, which contains plenty more than lions. We cruised around viewing hyena, jackal, springbok, gemsbok, impala, zebra, giraffe, ostrich, waterbuck, wildebeest, LIONS, WHITE lions, cheetah, African wild dog, meerkat. THEN we played with lion cubs and fed giraffes.

And the Elephant Sanctuary; which had some meerkats running around too. At the Elephant Sanctuary, we had the opportunity to touch the elephants, feed them, and walk around with them, holding on to their trunk.

Feeding an elephant at the Elephant Sanctuary

Feeding giraffes at the Lion Park

We stayed with Sean’s mum Liz for the majority of our trip to Johannesburg, visited a couple of Sean’s aunts, cousins and gran in Haenertsburg, Limpopo (AKA the “Mount”), and had some good parties with Sean’s friends. He was happy to see all his friends and family (and overjoyed when it came to his boys) since he'd been away for nine months in NZ. Everyone was very welcoming, and made me feel right at home!

The Mount

What do three girls, with three fishing men, one inflatable lawn pool, and a beautiful day at the dam equal? Three girls using lung power for 20 minutes to blow UP that pool, then float around in it while the boys ignore us... I'm sure it was quite a scene, ladies taking turns (two at a time) to blow up a 2.5 m x 1.5 m pool. Then, pushing it into the dam and flopping in like seals.

Ryan, Danny and Sean fly fishing

While Sean, Danny and Ryan were in THEIR float tubes, flippering around after fish...Sarah, Candice and I decided we needed to be in the water too. Armed with only the inflatable pool that Sarah and Ryan planned to take to Zimbabwe with them, we finally got in. As we were quite proud that it floated the three of us, we were screeching and giggling, and very sure the men were flippering quickly away from us. So, Candice and I took turns pushing us as close to them as possible, we figured we were helping scare the fish TOWARDS them...right? We got very little praise for our efforts, and it was getting chilly, so we pushed our pool back to the beach.

The following day, sadly Sarah and Ryan took off on their holiday, but left the pool. So, the boys brought a foot pump and Candice and I happily floated around for hours. Incurring some minor inappropriate sunburn along the way; and, requiring a rescue from our flippering men due to wind.

After Stanford, we met their friends Barry and Ryan down at Ebenezer Dam, and their dad took us out on the boat for sundowners and drinks. We topped off the evening with pizzas at the Pot 'n Plow, a local watering hole.

The day before we left, we went on a zip-line canopy tour that was absolutely breathtaking. It was too bad we didn't have a camera, but I can still remember zipping along and looking down past my feet at the gushing river and waterfalls below!

We took a few days before Christmas to visit Cape Town and the Stellenbosch wine region. Sean asked me, “What do you want to do while you’re visiting SA?”, of course I said “Wine tasting!”. Duh! Both Stellenbosch and Cape Town were absolutely breathtaking, not to mention the amazing wine.

My section on the trip to Stellenbosch ended up being terribly detailed, so I’ll post it another day. It’s a meal in itself!

Christmas, though not a big she-bang at home anymore, still was a bit hard without my parents. The last few years it's just been the three of us, but my first year away was harder than I thought.

The next couple weeks before I left went by fast. We visited afore mentioned Elephant Sanctuary, and did some rock climbing out at Hartebeespoort. We were climbing some routes just above the Harte dam so had a great view from the top. I led my first outdoor climb (2nd, ever), and shortly after we had to escape due to impending baboon attack...

Sean's sister Christine, niece Rowan, and aunt Melanie arrived for a visit a few days before I left for New Zealand. They certainly enjoyed a couple weeks away from the Scotland winter! Sean stayed behind for an extra 2.5 weeks for extra family time.

I, on the other hand returned to Auckland, and stayed with some of his family while I sorted out my new work visa. Then, I had a nice holiday at Papamoa beach with some friends whom we worked with at Cardrona in the winter.

Holiday! Even though the majority of New Zealand had a rubbish summer, it was lovely staying with Rochelle, Lara, Ryan and Tino at their house across the street from the beach. We got a few nice days, which were used for sun bathing, and bike riding. With no car, the house developed a 'bike gang' commonly referred to around Papamoa as the "Killer Wheels".

View from the back side of Mt Maunganui with Lara and Rochelle

One sunny day Juan Pablo Poon showed up, and we had a great day hiking up Mt Maunganui, feasting on Turkish food, frozen treats, sun bathing AND swimming in a fancy pool. We were afraid that the day would be un-toppable, so proceeded to do absolutely nothing the following day.

I bummed around Papamoa for over a week, but just before I left, Rochelle and I decided we wanted some adventure. We caught a bus down to Whakatane, and attempted to camp. Unfortunately, the only proper campground in Whakatane was $20/person for a tent site. I scoffed and we ended up setting up our tent behind a backpackers for $15/pp a night.

Rochelle, Benjamin, myself and Marie

The next day we invited the Frenchies we met at the backpackers to accompany us on our planned hike for the day: a 7 hr circuit from Whakatane, around to Ohope Beach, up through some farmland with a return to Whakatane. Blessed with another beautiful day, we hiked up the ridge overlooking Whakatane, the harbor mouth, and finally down to the beach for awhile until we reached Ohope.

We stopped for a seriously cheap and filling lunch then continued on our way. Lunch turned out to be too filling, and I had to concentrate on keeping it where I put it for a few kilometers.

Lunch in Ohope

We were now hiking in the bush, trying to spot some of the legendary (but nocturnal) Kiwis. An hour or two through the bush, we came by some sheep and then down into farmland. Back up through the bush and then finally the street where we tramped back to the backpackers.

Next stop: Papamoa Beach

We bid farewell to our new French companions Marie and Benjamin, then hitched a ride in the cab of a refrigerated ice and bait truck back to Papamoa. Thankfully, for our bags, the chillers were off...but they did smell slightly fishy after.

