Sunday the 7th - Arrowtown and Wine Tasting

On the agenda for Sunday was to visit Arrowtown and do some wine tasting, as we were in the heart of the Otago wine region.

We left Queenstown and took the gorge road across the Shotover river. You can ride on the jet boats on the river - a ride for thrill-seekers! Lee, Craig and Stephen had done that the last time they were in Queenstown (about 12 years ago!) and said it was a blast! It's on the list for next time!

After watching the jet boats miss the side of the canyon by mere inches, we continued on to Arrowtown. Arrowtown was quite a boom town during the gold rush days, and you can still see buildings that were built back then. Now, of course, it has great cafes, shops and old buildings, but you can still pan for gold on the Arrow river there.

We had a lovely picnic lunch on the banks of the river, then headed off to do some wine tasting. We stopped first at Mt. Difficulty winery, where they specialize in Pinot Noir, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc wines. Their wines were great, and we came out with a few bottles!

Next was Chard Farm winery. They also had great wines, and we enjoyed tasting their wines, and bought more wine there, too!

On the way back to Queenstown, we stopped at the Kawarau bridge, which spans the Kawarau gorge. There is a new, modern bridge, and the old suspension bridge, built in 1880, which is one of the places that you can bungy jump, if you so desire!

We spent quite a bit of time there, and hiked down the gorge to the river. It was incredibly beautiful there. By the time we arrived the bungy jumping had ended for the day, so we didn't actually get to see anyone jump.

Then it was back to the supermarket for chicken and salad for dinner, and back to the apartment for munchies and G&T on the deck!

After dinner, we played a rousing card game of 500 - which Lee and Craig won!

Another wonderful day!

The Shotover river, with the signature blue water that we saw so often in the South Island.

Jet boat, going very fast - high canyon walls - very, very exciting!!

More adrenalin!

This was a cute little church in Arrowtown. What you can't see is that the entry to the church was flanked by two HUGE Sequoia redwoods!

The main street of Arrowtown. Note the old car!

This little row of houses were originally gold miner's houses.

The Arrow river - a delightful place for our picnic!

Wine country! Note the incredible cloud formations, too.

The Kawarau river

Chard Farm winery.

This was a sculpture of a woman riding a bike - all made out of grape vines! We couldn't resist posing with her!

Quite a different sculpture, for sure!

The old bridge spanning the Kawarau river.

The dedication plaque for the original bridge.

The suspension bridge was built and anchored right into the rock.

The new bridge spanning the Kawarau river.

Do you see a theme here? Munchies and G&Ts on the deck!

Another beautiful sunset on the Remarkables from our deck.