Travel Day, Queenstown to Dunedin April 10, 2011

Another beautiful day; cool in the morning but warming through the day. We were driving through the Central Otago wine region, but it is Sunday, so some wineries are closed, but we did find one open before lunch and that is Black Ridge winery. This place drew us in because it advertised that they are the southern most winery and vineyard in the world. As we got out of the car, we heard the sound of thousands of birds; yes they were starlings. The owner came out to greet us and spent 15 minutes regaling us with stories on how he has tried to get rid of the birds. The vines are covered with netting, but there is one little bird that can get through a hole and before long there are hundreds inside the netting. He got out his shotgun and blew a hole in the netting but did not kill many birds. There is a glut of grapes this year in NZ and many vineyards, including this one are not harvesting their grapes. No wonder it is a paradise for the birds.

We continued on toward Dunedin through ever changing scenery. Mountains changed color and the hillside composition changed from green to brown, with sheep, cattle and deer on the hills. Then rock strewn hills, where Lord of the Rings filmed. For those in the know, it would be Rohan. Rivers flowed and were dammed, turning into beautiful lakes. The fall colors came out on the poplar trees. As we got closer to the coast, hills became lower in profile and greener. Dunedin is a bigger city and a university town.

We hope to see a bit more of it tomorrow.