The next day I took off on the Naked bus back to Bucklands Beach (East Auckland) and awaited Sean's return from South Africa on 29 Jan.

A long overdue update

2011-08-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, Amanda is terrible at blogging.

So, last I joined you on here, Sean and I were looking for jobs...
We went on a two day vacay to Queenstown, where we had a great time going out to the bars. I even won a tattoo contest and got a $50 bar tab! So don't say these things don't pay me back ;)

We had the idea we wanted to work on one of the three ski hills near Wanaka: Treble Cone, Cardrona, or SnowPark. First, we applied at SnowPark, and then we had interviews with Mush from Food & Bev at Cardrona.

18 May: After having a great interview, we found out later that evening that we scored jobs at Cardrona! The next day, SnowPark called and offered Sean a job too! (They called me over a month later asking if I'd like a job b/c someone had dropped out). We took the Cardrona jobs, but had about a month an a half to kill before training started.

Sean, Me, Malcolm, Sean and Mush at MINT BAR

19 May: Celebrated our new flatmate/BHS classmate Malcom's birthday.

21 May: Such a small world. Nikki, a girlfriend from California was coming through Wanaka after working in Oz since January. A nice visit with some good Mexican food occupied our weekend.

While unemployed and on a tight budget, Sean and I got a lot of hiking in.

23 May: We hiked up to Rob Roy Glacier.

Near trailhead for the Rob Roy Glacier

After reaching our hut @ Fern Burn

25-26 May: Sean, Malcolm and I joined up with friends Sam, Laura, Mike and Silvia for an overnight tramp to the Fern Burn hut near Wanaka.

31 May: Sean and I did a nice West Wanaka hike.

Malcolm and I above the clouds on our way up Roy's Peak

3 June: While Sean contacted local Physio places looking for work, Malcolm and new friends Martha and Jessie (both from the states) hiked 11 km (round trip) Roy's Peak. There was an inversion layer of clouds, so we ended up hiking above the clouds and had a great view from the summit!

The next couple days consisted of getting to know my new girlfriends, and adding a couple more: Yvette and Vicki from Bristol, England. We had ladies luncheons and dinners, did a hike or two, and knitted up a storm!

16 June: Diamond Lake/Rocky Mountain

The next few weeks consisted of a lot of movie watching, walking around town and tightening our belts before our first paycheck.

We started training at Cardrona on 20 June, and were up the hill for the next three days...a bare brown hill. Cardrona was due to open 1 July, however...snow was slightly late this year. We ended up opening the resort 8 July. We were second to open after SnowPark (who made all of their snow) and Treble Cone (TC) opened two weeks later.

The ladies and I in Queenstown

28 June: The girls and I hitched to Queenstown...had a few too many, partied like rockstars, caught a show, slept on the couches at a backpackers, and hitched back to Wanaka early morning. We split up into groups of two to hitch because it's easier to find rides. Two of us got greedy and took a ride that was going the 'long way'. We ended up walking for a half hour waiting for a car to drive by after geting dropped of halfway to Wanaka. It was a good way to walk off a hangover, and I got home early enough to crawl into bed with Sean (and then stayed there until 4 pm).

Out 2011 Christmas card photo...just kidding.

30 June: We all went over to Jessie and Martha's to celebrate Vicki's birthday, northern hemisphere Christmas style! We all brought over our traditional Christmas dishes and wore Christmas sweaters. Then, Sean, Malcolm and I went over to Silvia and Mikey's housewarming party, which was an 'ugly sweater' party...so that worked out well!

Vicki, Sean and I headed up to SnowPark on Saturday July 2nd because they offered all mountain staff $10 lift tickets! They only had one, hard as concrete, run open. But it was nice to get out there, try out my new 2012 Ride Rapture. By nice, I mean I ended up on my tush and knees so much, nearly in tears, that I checked out and downed a couple beers after three runs.

My first free climb!

6 June: Sean and I headed out to the West Wanaka flat and did some climbing. Now, we don't have any ropes...so I decided I was going to do my first free climb. It was awesome, but I must say I like the safety of a harness and ropes at 40-50 ft...Still pretty cool.

7 June: FINALLY! It snowed all the way down to Wanaka. We were all excited, we could finally open! However...then it was TOO much snow, and it took almost another week to open...

View from our flat on the first snow day in Wanaka

After we finally opened the second week of July, we headed up the hill everyday: work, snowboard, repeat.

Now, me snowboarding is a whole 'nother story...see I was given a Ride snowboard by my brother in the late '90s or so. I never mounted the bindings or rode the darn thing until my senior year of highschool at Mt. Baker (winter '04-'05). Now, I can't recall how many times I went up but it was more than 5, less than 10. The next two years I went once at Mt. Bachelor and another time at Mt. Shasta (kinda). A year or so after that I took my snowboard to Lake Tahoe, but ended up doing more partying than riding.

So I'm thinking I'm a decent snowboarder, I could get down the hill, I enjoyed snowboarding. I even had a snowboarding injury from a ballsy snowboarding-behind-a-car on a powder day. I ensured Sean and Malcolm (both good riders) that I was going to kick butt this year and maybe even try doing some jumps!

FAIL. Oh fail. I hurt, I cursed and I cried until finally breaking down one day and LISTENING to my boyfriend. I took direction, I followed the majority of commands, only flipping him off ONCE! It was a miracle...I was linking turns and falling rarely. How nice!

Unfortunately, due to Sean and my schedule, we were unable to ride together. He worked at Captain's Cafe, in a different basin than my coffee counter, and we only had one day off together. We would sometimes get 1 hour ride breaks, and I eventually started pushing for more (as I was enjoying it). I ensured Sean I was getting better, but then every time we would ride together, I would get nervous and eat all kinds of snow.

