In Ferg we trust

In 1986, AJ Hackett established the first commercial bungie jump operation at the Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown, New Zealand. Since then, bungie jumping and other thrill-seeking activities like para-sailing, sky diving and jet boating have become staples in Queenstown, the last stop of our trip. We weren’t going to throw ourselves out of a plane or off a bridge tied to a rubber band, but Queenstown has plenty of other great activities on offer.

From NZ Developed

For one, it’s located in on the outer edge of the Central Otago wine region. In just a few decades, the Otago region has established itself the leader in producing New Zealand Pinot Noir, our favorite varietal. But we didn’t want to just taste, we wanted to learn more about our palates and what makes the wines we enjoy. Our guided Otago tour van picked us up at our hotel at 9:30am; by 10:15 we were sipping our first wine of the day, in the wine cave of one of NZ’s biggest wine producers, Gibbston Valley.

From NZ Developed

Then it was off to a smaller boutique winery at Olsson's, where we sampled cheese and chatted with the other two couples on the tour.

From NZ Developed

With a little extra time before lunch, we stopped by Old Cromwell Town, the remnants of the gold mining town that sprung up during the Central Otago gold rush of the 1860s. Cromwell is the site of another hydroelectric power station controversy. Unlike the power station located on Lake Manapouri near Doubtful Sound, the Cromwell plant was allowed to dam the river, raising a portion of it into a lake, and putting most of the old city underwater. Community activists saved some of the important and interesting historic buildings by relocating them to up the bank of the river/lake and preserving them as a historic section of the modern-day town of Cromwell.

From NZ Developed

From NZ Developed

A fantastic plate of meats, cheeses, fish and other gourmet treats greeted us for a vineyard lunch at Northburn Station, a family-run sheep farm that added vines ten years ago. Further up the road at Big Picture, we sampled the many smells in the Aroma room before taking a virtual tour of the Central Otago region.

From NZ Developed

We tasted six different Pinots from vineyards dotted throughout the sub-regions of the Otago, each displaying the unique characteristics of its climate and geography. Central Otago is the same latitude in the southern hemisphere as Burgandy in France in the north and dry climate with large variation in temps between day and night make it an ideal region to grow the delicate and temperamental Pinot Noir grape. Finally, we ended the day at Peregrine, another large producer who distributes wines in the US: we’ll be looking for their wines under the Mohua label at Whole Foods.

Back in town by 5 pm, we had plenty of time to ride the gondola up near Bob’s Peak for spectacular panoramic views of Queenstown and the surrounding mountains, lakes and rivers.

From NZ Developed

The water here is a surreal cloudy blue color from the rock flour created by the glacial runoff that feeds them. We had some fun on the alpine luge -- I, of course, secured victory in the last turns. After a short ride down the gondola, it was time for a burger at Fergburger, who, according to many locals, has the best burger in all of New Zealand. If the line stretching down the sidewalk to order one was any indication, we were in for a treat. We dove right in to huge, grass-fed beef patties and fresh veggie toppings with a zingy sauce. Definitely worth the wait.

Tomorrow’s our last full day in New Zealand. Hard to believe that three weeks have gone by so fast.