it's the end of july, and i must admit i've been in a winter daze. maybe it's time to start clawing my way out into civilization again.
what has happened? well, to be honest, not a whole lot but tory's awesome visit. which is the major part of the brilliant and exciting moments i can tell you about this winter.
as you saw in the previous post, tory came for a visit to new zealand. bungy jumping was only a small part of the fun. our time together was absolutely jam packed and fabulous. honestly, the best week ever. i can't say how amazing it is to have friends to travel with and to make memories with.
here's a little photo journey of our fun time together. remember, i like to take pictures of my food haha!
(i've also borrowed some photos from *tory* where my photos leave gaps)
the schedule:
6.10. ~ arrive in Queenstown @ 11:50 AM
tory landed and we settled in, we were just so happy to finally see each other!
*we stopped in to visit the girls at my work so she could meet them. we got a little acquainted with town
*then we headed over to halo for a delicious meal!
the rest of the evening was devoted to recovery considering the distance that tory had just traversed.
6.11. ~ wine tour!
we went with appellation central wine tours. they were absolutely wonderful. paul, our guide was really friendly and his brothers owned a vineyard up in nelson, i think it was...we went to four different wineries: peregrine, mt. difficulty, olssens, and chard farm (all vineyards are linked in case you'd like for follow up).
by the time we were finished with the wine tour...we were finished! haha!
pictured below, is the cellar at peregrine. absolutely delicious riesling and gewurztraminer!
funniest thing was, the wine pourer asked us where we were from, virginia...so she goes...oh, well...have you ever heard of a place called charlottesville!? ummmm hahaha! so apparently some of the peregrine wines are carried by a vineyard back in cville. it's a small world after all...it's a small world after all...
*view from mt. difficulty vineyard. their 2009 roaring meg pinot noir was really tasty.
*outside the restaurant at mt. difficulty
*view from olssens. they had a really nice light pinot called nipple hill. love! love!
*chard farm vineyard. absolute FAVORITE! all of their wines, from white to red were absolutely incredible! they even had us try bubbles! so incredible. so cute, they call it co2 bubbly! the absolute best was their tiger pinot noir. such a beautiful estate as well.
*but still we met up with coco for some tasty thai at one of our favs in town, @thai. part of the same company as thaitanium (such a wonderful name, right?) in the remarkables shopping center.
followed by delicious cocktails at barmuda
6.12. ~ tory's birthday! SPA DAY!!! and other awesomeness
"classy" is my middle name, therefore i think wine always tastes better when drunk from badass cups. tea cups make wine really gooooood! clearly, we have our priorities straight...
then breakfast
then, all day awesomeness! i highly recommend body sanctum to anyone that wants an all out relaxing spa day. we enjoyed "the ultimate pamper" at their day spa:
*****
The Ultimate Pamper ~ 4 Hours
This complete treatment envelopes you from head to toe with a total Body Sanctum Spa experience. You will be pampered with a deluxe spa facial, spa manicure, spa pedicure & a luxurious massage. Say no more!
*****
view while getting our mani and pedi
*after our relaxing afternoon we got all dolled up for botswana butchery (part of the same company that owns barmuda...the good group, they own everything in town! it's like the mafia! so hot.)! SECOND time! it did not disappoint! i hope you enjoy this schmorgesborg as much as we did:
*****
partaaaaaayyyyyyy
birthday girl!
*
*silliness
*6.13. ~ paraflighting, shopping, and skyline kiwi haka
another tasty brunch, this time at bob's weigh.
on to paraflighting!
cute!
*the guys...they kept us safe and out of the water, for that i am thankful.
*view from below...
view from above...
even the water here is sooooo much prettier than normal
sweet!
*
headed up the gondola
as usual, a fantastic view
luging is awesome!
after luging with beautiful queenstown behind us
*waiting for the haka
hilarious because one of the guys is a bouncer in town, and one of the women stops in at work. small. town.
buffet. means, stuffing ourselves until we couldn't move for a while.
6.14. ~ snowboarding up coronet and onsen hot pools
proof! that we snowboarded!...or at least attempted hehe
*wandering around town, we made it to the queenstown gardens. how are the flowers still blooming? i do not know
the onsen hot pools are always enjoyable, especially after a day of falling on your ass. we went at night and the stars were amazing.
6.15. ~ nevis bungy jump and spa, again :o)
so i know i already did a separate post on the bungy jump, but here are all of tory's photos from our experience
really happy and excited!
...maybe not, a little concerned now
preparing for the dive!
annnnnd go!
total happiness!
tory's words ~ "liberation and euphoria" ...yeah, it's awesome.
glowing.we had a great time!
we went to the body sanctum again, but this time to their massage and floatation center. dude, i know it sounds crazy, but the floatation tanks are soooooo relaxing. the massage after doesn't hurt.
last dinner :o( but at a delicious restaurant! flame is always a winner!
6.16. ~ depart for US @3:15pm
last brunch, at solera vino. it's a cute little french cafe in the middle of town.
it all went too fast, but clearly we packed a ridiculous amount of awesome in to the time we had together.
i had more fun that i can say. it was the best week ever!
love,
lala