In addition to my nervousness around Sean, I was constantly having altercations with 6-year old mini-skiers. They go down the hill in a crazy S pattern, which is hard to navigate around, they do not usually follow the "Person in front of you has the right-of-way" and don't really care if they cut off anyone, and that 'anyone' eats sh** to avoid slamming into a child.

31 July: Anyhow, one day, we were riding up at Treble Cone with Malcolm, Silvia and Mikey. They are all far more fantastic boarders than me, so I urged them to go ahead while I got some caffeine in me, and waited for Vicki (who works at TC) so we could ride together.

Vicki and I rode down the only easy trail TC has, Easy Rider, it's basically a speed course with switchback turns, it was rad! It was the first time, I didn't fall, not once, on the way down. We went down once more before she had to go back to work and I took a break.

Sean and the rest had gone over to the Saddle Basin, a dream for people who can link turns on steep, steep terrain (not me). He gave me a call and asked if I wanted to meet up, I was heading up the VW chair lift again and he was coming back over from the Saddle, so we agreed to meet at the bottom.

I'm heading down Easy Rider, ripping it up. Going as fast as I can around turns, swerving around people and having a blast. I can't believe how far I've come, from the tears of frustration and bruised knees of 2 July at SnowPark....to shredding TC only a month later!

Then I see them. Mini-skiers. Three of them with an instructor,taking up the whole trail. "I'm going too fast to stop, they are all over the place, wtf do I do?"
Well. I'm feeling pretty badass, so I decided to slid up on the side and go around them. Great idea! I get up on the side of the trail, doubt myself, come down to early and thanks to my fast stop on my heel edge, only knock over the kid...not completely traumatize it (probably).

As I'm sitting on my ass, watching the instructor pick up the silent mini-skier, apologizing my butt off...I turn around and guess who is behind me, laughing. Sean. I, of course, forget there are three small children in front of me (one who is traumatized), and I curse him for showing up at that exact moment.

After he has finished laughing, he assures me that he was following me the entire time and saw how good I was doing. And, also knowing my past with mini-skiers...saw an accident coming with the children.

Post-TC, the five of us went back to Mikey and Silvia's new pad and made nachos, drank coronas and swigged back a little tequila...to celebrate a good day on the mountain.

The next few days were my last at Cardrona and I took every opportunity to get out snowboarding, took lots of photos and savored my last few days of snow until next southern hemisphere's winter. We also celebrate my friend's Yvette's birthday by donning mustaches and drinking beers!

The first Cardrona Staff Party. My last :(

4 August My last day at Cardy's AND the day of our first big staff party (AKA My going away party). It started and ended early for Sean and I but we had such a blast. It was a great way to say good bye to many of my friends. My face hurt from smiling, and my my ankle a little bit from twisting it on my snowboard then dancing it up with Sean during the evening...

6-8 August: One of the # 1 things I wanted to see on the south island was Fjordlands National Park and Milford Sound. So, before I flew out on the 9th, Sean and I took another small road trip.
We left Saturday and headed to Te Anau, the weather wasn't that great and it was due to snow. If the roads were too bad, or the weather was crap, a cruise in Milford the next day would be a disaster, if not impossible.

Thankfully, we woke up to a dusting of snow, and a requirement to carry chains, but the roads were fine and the sun was out. After a breathtaking drive through Fjordlands, we bought the tickets for our cruise and checked into our backpackers.

Driving through Fjordlands

We got on the smallest boat, and it had only 12 passengers! Milford Sound was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, and reminded me a lot of Southeast Alaska. Because we were in the Fjords, the captain could go right up to the side, getting almost underneath waterfalls and so close to seals we could smell 'em (not necessarily a good thing).

One of Milford Sound's many, many waterfalls

22 August: Well, as it is now I am back in the states. I'll update you more on that...sooner...rather than later :)

Hallelujah and praise his name…I got some Starbucks.

2011-05-31T20:07:00.000-07:00


Nelson

10/5-We departed Blenheim on May 10^th, after packing up the car and giving the house a quick wipe-down and vacuum. As I stated in my last blog, we had a basic idea of where we were going…for a couple days at least. We were set for Motueka, with a stop-over in Nelson so I could get some well-deserved Starbucks and we could stop at the i-site to get some info on Abel Tasman. Aside from NZ Starbucks not carrying the toffee-Nut flavoring, the Seattle-espresso-experience-in-a-cup was no less than fulfilling. The simple “double-tall-soy-latte with 1 ½ pumps of toffee nut (half vanilla/hazelnut) flavoring” was enough to make me feel like a human being again. Sean thanks Starbucks of Nelson, and the entire franchise for this breakthrough.

We arrived in Motueka and pulled into the backpackers of our choosing, the Happy Apple, chosen for the free SPA. Wooo hooo! It was a great backpackers, my favorite of the whole trip. Big, open, spacious kitchen, hotel quality room, clean shared facilities and a little t.v. with cable (I think they call it ‘Sky TV’)! Great outdoor cooking area, hammocks and the rest…awesome spa…that was drained due to immense recent rainfall. Shit. Aside from the broken spa, we saw a couple girls we knew from Blenheim who were working in a fruit sorting factory and a mussel factory and another couple guys I lived with in Blenheim whose car we saw but they were apparently working night shift so we didn’t catch a glimpse.

Sean's friends (are real pigs)

We took a cool marsh/beach walk in the late afternoon, and made friends with some farm animals. Beautiful beach! Then hit a local fruit stand for a bag of pears for $2! Gosh I LOVE those farm stands, plus they work on the ‘honor system’, it’s nice to see some humans still trust each other!

We hit the local store for produce and made some curry…watched some T.V. and slept soundly in a comfy double bed (if I haven’t mentioned it before this, we had been sharing a single bed…on the floor….for nearly a month).

