Day on the Green - Crowded House Concert

A beautiful afternoon/evening for a concert at Villa Maria winery. Supergroove provided the main support act and entertained the crowd with their unique mix of rock, jazz and rap!

Then the headline act of Crowded House performed all their hits.

Warriors v Sea Eagles

A beautiful evening tonight for the pre-season league game between the Warriors and Sea Eagles at Harbour Stadium. Royston got to meet Warriors legend Steve Price before the game.






A good crowd of over 15,000 were there to help fund raise for the Christchurch earthquake, and watched a tightly contested game with the Warriors slightly ahead at half time 6-4.






Manly Sea Eagles fought back to a slender victory 14-12 much to the disappointment of the crowd. Here's hoping the Warriors have a better season when it starts next week.

An Early Morning Fish at Mahurangi

This morning we were up at dawn to head north to Mahurangi Regional Park for Royston to have a fish. A beautiful morning and the snapper were biting, unfortunately they were a little too small to keep.

Blues v Crusaders

I was lucky enough to win 2 free tickets to see the Auckland Blues play the Canterbury Crusaders in the opening round of the new Super 15 season at Eden Park. We were given great seats in the top tier of the new south stand.

A good crowd of about 32,000 turned up for the game, and we were treated to many All Blacks playing for their teams. Crusaders had the best of the first half and went in 19-6 at the break.

But in the second half the Blues fought back with lots of pressure and the backs playing a good running game.

The tries then came, including this one by Tony Woodcock, and the Blues got a close win 24-22 and the majority of the crowd went home happy.

Central Otago Wineries

Being in Central Otago and liking our wine we had to make the most of all these fantastic wineries in the region... There are several areas prolific in vineyards, first stop was the Bannockburn region and Mt Difficulty wines - the view from the tasting room back down the valley.

The next stops were along Gibbston Valley which follows the Kawerau Gorge. At Gibbston Valley winery we did a fantastic tour which culminated in wine tasting in the cave - this contained barrels of Pinot Noir worth several $ million!

Chard Farm was the next stop and our favourite winery. A hair-raising drive to get to it with a sheer drop down the gorge!

Amisfield is one of the most famous wineries in the area with the tasting room in this beautiful stone building.

And just across the road was the beautiful Lake Hayes. A fantastic long weekend away...we will be back :o)

Queenstown Gondola

Back in Queenstown, as the weather was so good we headed up the gondola to get the great views back down to the town and lake.

This is the view down to the road to Arthurs Point and where we were staying.

And a video showing the panoramic view.

The Drive to Glenorchy

Today we headed north from Queenstown to the head of Lake Wakatipu and the small township of Glenorchy. There were several stopping off points on the way giving great views over the lake, first was Wilsons Bay.

The view at Bennetts Bluff was stunning, a snow capped Mt Earnslaw and the Mt Aspiring National Park.

Once at Glenorchy not much to see apart from a boat shed!

But the views from the wharf back down the lake were stunning.

Onsen Hot Pools

One of the best things we did in Queenstown, the Onsen Hot Pools are just up the road from the Top 10 in Arthurs Point. There are 6 private pools, each large wooden tubs with a retracting window. We had the aromatherapy pack which also came with a glass of fizz each.

The view from the tub was out over the Shotover River - stunning and very peaceful. A fantastic way to spend an hour.

Cromwell & Kawerau Gorge

Cromwell is the heart of Central Otago and famous for its stone fruit orchards and now wineries. It is known as the fruit capital of NZ, hence the rather fetching sculpture...






Like Arrowtown, Cromwell was once a gold mining town and there is still an area of the old town preserved today.




The road back to Queenstown heads through Kawerau Gorge. Roaring Meg is a turbulent stream that drives a hydro electric power station.




Also along this gorge is the home of bungy, we stopped off for a look (no jumping!) and brought back memories of my jump from this bridge back in 1994. It has changed a bit, no small shack now, instead a flash new bungy centre, and the tripling in price to jump!

Wanaka & Lake Hawea

Next stop was Wanaka, another stunning lake and a small but busy town.





Just outside Wanaka is Puzzling World, a rather bizarre place with visual rooms and buildings that mess with your head!





This is the room of faces, each one is actually concave but as you walk around the room the faces follow you and appear to be convex.





This room was sloping but not as you think, Royston is actually standing upright in this photo...






Next stop of the day was Lake Hawea, just north of Wanaka, and a very small township.

Crown Range Road to Wanaka

The Crown Range Road is the highest road in NZ and loads of fun to drive! The first section is very windy - you can see the road in the distance in this photo taken from Coronet Peak.







The views once you get to the top are spectacular.





The only town on this road is Cardrona, home to the famous Cardrona Hotel.





The pub and beer garden reminded us of a typical English country pub, just slightly different scenery.




Despite it being mid-morning, it wasn't too early for Royston to have a beer!

Arrowtown

Today we headed on a circular route north from Queenstown, first stop Arrowtown - an historic gold mining town. Now a place for the tourists as they have retained the original buildings.

A very small town but loads of character.

Coronet Peak

Just up the road from the Top 10 where we stayed was the road heading up to Coronet Peak skifield. No snow at this time of the year so an easy drive to the top to get fabulous views back down the valleys. This is looking down on the Shotover river and Arrowtown.

And the view over Lake Wakatipu, the Remarkables mountain range and Frankton - a suburb of Queenstown and the location of the airport. As you can see from the mountains all around it makes for an interesting approach to the airport when flying in!

Queenstown

Our first holiday of the year was a long weekend down to Queenstown staying in a lovely cabin at the Top 10 near the Shotover River - this is the view from our cabin with mountains surrounding us.

Although a small town, Queenstown was very busy with tourists from all over the world - this is the main pedestrian street lined with bars and restaurants.

The wind was coming across Lake Wakatipu today causing a few waves and catching a few pedestrians out as the waves came over the pavements. The wharf area is where all the lake boat trips depart and there are also lots of bars looking over the lake.

The TSS Earnslaw is the most famous boat that heads out onto the lake - a 1912 Edwardian steamer. We decided not to pay the tourist prices for this one...

The Queenstown gardens are on a peninsula overlooking the wharf with lots of nice walks. The head of the peninsula gives views down the Frankton Arm of Lake Wakatipu.

New Car

Our new motor...a Honda CRV.

Winery Tour at Ascension Vineyard, Matakana

This evening we headed north to Ascension Vineyard for this year's winery tour. A smaller venue than Villa Maria where we have been for previous years making for a more intimate concert in a lovely setting amongst the vines.

First act for the evening were Midnight Youth who got the crowd rocking with all their hits.

Then Opshop continued the mood doing a fantastic set and getting the crowd up and dancing at the front.

Then finally Brooke Fraser for a more sedate ending to the evening. A wonderful evening of fabulous weather, great music and very quaffable wine!