Pinots and pleasure in Queenstown
You don’t have to take many steps onto New Zealand soil before someone will tell you about the amazing quality of the country’s wines – especially the pinot noirs.
In my case, it was a lady at Queenstown airport duty free who was praising the pinot style in a broad Yorkshire accent.
I always thought Yorkshire people were full bottle on beers – Theakstons and the like – and as far as I know they are not yet producing merlot in Masham – so it was interesting to receive a rundown on the best of the NZ pinots from a lady from Batley.
Naturally, citing my willingness to help the New Zealand economy, I bought a bottle – and it probably won’t be my last while I’m in Queenstown for the annual Tourism Industry Association of New Zealand (TIA) trade show, TRENZ.
It was here that I met Nicky McArthur and Diana Illston, who were there to market Kaikoura Wilderness Walks, two or three day eco walks for small groups in 2,000 hectares of New Zealand wilderness, each day ending in luxury lodge accommodation where mobile phones, mercifully, are banned.
I also met Paul Macauley and Lennie Erickson, two of the people behind the purpose-built Auckland Adventure Jet, which spins around Auckland Harbour at 55 knots. If you’re heading to Auckland for the Rugby World Cup later this year, good advice might be to take a ride on the jet before you go eating and drinking.
After all, we don’t want to pollute Auckland Harbour, do we?
Queenstown is New Zealand’s adrenaline capital – you can try anything that takes your fancy here from bungy jumping, hang gliding para-sailing, zip-lining, river jetting and – in season – skiing and snow boarding.
I passed on the bungy jumping.
Instead, I opted for the Nomads Safaris 4WD tour through Skippers Canyon where Danny, our guide and driver, revealed some of the secrets of the filming of the movie, Lord of the Rings.
We went to the Arrow River, at the old gold mining town of Arrowtown, where Arwen called a flood in the form of horses, killing the physical forms and the horses of the Ringwraiths.
The riders in the movie, Danny explained, were local farmers on their own horses and the background scenery was shot on the Shotover River.
Apart from that, everything else in this wonderful part of New Zealand is pretty authentic.
To learn about New Zealand and be certified for your knowledge, take Tourism New Zealand’s online training modules here: http://www.newzealand.com/travel/trade/training/training-modules/training-modules.cfm
For free resources and details on New Zealand places and product, go here:
http://www.newzealand.com/travel/trade/trade-homepage.cfm
Ian Jarrett
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