Moo

11/5 We checked out of the Happy Apple around 10 am and headed to Tekaka. AWESOME drive, took around and hour and a half…if I remember correctly. Saw a few sheep (by a few, I mean hundreds), some deer, quite a few cows. As soon as we got into town, we stopped at the i-site again. At some point we nixed Abel Tasman tramping due to the rain. There are some cool multi-day hikes and stay-overs in cabins…but not so much fun in the rain. So, instead of a tramp into AT, we did the #3 “MUST-DO” of the region: Pu Pu Springs/Hydro station hike, 2 hours return. The nice weather we had didn’t hold out…well it did for a half the hike. The second half dumped rain on us…so we happy tramped in the rain, but didn’t stop for lunch. The springs were incredibly clear, and the path around the through the area was rad. Lots of bird-life. The hydro-contraption had been set up during the NZ ‘Gold Rush’ of sorts. There was water being funneled to a ‘water race’ (a ditch 2-3 feet wide, 1-2 feet in depth) that went to a pumphouse that shot the water down the hill a few hundred feet to the turbines and what-not. Pretty cool system.

Water Race

We made our way back to the car, soaked to the underwears, and had our lunch. We cruised past a creepy old hotel backpackers…who had a spa…which was broken…and even in our tired and wet state, decided to move on to the next backpackers on the list. Kiwanas…they had a spa too….which was outside and only open from 6-9 pm or some silly thing. What it lacked in spa accessibility...it made up with a pushy owner. The place was great….but she wouldn’t even let us make our own fire! Little did she know of my girl scouting- Alaskan background….whatever, we just sat back and let her fiddle with the fire.

Unfortunately, this was the evening I introduced Sean to Rummy. We played every night until we got to Wanaka 4 days later, and I got sick of him beating me, made him throw the running score in the fire, and we haven’t picked up the cards since.

Reminds me of the view from Ragged Point, CA

12/5 Our longest day of driving. I was still set on seeing the Farewell Spit (the longest sand spit in the world, said one source). We got half way to the spit and it was all clouds, so we headed back Motueka way to catch the highway to the west coast. But not before grabbing another bag of pears :). I got to drive a good portion, and didn’t do half bad…ya know for driving on the opposite side of the street on narrow mountain roads! It was one of our only beautiful sunny days full of farmland…and the west coast (which reminds me a bit of Big Sur). We stopped the ‘Pancake Rocks’, which were a slight let down…and got chowed on by sand flies.

Pancake Rocks

We stayed in Greymouth that night, the largest, and most un-interesting town to us. The hostel was kinda cool…an old hotel/bar that was painted purple. We got a free beer and soup, plus got to hang with some interesting people so we called it a decent night!

13/5 The next day we decided to take it easy on ourselves….since the prior day had been an all-day trek…about 10 hours including stops and all the rest. So we took the short 2 hour-ish drive down to Franz-Josef glacier to spend the night and soak in the hot pools. If you haven’t caught my theme of trying to find a backpackers with a spa, or don’t know about my passion for natural British Columbian and Alaskan hot springs, or my near addiction to the Sycamore Hot Springs in Avila Beach, CA…I was hard up for hitting the ‘Glacier Hot Pools’.

We checked into the Glow Worm Cottages backpackers, our room was equipped with not one, but two heaters, neither of which worked. It was a pretty cool backpackers though, very chill and quiet; and, coincidentally the only one with a functioning spa. But I was determined to hit the hot pools, so we dropped the cash and it was SOOOO worth it, even the public pools. Three pools, 28, 29 and 30 degrees Celsius, outside with a removable cover (which was up due to the sprinkling rain) and hardly any people!

That night, we had buy-one-get-one drinks, plus a free ‘glow worm shot’ at the ‘Blue Ice Bar’…so we went out on the town. The first establishment in this damn country where I’ve been satisfied with the bartender’s pour. The hard alcohol in the mixed drinks here is usually poured with those damn clicking-off spouts. And, they aren’t allowed to flip the bottle and pour you a bit more (with a roll of their eyes) like we do back in the States. Oh, and their singles are only half a shot; to get a half-way decent drink, you need to order a double…and even that is hardly equal to a normal American single pour. But enough about the poor pouring quality…you’re all going to think I have a problem.

Franz Josef 'Glacier'

So, drinks were good and the live (mostly cover) band was rad. Due to the cheap-drunk we achieved, it wasn’t long until Sean was swinging me around on the dance floor.

14/5 The tiniest glacier I’ve ever seen, came into view as we drove the 15 minutes from our backpackers, to the Franz-Josef glacier trailhead. But, as my South African boyfriend had never laid his eyes on a glacier, we tramped up 20 minutes to the viewing deck. Cute, little receded glacier, but fortunately, it has been expanding the last five or so years. I told Sean he needs to check out Glacier Bay, AK…or the LeConte glacier that’s just around the corner from Petersburg, AK. He was quite impressed that little ice burgs sometimes make their way down Wrangell Narrows, right in front of my house.

We departed Franz-Josef, and headed toward the Fox Glacier. Due to the disappointment of

Lake Matheson

the last glacier, we opted to do a hike at Lake Matheson, per recommendation from a friend. Though we only did a short hike to the ‘jetty’, and didn’t actually see the famous reflection of Mt. Cook, the reflection of another mountain in the lake was quite impressive.

Our rock @ Bruce Bay

Another really cool thing we did (while getting attacked by sandflies) was stop at Bruce Bay. People stop and create rock towers and such, and write their name and date or whatever inspires them. Some friends had told us about it, and the weather was ok, so we jumped out and Sean gathered some rocks. He decided we needed to build some rock-man like he’d seen in Whistler. Then it started sprinkling, and the sand flies found us…so we said screw it….and ran back to the car with one rock. We added our details, chose a cool place, set it in the rain, took a photo…and ran back to the car with the sandflies hot on our heels. I spent the next twenty minutes stamping out the flies that had snuck in the car through Sean’s cracked window.

