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Joe Coulter in Godzone

Those inveterate travelers, Joseph Coulter & Beverley Robinson, having been lost in the winter extremes of Florida, found themselves in New Zealand (again) this past week.

After flying into Auckland on Air NZ (no doubt, this is a tax deductible junket :) they headed straight into the wilds of the Central Otago.

Having braved the roads of Wanaka and Queenstown, Central Otago in all their magnificence (driving on the correct side of the road is now second nature to Joe, whilst Bev is certainly getting to grips with navigation in southern climes) - the principals of Adventures Downunder Travel

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boarded a cruise ship in Dunedin and port-hopped the coast (missing the Christchurch earthquake by days!!!!!) to meet up with (former) Lord St.Helier.

The aforementioned has recently renouncing his peerage, having undertaken a paradigm shift in political allegiances. His largeship now embraces his new title "Sir Champagne Socialist" with great gusto!

The reunion celebration comprised a bottle of Te Arai Vineyard Chenin Blanc, a lovely fragrant, fresh, lightly honeyed wine which proved a revelation to our visitors, graphically displaying that NZ is much more than Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.

An early dinner (all four diners chose fresh fish 'n chips) was accompanied by a 2090 Seresin Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

This is a very classy wine, certainly not in the grassy aggressive style one is accustomed to seeing out of Marlborough.

Containing 5% Semillon (which together with 10% of the SB is fermented in aged French oak) - the balance is tank fermented using wild yeast (with full organic certification from BioGro) - the tropical lime flavours and crisp acidity proved a perfect foil to the seafood and fries.

Hurry back Joe & Bev - Melbourne in October is a possibility :)

Reply to
st.helier
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Thanks for the update, Milud (ret.) and good to hear from you as well. Jean and I had just recently applied for sabbatical leave in 2012 to... Univ. of Canterbury. We'll now have to see whether that will still be possible.

I hope that all is well with you, Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

"Mark Lipton" wrote

Hi Mark

UC seems to have escaped all but minor damage. See

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Of course, the city centre is devastated - and no one, but no one predicted such an aftershock.

The original quake in Sept 2010 occurred on a fault which last shifted

16,000 years ago - and the existence of this fault only become apparent *after* this shock.

I would not give up on the possibility of visiting in 2012.

We are a resilient bunch down here.

Cheers

AB

Reply to
st.helier

Asas it is true, The House of Lords is no doubt in shambles recovering from yet another blow to their numbers and prestige. The venerable St Helier arrived not in his former chariot of somber back but in a more plebian Toyota adroned with Union (and not Rugby Union) signage. One almost expected the horn to play the Internationale, never the less, the wine was fine, though the first bottle ordered , a Palliser, was not available leading to a bit of testiness with our young waiter who valiantly suggested another bottlenot in keeping with Andrew's desire.

We were actually interviewed on arrival in San Farcisco by a KCBS crew which was anxious for any news. So I told them how I spent the earthquake bravely lunching at Villa Maria, great lunch good wine. UNfortunately the snakes were biting in Auckland as well I had to return my glass of Hawkes's Bay Cab/Merlot as showing signs of too much open bottle. the waitress agreed that perhaps the two days were too much for this one and poured a fresh glass to cmpensate, result a good wine forthe steak, certainly not a very aggressive one but pleasant for a sunny afternoonwhich felt more of early fall than summer.

Of course no one at the restaurant knew of the earthquake. We were appraised of the situation upon returning our hire car to the airport. So said I to the television crew and they interviewed me anyway. I hope thay got one of the 10 or so actual refugfees from Christchurch on the plane.

Lovely time was had. and we returned with two bottles of wine to remember the the trip by, a Peregrine Pinot Gris from 2010 and a bottle of 2009 Church Road Reserve Viognier from Hawke's Bay.

Reply to
Joseph Coulter

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