And now for Part III of our Christmas Vacation photo essay series.
I wanted to stay in Rotorua and luge all day and all night, but sadly, it was time to move on. We spent a night in Taihape and then drove down toward Wellington. It was pouring down rain, but we drove through the city in the hopes of checking out a few of New Zealand' best yarn stores. Sadly, they were all closed for a holiday break (I think we went to 5 places and I didn't get to fondle a single skein), so we headed out to Martinborough, which turned out to be New Zealand's answer to Stars Hollow.
The rain slowed down a bit by the time we got to Martinborough, but the wind was so strong we had to sleep in the car - it would have knocked our tent over! We weathered the storm by watching a scary movie (Cabin in the Woods) on the iPad. The next morning was much clearer, and we did a biking wine tour* and managed to make it to eight different wineries before closing time. We spent one more night in the tent and then went horseback riding in the morning before heading back to Wellington to check out New Zealand's capital's craft beer scene.
*Yes this was our third wine tour in two weeks. We don't need your judgement but we appreciate your jealousy.
There was also some Lord of the Rings nerdery in there, but that is for the fourth and final photo essay of our Christmas adventures.
Finally, we headed back to Tongariro to try our hike again, but were postponed once again due to weather - this time with a possibility of snow! We admitted defeat and headed back home for some much needed rest and a little bit of (very successful) apartment hunting.
I wanted to stay in Rotorua and luge all day and all night, but sadly, it was time to move on. We spent a night in Taihape and then drove down toward Wellington. It was pouring down rain, but we drove through the city in the hopes of checking out a few of New Zealand' best yarn stores. Sadly, they were all closed for a holiday break (I think we went to 5 places and I didn't get to fondle a single skein), so we headed out to Martinborough, which turned out to be New Zealand's answer to Stars Hollow.
The rain slowed down a bit by the time we got to Martinborough, but the wind was so strong we had to sleep in the car - it would have knocked our tent over! We weathered the storm by watching a scary movie (Cabin in the Woods) on the iPad. The next morning was much clearer, and we did a biking wine tour* and managed to make it to eight different wineries before closing time. We spent one more night in the tent and then went horseback riding in the morning before heading back to Wellington to check out New Zealand's capital's craft beer scene.
*Yes this was our third wine tour in two weeks. We don't need your judgement but we appreciate your jealousy.
There was also some Lord of the Rings nerdery in there, but that is for the fourth and final photo essay of our Christmas adventures.
Finally, we headed back to Tongariro to try our hike again, but were postponed once again due to weather - this time with a possibility of snow! We admitted defeat and headed back home for some much needed rest and a little bit of (very successful) apartment hunting.
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| Biking through Martinborough - can't you picture Kiwi Rory and Kiwi Lorelai walking through that town square to Kiwi Luke's? |
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| There were nearly 20 vineyards within 5km of our campsite |
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| In which I gladly accept my $5 PDA fine to post lots of pictures of my handsome husband because it's my blog and I'll post what I want to! If Rob ever ditches me at least he'll have a pretty sweet eHarmony profile! |
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| Horseback riding through a sheep farm on a rainy day - including through a river! The emu was a Christmas surprise for the lady who owns the farm from her grandchildren. Rumor has it she was a little disappointed. I wonder what she was hoping for? |
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| To the left is the road between Wellington and Martinborough - you can see how curvy it is in the distance. To the right is the seat configuration for turning it into a bed. I honked the horn with my foot at least once during the night! |
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| Back to Wellington and sun! This is what we were doing during the first Polar Vortex. |
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| Self-guided beer tour in Wellington. One of our bartenders was from Chicago and only 3 weeks away from the end of his work holiday visa. He didn't want to go back, and after looking at the weather, who can blame him? |
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| We had to go to Chicago Bar even though it's notoriously terrible. Some Cubs memorabilia made me a little weepy, but we moved to another bar where my sadness was exterminated by a bottle of Goose Island, transporting me half a world away - even if only in my head. |
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