Before heading through Haast Pass, to Wanaka, we stopped for some delicious (and expensive) Blue Cod and chips in Haast township.

Lake Hawea

We’ve determined that the most beautiful part of the drive was through Haast Pass, by Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka. So beautiful, we hardly took any photos (plus, I was driving and don’t feel comfortable pulling over…) We were in awe how the sheer cliffs and mountains shot up all around us, and watched as the greenery changed from the more tropical looking West Coast to the rugged more PNW inspired landscape and trees.

We finally pulled into Wanaka, our eventual stopping place for the winter. Currently, a quiet town, that goes off in both summer and winter. But over all a beautiful lake town, population around 5,000 ( I think). We checked into Wanaka Bakpaka and settled in for the evening. Arguably the most populated backpacker’s yet, and with the best view: on the hill over-looking the lake.

The next day we started our job hunt.

To be continued…

Peace out Marlborough!

2011-05-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

10/5/11

Sean and I atop one of the 240K tanks. Last Day!

Ahoy! Let the traveling begin, I say. We completed our contracts with Indevin on 5 May, attended an amazing post-vintage party on a boat and a resort in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds. What’s been going on the last few weeks you may ask?

Well, I’ll just give you the exciting details…when grapes stopped coming in, hoses, clamps..reducers…hardlines, all became available and that made work extremely enjoyable. Searching for the tools you need before you start a job for three hours tends to wear on you a bit.

Now on to the holidays:

Maarja and Martin at the Rugby game in Nelson

23/4 Sean, Maarja, Martin and myself rented a car (which was an adventure in itself) and headed to Nelson for a Super Rugby game (Pro-Rugby). It was the Christchurch Crusaders Vs. Otago Highlanders; Sean and I were rooting for the Highlanders since that’s where we’ll be relocating to.

Sean, Lacey, Josh and Rob in Kiakora

30/4 The following weekend, Lacey, Sean, Rob, Josh and me took off for Kaikora; a couple hours down the east coast from Blenheim. It was Lacey’s last day before heading back to Washington to her awesome new job and boyfriend in Eastern WA. So, Rob treated us to a fantastic afternoon on the beach, while he, Josh and Lacey did some snorkeling for Crayfish (Pacific Lobster) and Paua (Abalone). Unfortunately, only one Paua was retrieved…and we didn’t eat that night. BUT we did sample many-a-good wines from Rob & Josh’s winery: Foxes Island. Definitely a good day, but Sean and I had to head back to Blenheim early for work Sunday so our holiday was cut short.

Allison and I on the boat, heading out of Picton

6/5 “The Boat Trip”: Wow what a great day. Indevin provided the best post-vintage extravaganza I have ever heard of. We assembled at the i-site (bus/train station) at 0850, wine in hand. After a short bus ride (about 1.5 beers long) to Picton, we boarded a ~ 100ft party boat (open top, lots of room) to find coolers stocked with beers and a keg. At this early hour, it was important to pace one’s self so I nursed a beer for an hour or so. Enough about the drinking, I’ll get back to that later, the Marlborough Sounds are absolutely beautiful. The Marlborough Sounds reminded me of the holiday-feel of Puget Sound, but with the isolated and sheer beauty of Southeast Alaska.


Why they let Hannah steer was beyond us.... ;)

After a two-hour boat ride, we reached Forneaux Lodge (boat or hike-in only) a cool resort/backpackers/restaurant that was ours for the day! Now, back to the booze: a table full of wines and beers…just for us! Okay, now back to the party: hanging out down at the beach, tossing the rugby ball, and laughing with all our mates we made during vintage, some that we may never see again. Then again, many we hope to sooner, rather than later.

Afterwards, entailed a couple more days of good-byes, and preparing for our next adventure.

Our Car!

Sean and I bought a car and all our travel goodies and planned for the next few days: currently on our way out of Blenheim heading to Motueka about 3 hours NW of Marlborough. I have requested a stop in Nelson at the Starbucks…AYAYAYAYAYAAAAAAAAA. We’re gonna check into a sweet backpackers tonight, then do some hiking and exploring of Abel Tasman National Park for 1-2 days before heading to Karamea for a night. Then we’ll make our way down the west coast…for sure stopping at the glacial hot springs at the Franz-Joseph Glacier. I’ve heard the glaciers here aren’t that impressive…but I’ve seen some before so I won’t be heartbroken! After traveling for a couple weeks, we’ll be settling in Wanaka for the winter to get jobs and snowboard our little hearts out.

Cheers!

Vintage! Vintage! Vintage!

2011-04-18T03:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks, about not keeping up. Life here is a bit mundane! Day 27 of work at Indevin, got a day off on day 24 (yes, my dears, 23 days straight of work...and we weren't even the last to get a day off!).

Grapes, grapes, grapes have continued to come in. My fellow cellar rats and I have set lines from tank to tank, racking, transferring lees for RDV, dispatching to tanker trucks and other vessels...Adding Vita-Fermaid, DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate), PMS (Potassium Metabisulfite -sp?), Bentonite....all kinds of things.


View from OTR (Over the Road) cellar.

A rainy day at work

Hoses have blown, tanks have exploded, lines have been stolen...tankers set back a day because they missed the ferry because someone stole our flow-meter outta the middle of our line...but really it has been a fantastic experience. It's been raining quite a bit this week...Saturday it POURED, and I was outside from 10 am until 7 pm....but of course I felt quite at home in my wet weather gear! Smokos were very, very precious that day....a hot coffee and snack and a sit down on a couch really saves your day :)

12 hour days end on the 22nd (tentatively) and the end of vintage party is May 6th...then the traveling begins! A week or so in Wellington, then heading down to Wanaka and southland for the winter....ahhhh snowboarding.

