Our last night here and we finally got up the courage to endure the wait for a Fergburger. For those not in the know, this is a Queenstown institution.
The story is Ed Sheeran tweeted / insta-faced about it and also the NY times wrote a positive article. So now there is a massive instagram / “influencer” feedback loop (and now I’ve posted about it: I’m probably part of the problem… sigh).
So… 25 minute wait to order the burger, 20 minute wait for it to be made. Dealing with endless dickheads trying to push in line or getting to the counter and not knowing what they want after waiting in line all that time (#FML) . Add in the issue with finding parking in Queenstown….
I had the Lamb and Mint Burger. Sharon had the Venison. I think the Venison was slightly better than the lamb one.
Is it a good burger ? Yes!, it’s a good burger, and a decent sized one. Is it the best burger I’ve ever had ? Nope: not even in the same ball park. That honour goes to the Lamb Jalfrezi burger I had in London from these guys
I suspect Devil Burger just around the corner is provably just as good, with no wait times. Will I come here again : Yes, will be here again in November and will try a different one.
Last year we did a marvellous wine tour to the north of Barcelona, I rated it in the top three things we did in Spain, so I was keen to replicate that experience here in NZ, so before we jetted across the ditch I did some research and booked a wine and lunch tour through Altitude Tours.
The tour took us to three wineries around Queenstown (in the Otago region of NZ), starting at Gibbston Valley Wines who kicked off the Otago wine industry in the mid 1980s.
The story goes that everyone told them (including the department of Primary Industries) that they were crazy and there was no way grapes would grow near Queenstown as it was too far south. They gave it a whirl anyway, and discovered that Pinot and Riesling did quite well. Of course many then followed and how its a massive money spinner for this part of NZ.
Wine Cave
Gibbston also have a fantastic “wine cave” which is a cellar they dynamited out of the side of a hill back in the mid 1990s.
The second winery was the Allen Scott winery, where we sampled even more delicious grape based beverages before heading off to the “Stoaker Room” near Cromwell for lunch.
I’d actually book the Stoaker room for dinner next week after hearing great things about it, however when I found out it was on this tour I cancelled that booking to free up the night for another amazing dining establishment.
The “Stoaker” is basically a BBQ built into an old French Oak wine barrel. They even sell them for about $NZ2500 should you so desire to purchase one (You won’t fit it in your hand luggage though).
They cooked a variety of meats in it, Orange Roughy Fish with coconut cream and slaw, BBQ Duck with honey mustard, Goat Ragu with Smokey tomato sauce and polenta, Pork with pear and orange marmalade and Venison with Cherry Sauce and roast veg.
The third winery was the wonderful Church Cellar Door and Cafe, where we also had cheese and biscuits with more wonderful wines.
The tour was essentially complete at this point, however as we had time the guide took us through arrowtown (which we visited on Tuesday) and then we dropped in to the new Ayrburn estate that has some amazing restaurants and bars to explore. Apparently they spent NZ$200 million making it like it is, and it looks divine.
The accomodation package we have at the hotel includes a three course dinner and breakfast. Wine and coffee are an extra payment.
We started with a drink in the hotel lounge, I had a wonderful local Gin and we just sat for a while admiring the amazing view as what little cloud coverage remained vanished to reveal the mountain completely.
Dinner was spectacular. I honestly wasn’t expecting anything too great considering it’s the only real dining option in about a 100km radius. There are other accomodation options here in the village, but if you didn’t bring your own food, you are eating here or in the hotel buffet. Although the food is included in the package, you can eat a three course meal for $110 per person, and considering the amazing quality of the food it’s a bargain.
We both had the carrot and ginger soup to start, I then had the lamb and Sharon had the salmon. The cheesecake for dessert with three different apple toppings was also stunning.
Approx 12 months ago we decided we would head across the ditch and spend 10 days on the South Island of New Zealand. We are basing ourselves in Queenstown with two overnight stops elsewhere on the island that you will see in future posts.
I’m somewhat embarrassed that after over 50 revolutions of the sun, I still haven’t visited New Zealand. It’s so close, I have so many wonderful Kiwi friends and colleagues yet had never bothered to get on plane and give the place a visit. I guess It’s something I always thought I’d get to later, well joke is totally on me, I’ve only been here a few hours and I can already see its drop dead gorgeous and amazing. I’ve been missing out. The flight over the mountains and into Queenstown has some eye popping views. We were also blessed with a clear sunny day on arrival.
A few minutes from landing
The other novelty of visiting NZ after spending the last few holidays in Europe is that it’s only a two hour flight. Take off, quick meal and we are getting ready to land.
As far as travel days go, we had an amazing one. Home to the airport in about 40 minutes, one of the fastest checkins and security clearances ever in Sydney, less than 15 minutes from walking in the airport to looking for a coffee on the airside of the airport. Coffee was the usual Sydney airport affair, average and eye watering expense.
Took the jet ages to taxi around the airport, they had set flights to take off from the eastern end of the runway. Unfortunately we didn’t fly right over the city, as soon as we took off the pilot pulled an Elon (AKA a hard bank to the right…) and we went straight out to sea and over to NZ.
It was equally good in NZ, about 10 minutes from passport control to getting bags and passing customs. Only slight hitch was we went to the wrong side of the airport to get the hire car.
I spent a good 5 minutes talking pictures of the hire car checking for damage then remembered I’d paid extra for zero excess (walk away) insurance, so that was essentially a waste of time. Airport was only a 10 min drive from the apartment, after checking in we dusted off our Jandals, grabbed our chillybin and headed off to local supermarket to grab some local supplies. Pineapple Lumps are the bomb!
The other bonus of coming to NZ is the exchange is in our favour by roughly 10%, way better than visiting the UK !. Was also checking FB history, exactly a year ago we were in Spain, exactly the opposite side of the planet to NZ.
The lake here is massive, apparently it’s 380m deep. It’s so deep part of it is 70m below sea level.
We had booked dinner at the Stratosfare Restaurant at the top of Bobs Peak, you take the Gondola there. Of course it’s beyond silly cost wise for a buffet dinner (NZ$170 per person), but you are really paying for the view and the upkeep of the Gondola. Great selection of food on offer.
I think Dave Dobbyn was correct, this place really is a slice of heaven.
Every few Christmases we are in South West Rocks at my in-laws house. SWR is a great little town that hasn’t been overwhelmed with development over the past 30 years.
It still has many of the traditional post war “fibro” houses right near town. There has been an uptick in new housing but most of it is further west on the outskirts of town closer to Jerseyville.
Every morning I’d go for an early walk to grab a coffee from the best cafe in SWR and go drink it just watching the ocean from Horseshoe Bay in town.
Went for the same walk Christmas morning with no expectation the cafe would be open, but walking into town I saw a few people with takeaway cups and thought could that be…. On Xmas… ?
And sure enough the cafe was open! On Christmas!! Sure enough it was significantly more than usual, not that I cared, awesome coffee on Christmas!! Santa has delivered ! It’s a Festivus Miracle!
Just before Xmas, I purchased a drone. Pic below is from that. Had been thinking of getting one for a while, but after visiting a friend in the Hunter Valley region who has one, the deal was sealed. Will be great for our upcoming trip to NZ.
Coffee at Sixty Degrees, South West RocksOverlooking Horseshoe BayDrone Pictue over Back Creek, South West Rocks
It's all about the coffee 