Month: January 2013

January 13, 2013

The drive from the car ferry landing to Russell takes about 10 minutes, and on the way is Omata Winery.  We were heading to Russell for fish and chips, but I thought it might be nice to do a quick wine tasting on the way to town.  I wasn’t expecting much from this small “island” winery and mostly wanted to get it done and off the to-do list.

We drove down a long unpaved road to arrive at the winery, and we were both surprised to see just how nice this place is!  The tasting room and surroundings are stunning, all antique brick, wood and wood beams, with glass doors that open to a warm sunny day and an incredible view of the vineyards and the Bay of Islands beyond.

We were invited to sit at a table to do the wine tasting, and if we liked we could order the food tasting platter for two which includes fresh local products: cheeses and crackers, sundried tomatoes, different types of smoked fish, olives, toasted bread and spreads, and other goodies.  Forget fish and chips, we’re staying here!

We began with the wine tastings and tasted at least 11 wines, sometimes the same varietal from different years so we could compare them.  After we finished the wine tasting, we each ordered a glass of our favorite wine to have with our food platter, which came out next.  We both had the same favorites: one of the chardonnays and the Premium Syrah.

Sitting here in this breathtaking setting on a warm, sunny afternoon, enjoying some terrific food goodies and drinking wine, was one of the many highlights of our time here.  I think this might be our favorite winery (so far) in New Zealand. –Cyndi

January 6, 2013

I have a theory. I believe that there is a predetermined and fixed amount of physical suffering that I will experience during my lifetime. This suffering can either be naturally occurring in the form of sprains, strains, aches and pains or it can be self-induced, i.e., the agony of exercise. I think, for me, the self-induced agony is slightly better than the natural agony. Sometimes it can have great ancillary benefit; take for instance the hike we took yesterday to the flagstaff at Russel. -Rich

Jan 5, 2013

Once you’re in Russell, you can walk to the top of Flagstaff Hill to see amazing views of Russell and the Bay of Islands.  You can walk up alongside the main street, but it’s much nicer to take the trail that leads up the side of the hill.

There is a monument at the top of the hill, and we went to read the description.  It had this whole long saga about the history of the monument, how some local Maori people kept tearing it down, and how the New Zealand government had to restore it again and again. What the sign neglected to mention is what the heck this monument is and what it’s supposed to represent.  Whatever it is, it must not be offending anyone as it now sits undisturbed. -Cyndi

November 2012

I just want to mention the cameras we are using on this trip.  I used to buy the latest and greatest in digital cameras.  I lugged around a great big SLR and several lenses.  That is, I lugged it around when it was convenient, so often, I didn’t have it when a great photo-op came along.

For this trip, we chose a different approach.  With the advances in small, point-and-shoot digital cameras, we bought two different ones.

For land use, we have a  Canon Elph 310HS.  It’s been a great camera.  The battery life is excellent and it’s even survived being dropped at least twice.  There’s just a little  bit of vignetting at it’s widest setting but Photoshop corrects that when necessary.  The picture quality is great and it takes perfectly acceptable videos.

For wet weather, or for underwater pictures, we have a Nikon Coolpix AW100.  While it  also takes great pictures, maybe even a little better than the canon, our review can’t be as 100% positive as it is for our Canon.  This is our second Nikon AW100.  The first one leaked and then quit working.  The replacement is also showing signs of leaking so when we snorkel, we take turns diving while the other person holds the camera at the surface.  Not exactly waterproof – not even very water resistant.

We also have a GoPro video camera but it’s been mostly useless.  The user interface is terrible and from what I understand, a known defect is that with the lens they used on the housing, it doesn’t focus underwater.  We took it snorkeling in the coral gardens and when we got back, found we had nothing but completely blurry video. (There’s no LCD to preview what you shoot so you don’t know what you have until you get back to your computer – kind of like the old film days!)  I would solidly place the GoPro in the “Don’t Buy” category.

One of our New Zealand tasks is to try to find a better underwater camera, or maybe buy another Canon and a waterproof housing for it.  We’d sure like to be able to take better pictures underwater.

One thing I’d like to point out is that the photos we post on twoatsea are not always as they are straight out of the camera.  We do use Photoshop to make the photos look more like they did in real life.  I’ll post a “Photoshop for Cruisers” section with some of the Photoshop tricks we use sometime soon. -Rich

January 2013

Who knew cows love oranges so much?  They eat them whole, rolling them around in their mouths, scrunching up their faces at the sour parts, and sticking out their tongues all over the place.  It’s the cow version of the giant Sweet Tarts we used to eat as kids. –Cyndi