At Secret Garden for Jenny's (right) Birthday!

Though it's hard to believe, socializing happens....for some people a bit too much. We have dinner at friend's places (Italian food-Carbonara-made by Italians is deathly amazing), go out with 30 cellar people for 'Thirsty Thursday, hit up a bar for someone's birthday. It's nice to get out and experience life again....you realize that there is more than juice and pumps...people are out there living life! Going to the post and chowing at restaurants...walking their dogs and visiting the bank...not hauling hoses and searching for reducers!

Life is good, and though life is pretty gnar right now, I'm going to miss my Indevin friends....But every once in awhile a song comes on that makes me miss home!

Cheers!

Tengo un ombligo!

2011-03-29T03:06:00.000-07:00

28 March 2011

A week into work, and I’m ready for my vacation to begin! Twelve hour days, everyday gets on you a bit…especially when you try to maintain a little social life.

Cellar work has been pretty rad, when we have plenty of jobs and we’re kept busy. As a cellar hand, our jobs include juice transfers between tanks, racking juice, pumping lees to the RDV, doing additions (sulfur, bentonite, enzyme)…

View of the Indevin White cellar from door of Smoko

Does anyone remember that game where you put together pipes? I do that every day! We have a lot of fixed pipes that head around different parts of the cellar, plus use 2 or 3 inch hoses. Today, Constanza and I transferred 80,000 liters juice that was still fermenting (yuck), across the outside cellar, then back halfway…But earlier in the day, we filled a couple barrels and three 50 L kegs with 2009 Semillion; added sulfur, bentonite, and enzyme to a ferment, and transferred just under 2,000 L from one tank to another to reach a certain volume for some reason or another…later one of the local guys who runs a forklift gave me a tip on fermenting barrels…leave the bung stop up, or it will spray wine in your face! Oops, sorry….but the work order said ‘finished wine’ so….

I’m stoked I’m getting this big cellar experience, working with large pipe systems, different pumps, techniques…but I am disappointed that we don’t get all the aspects of the project like I did at Gallo. There, we had the whole project specs at our fingertips, and took the wine through the entire process. At Indevin, we get a clipboard with instructions to do only one small step in the process. Different…good…but I like knowing the big picture!

Gianni out on the receiving pit

The food that Indevin serves us is ridiculously delicious. Crossing my fingers that I don’t gain 10 lbs….yummy cakes and meat pies at morning smoko, huge lunch with meat, veggies, salad, bread, and a bit of fruit at afternoon smoko….then three or more days a week, we get two glasses of beer after work. How can a girl stay skinny with those opportunities? Today I told the cook to put me on the vegetarian list, so maybe that’ll help.

View at Sunrise to the 240K tanks

Indevin is at a great location, even though it’s a pretty big tank farm, it backs up to some rolling hills (picture Paso Robles hills) and a vineyard. When you’re at the top of the 240,000 L tank (the largest), you can see the North Island (on a clear day). Taking dips on the top of the tanks is great exercise plus has a great view!

Since we work 7 days a week, ‘Friday’ and ‘Weekend’ have no meaning. However, TGBD, is all we have
“Thank God it’s Beer Day!”

29 March 2011

Wow. Day 7 in a row, and really feeling it. Don’t get me wrong, I like to work hard, but when it’s 12 hours a day, with no day off in sight? You get a mild ‘hopeless’ feeling. But really, that’s only when you’re slow…when you have jobs and you’re busy, time goes by fast, and before you know it, it’s afternoon smoko!

Kez, Sam, Lacey and Sean on BEER DAY

I ended my day on top of a tanker truck, after finishing 80,000 liters of sauvignon blanc dispatch. That’s pretty cool….plus it was beer day! But, we had some bubbly open so I had a couple glasses of that :)

My friend Mille, from Denmark leaves tomorrow for Fuji before heading back home, so I’m glad I got to hang out with her a bit tonight…Hope she’ll come visit California soon, or I’ll get to Denmark one day.

All day today, I was working with Chileans (then a Spaniard and an Argentinian) so I got to practice my Spanish. “Tengo mucho tatuajes!” Guess what that means? Also, “Manana, tendre pantalones quartos”. It should be sunny, so pantalones quartos should be appropriate. Also, it looks like Amanda will be in South America this time next year. My friend Constanza is getting married in Chile in February, and I was thinking about working vintage there next year….so I should probably be there. Woot! Oh, and now instead of ‘Thank God it’s Beer Day’, it’s ‘Dia de Cervesa es me favorita!’ haha.

Lacey from LaConner, WA (where I as born..small world!)

I really feel like I’m an underclassman in high school these days. I am living in a room with three (now only two, as of today) other people…Gianni and Cortney (Californians). I work 12 hours a day (kinda like being stuck at school+sports)…and get to hang out with ‘my guy’ on smokos (breaks) and briefly after work (not too late, because it’s a work night). Plus, I don’t have a car, nor can I drive…so I feel fifteen. Not that there is anything wrong with that! This old lady doesn’t feel bente quarto!

Cheers!

Another day, now starting to make dollars!

2011-03-22T02:03:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

Still having a good time here in Blenheim. I feel like my jet lag is spreading itself out, because I’m a bit more tired than usual. Also not sleeping particularly well, but I’m sure it’ll get better! Popping Ginseng pills as my 'uppers'.

Mouth of the bay at Picton

Saturday, after writing my last blog, friends Sean, Kez & Marie picked me up and we headed to Picton for a bit of beaching and sight-seeing. As we headed out of town, it was grey but ended up being sunny out in Picton! Kez and Marie have been living out of there van and had been parked outside of The Station backpackers so had a big bed in the back. Mom called while we were driving “What are you doing?” Me: “Lying in a bed, in the back of a van, drinking a beer, heading to the beach”.

