02/28/11 Mercure Hotel, Picton, NZ

Picton was a lovely little gem. as soon as we landed we were hurried onto buses for a tour & tasting at a couple wineries. then we had a very fancy dinner at the hotel, thanks to our friend Robert's friend who manages the hotel.

02/28/11 Punakaiki Lodge & Westport, New Zealand

Breakfast at the lodge was pretty basic.

we rode to the small airstrip in Westport where we had a box lunch.

02/27/2011 Punakaiki Lodge, New Zealand

Today was a very long day on the bike. We started on a bus, then biked a good bit along the Tasmin Sea, ending up at the Punakaiki Blowholes Park.

02/27/2011 Monteith's Brewery

for lunch we ate in 1 of New Zealand's 2 brew pubs, Monteith's. i think if we'd been allowed to order off the menu it would've been pretty good but the way this type of thing works the pre-planned meal we were given wasn't the best. but oh well. it was a fun experience.

02/27/2011 Scenic Hotel, Franz Josef Town

i've put in breakfast here as it was a different hotel, but it really was very similar to all the others.

02/26/2011 S. Westland Salmon Farm, Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Town

the day before matt and i met up with the group in Wanaka the Christchurch earthquake hit. the group was scheduled to fly up there in 2 days but needless to say that wasn't going to happen. in fact the CBD (Christchurch business district) or downtown/historical area was totally closed to residents, let alone tourists. there were a couple couples in Christchurch when it hit and they were able to get transit to join us in Queenstown, but they had to leave all their luggage, and bike, behind. our fearless leaders were on the phone for 24hrs getting us new transit, food and beds and itinerary for the next 3 days. they routed us up and to the west into glacier territory by bus to start with. we kept passing signs for 'possum pie' but sadly we ate lunch at a salmon farm.

we stayed in franz josef town that night, at a 'clean' hotel. it was actually a Scenic Hotel. the same chain matt and i stayed in our 1st night in Queenstown. anyway, most of us ended up in the bar for drinks. the bartender was a young guy who knew if he treated this bunch of americans right he'd get a pretty decent tip, and he was right. in the cooler behind him we spotted the kiwi wine and i asked if it would be possible to have a small pour just to taste. then dinner followed. simple as the hotel had like 24hrs to prepare dinner for a group our size, but they did a pretty good job considering.

02/25/2011 Pog Mahones, Queenstown NZ

we went to dinner at an irish pub with friends. matt asked for a black and tan and they just looked at him. they had no idea what it was. oh well. the fish and chips were pretty good, and dianne reported the pasta was tasty. the bowl of chili with 'saffron' rice was a little different but it all got eaten.

02/25/2011 Arrowtown: Bakery, Cafe Mondo

the ride today took us a short distance of about 10 miles to arrowtown. their bakery is known for miles around apparently. and quite good it was.

after walking around a little bit we decided to have lunch before the ride back to queenstown.

02/24/2011 The Cow, Queenstown NZ

dinner that night was back in Queenstown. matt and i found a place that came with good comments as a local tucked-away place. be sure to pause the slideshow and read the history of the place.

02/24/2011 Glenorchy Cafe, NZ

after what was the worst and prettiest ride to date, lunch was at the glenorchy cafe. i was really looking forward to this meal, a venison pie, but the ride just took so much out of me that i really couldn't taste, let alone enjoy, lunch. :( all i really wanted was a bag of potato chips, snickers and a coke.