This post picks up from our arrival in Cromwell, a small town in central Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. Our house was perfectly situated, just a 5 minutes walk into town, 15 minutes to the lake and right opposite the golf course, with views of the mountains of course! Our friend Lisa’s Auntie and Uncle own the property and in true Kiwi style were kind enough to rent it to us at family rates! Their son Peter made the 45 minute drive from Queenstown on a Sunday afternoon to meet us with the keys, thanks again Peter, and it was great to meet you. Cromwell is famous for it’s fruit, and has a massive sculpture to prove it, but the fruit we were most interested in were the grapes of course, namely, of the Pinot Noir varietal. We were steered to the 2 best wineries in the region by Dan’s new mate Scott from THE FRIDGE butchery in the centre of town. We visited the winery his wife worked at called Carrick’s and then on to the most famous winery in the region Mount Difficulty. We had a few good tastings, enjoying these delicious wines whilst taking in the stunning scenery. Cromwell was a great town, very laid back and full of history from the goldmining days, surrounding towns such as Clyde, Roxburgh and Alexandra were just as charming and were great day trips too. Amazingly the Cromwell Council saw fit to pay 100k for this monument of a massive bum! The wonderful Carrick Wine Estate.
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This post picks up on our last few days in Christchurch and follows our adventures as we headed further south. First up, a nod to the concept of homeswapping. It is awesome, just awesome, not only has it saved us bundles of cash on accommodation costs and we get to stay in amazing properties, but we have also got to meet with some wonderful people. Our latest swappers Grant and Alison were exceptional hosts. We were lucky that this swap was a Non Simultaneous one and we had them just next door. They were extremely helpful and welcoming and even helped us source objects for the girls school projects. We were also invited to a family gathering that they were hosting, the kids had a swim, the guys played tennis, and the girls chatted over some wine. It was topped off with some awesome NZ Fish and Chips, Kiwi's love their fish n chips more than the Brits do! Samuel was especially drawn to Grant and Alisons son Sam, as of course they had the same name and same coloured hair and are both the youngest of four children, so naturally they became best mates! Old friends from our teen days Ian and Hayley also went out of their way to make sure that we were well entertained during our stay. Towards the end of our stay in Christchurch they invited us around to Hayley’s parents place, where Mike and Carol run their motorbike tour business from. We got shown around the office and garage, which was packed full of beautiful big bikes, if ever there was a place to ride a motorbike, I think NZ is top of the list! Thanks Grant, Alison and Sam, we had an awesome time in Christchurch with you guys!
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