Picton is where the ferry to the north island departs, and it was in when we got there. It’s a massive ferry, probably the length of the Alaskan Ferry Taku, but much higher. Such a beautiful city, at the end of an inlet with quite a few islands (“Millions!” said Kez; “Twenty, tops” said Marie) in front so very protected.

Sean on the beach

We made our way down to the small pebbly beach and Sean went for a swim. It’s pretty rad being able to drink beers anywhere (except in downtowns) without much problem. Picton is very touristy city, with lots of restaurants, kayak tours, whale watching boats, a maritime museum, and small harbor. I picked out a house on the bluff overlooking the inlet and whole town “I want that one!” We went to one of the cafes for some fish and chips, and a cocktail. 1. New Zealanders don’t know how to make bloody marys, one bartender didn’t even know what it was! Very sad…the fish, however, was delicious. No heavy batter, just pan fried white fish of some sort.

Saturday evening was very chill, for me, hung out at The Station...a bit of music and wine…some kiwi-flavored vodka (only in kiwi-land). I went to bed around midnight, but most people in Copper Beech went out til 3 am...then there were a bunch of Rugby games on though, so many of the folks were up late watching them. My roomie Courtney was up til 5 am, and my Irish friends Rory and Niall stayed up until 7 am, watching Ireland claim victory over the competing team.

Beautiful Marlborough wine country

Roomie Courtney (from CA) and I at Withering Hil

Sunday, my backpacker’s offered a winetasting tour, free ride and most of the wineries don’t charge for tasting. We made it to four wineries and a chocolate factory: Withering Hills (good Pinot Gris), Villa Maria (good Late Harvest Riesling), High Field (yum Chardonnay and single vineyard Sauv Blanc), Cloudy Bay (nice Gewürztraminer). Makana had delicious yummy treats we got to sample, but a bit spendy! Perhaps I’ll splurge before I leave on some chocolates for friends (and those friends will be required to share with me) I bought ONE Champagne Truffle for $2, and saving it for a special day or chocolate emergency (in case of emergency, eat truffle).

Fellow Indevin-ers at High Field

Gianni and I shared a glass of Sauvie at High Field. Yum!

Monday was my ‘last day of freedom’, I slept in until ten; did a bit of yoga; went on a run; did laundry; and mended my bag. It was relaxing…hanging up clothes to dry outside, and sitting on the porch for three hours, drinking tea and sewing! It’s so cool living in a backpackers, whoever doesn’t have work for the day comes and sits for a bit, or is just running around. You’re never lonely! Danish and German girls giggling, Italian guys singing opera in the shower, bread being baked, Led Zeppelin blasting from the radio in the kitchen :)

Today was the first day of work and was filled with bureaucracy…paperwork, rules, a short tour, waiting for the next training lecture. They serve awesome food though, we got little meat pies and quiches for breakfast tea break, had a great spread for lunch, then fruit with afternoon tea break. We had to fill out self-evals to help them place us in certain jobs around the winery. I’ll be day shift (7am-7pm) in the white cellar with a few friends, I’m not sure how many total people. I think we’ll be doing basic pump-overs, transfers, cleaning tanks…etc. Other assignments are presses, filters of different sorts, cleaning crew...

Since we’re already getting a lot of grapes (700 tonnes tomorrow) they decided to push back training tomorrow so that we can just get started on work! So head in tomorrow at 630 am, ‘til about 630 pm. We got issued sweet orange reflector vests, safety goggles and pretty white gum boots. Fashion!

Visited ‘the warehouse’ after work. Wal-Mart…woot!

This evening, sat around trading curse words and phrases with my friends at Copper Beech after dinner. I can now insult you in German, French, and Danish! I taught them the little known ‘a**-hat’, thought that was a funny one they wouldn’t know. Hee hee!

Cheers!

p.s. for those who don't know, you can click on the photos to make them bigger in and in a new window.

Loving New Zealand life

2011-03-19T04:50:00.000-07:00

So much has gone on the last few days! I am really loving it, running around Blenheim, meeting so many new people every day.

Where to start? I guess Wednesday...did some errands then went over to Tony's...we had dinner at Michelle's place, she's a Canadian woman in her late 30's or early 40's I think, and from Whistler. So much lamb here! And so cheeeeap, I'm in heaven. Delicious. Then Calvin (also Canadian) and Emily (from Idaho, but when to UBC in Van) came over, we poured our selves some very expensive and very shitty Gin and tonics and walked down to a bar. Pretty cool you can run around with an open container, just not downtown. Makes pre-partying so easy!

Thursday I went with a bunch of other people from the backpackers around here to pick a small vineyard, no pay but the owner threw us a bbq and had lots of beer! The picking was supposed to be only 1.5 hours, but we ended up picking for about 4 hours, and didn't quite finish even! Some people were pretty upset, but I had a good time getting to be in the vineyard and made some new friends.

I was the only American doing the free picking, I hung out with a couple nice German girls, and the Irish guys, a Frenchman and a Bavarian. Europeans come here to travel, and then get contract work usually in the vineyard. I explained to them that the Americans (all from Wash, OR, and Cali) come to work at the wineries and travel secondary (a very big plus). After being outside picking we were quite tired, so rested a bit then went to the BBQ. Again, some people were pretty upset, it wasn't quite the spread we were promised, but again, I was just glad to get free dinner and beer!

Afterwards went out to Paddy Barry's to celebrate St. Patty's! It was a rad party, with a cool coverband. No green beer here, and their shots are tiny! But of course drank loads of beer and some shots of Jamo! Stuck with the Irish guys I had worked with that day (and who were staying at Copper Beech), so it was very authentic, haha. Lots of yelling, singing and doing jigs!

I said before that I was looking for different housing situation, but I'm actually loving Copper Beech backpackers so definitely plan to stay. It's so close to downtown, a super short walk to the grocery and the library (and everything else downtown). One of my roommates has a car, so there is transportation to work (he also works at Indevin). The bathrooms are cleaned everyday, and the kitchen has strict rules on cleaning you dishes so I don't have to worry about a messy kitchen!! Big backyard, free laundry, game and tv room...and wonderful people coming and going. Quite a lot of Germans. Everywhere.

Yesterday, I went out to White's Bay with Rory and Nile (Irishmen), and it was breathtakingly beautiful. Rory was trying to catch some fish off the rocks, Nile and I just laid on the beach and took it in. Waded around the water a bit, not too cold. Got my toe pinched a bit by a little sandcrab, that scared the sh** outta me! Then I went looking for the crab, of course, and stepped on the little bugger...That freaked HIM out, so I guess we're even.

Had a pre-harvest party last night thrown by Indevin. Quite a bit of Marlborough Cuvee sparking wine, and not enough appetizers. Was great meeting other people I'll be working with, and found TWO MORE Cal Poly kids, haha and a Washingtonian or two. We're everywhere. Met a few of the managers/winemakers and they were all very nice so that is good.

After the party we headed back to the Grovetown pub and put back some more wine! Not enough food, and too much wine last night....had a good time but quite tired today.

Cheers!

Arrival!

2011-03-14T23:47:00.000-07:00

After a stimulating sermon about orignial sin, the pastor-man at Palm Desert Episcopal Church prayed for me to "have a good time in New Zealand". Though the irony did not pass me, I appreciated the prayers :)

Then, a nice going away party with meatloaf and Jaeger-bombs at Aunt Cynthia's! I took off from LAX at 11 pm, on a virtually empty plane so sleep was not a problem. A nice dinner and a couple glasses of Pinot put me to sleep and I woke up in Auckland. NICE WEATHER.

I've ridden in small planes, from Bellingham, WA...Petersburg, AK....Meridian, MISS. But the plane to Blenheim beats them all. Sixteen people, I think? And I had hearing problems for a few minutes after we de-planed :)

Met a rad guy who picked me up from the airport and delivered me to my backpackers, I think I'll be harvesting a small vineyard Thursday, and getting paid in freshly butchered sheep and BEER. Yesssss..
Got a room with two other Californians and a Kiwi at Copper Beech, all of us are at Indevin. Nice place, but I am looking for a different housing situation. Be here for a week though!

Was wandering around downtown, and ran into my friend Tony Merz! Totally forgot he was going to be here, so I hung out with him and his three Canadian friends (Vancouverites). THEN I ran into Bonzai and a girl I know from the Vines to Wines club at Cal Poly! (Kristen) plus another guy from Poly! I swear....we are taking over the world. Tony, Michelle, Emily and Calvin and I at the Mudhouse tasting room in downtown Blenheim.

NZ has the nicest people, I am very very stoked. Who knows if I'll ever come back ;)

Pre-Trip Post

2011-03-12T22:24:00.000-08:00

Alright kids, I'm getting ready to ship out of the U.S.! Want to check in and get y'all situated to my new 'blog'. I'm new at this, so bear with me :)

I've packed my most necessary possessions in my 65 liter backpack (barely) and hope I've gotten all my survival items, plus fashion accessories I'll need in New Zealand...hee hee. I bought a new bathing suit today...definitely a survival item.

Thank St. Patrick for Caity McDonald, I sifted through her Goodwill pile last week and snatched up a Celtics t-shirt, so I'll have the correct attire for March 17th.

Many of your have asked about how the earthquake may effect my situation in New Zealand. No worries, too much. Christchurch, the devastated area, is approximately 4 hours south of Blenheim, so while no damage occurred, there are many refugees taking shelter in the backpacker's lodging (hostels) in Blenheim.
I've emailed my contact in Blenheim and he said that I definitely will have a place to stay Tuesday night with other Indevin workers, but it'll be multiple people per room. I'll have the opportunity for a more private lodging hopefully towards the end of the week.

My cell phone will be shut off, shortly after my plane takes off from LAX Sunday night, so don't try to call or text me. I will be able to use my iphone on wireless for facebooking and email. Also, thanks to Alice Wong I've found Google Voice. If you'd like to text me, or leave a voice mail, my number is (805) 253 3432. I'll be able to retrieve off my computer.

Unfortunately, as of an hour ago, my computer battery is deciding not to charge...so that's awesome.

Thank you to everyone who put me up the last two months. Though I was 'living out of my car' I never once had to sleep in it! Having friends and family from Long Beach to the border of Canada (Blaine) has been such a blessing. Through my travels of the west coast, I realized that, while I miss everyone in Oregon and Washington...I sure am a Californian now ;) Sorry guys!

Oh, oh, and thanks to my good friend Lou at Traditional Tattoo in San Luis Obispo for the rad new tattoo I got yesterday. And seriously people...the foot freakin' hurts. My tattoo got set nicely though, so I'm expecting a nice healing. (yarr.)

My grandparents are being so generous and letting me park my car here at their place in La Quinta (near Palm Springs) and keep all my crap I just HAD to have with me, in their spare bedroom. Tomorrow they'll be taking me to church, then to Aunt Cynthia and Uncle Patrick's in Bellflower for a little send off party before my flight at 11 pm Sunday evening from LAX.

The plan? Work in Blenheim, until May 6th...then travel south...then north...then farther north to the tropics...? Who knows? I'll definitely be back in California by September for Dan Ernst and Kathy Ray's wedding October 1st :)

Kiss kiss!