New Zealand Mountains, Pinot and Bushfires
After three days of intense wine talk and tasting in the burgeoning pinot district of Central Otago (English Wine Guru Jancis Robinson said last time she attended – in 2005, that it could be the most exciting area for Pinot Noir outside Burgundy. She came back this year - and said a lot more this time), it was a salve for the palate to take a walk up the mountains – actually one of the Great Walks of New Zealand – the Routeburn Track.
After driving to the bottom from Kinloch at the head of the lake – Wakatipu, on which the international alpine resort town of Queenstown is also located and where the Pinot Celebration was held, it was embracing to lose myself nature and the process of trudging up the track. I had forgotten the marvellous camaraderie of mountain people – that everyone you encounter is your immediate best friend. It was a glorious day – not too hot, not too cold, the rivers sparkled turquoise below the dark line of the bush. And despite the volume of fellow walkers, there was plenty of time alone with the birds, just walking in the bush.
Even more refreshing was the friendly Ranger at the Routeburn Falls Hut who offered me a cup of tea and the query,” What’s Pinot?”
I was wearing the relaxation as the plane touched down in Melbourne and I stepped out to a temperature of 46 degrees – the hottest ever on record.
My son collected me with the words that I needed to keep tuned into Emergency Radio. I had walked into a crisis, with bushfires erupting by the second and it was almost too sudden to keep track.
I drove back to my home in the Victorian countryside on instant alert, not knowing whether the fire had crossed the Calder Highway towards my hamlet as it had the day I left (and came within the outskirts of the nearest small town). My mind was in a whirl of survival plans and worry about my lack of water. There is a problem with my bore that I hadn’t succeeded in having fixed before I left.
Well my property was and is OK and I’m OK. It was a sleepless night that night for me and many others. Unlike others, I’ve been lucky so far, but with a 12-year drought and predicted further high temperatures, it’s not over yet.
After driving to the bottom from Kinloch at the head of the lake – Wakatipu, on which the international alpine resort town of Queenstown is also located and where the Pinot Celebration was held, it was embracing to lose myself nature and the process of trudging up the track. I had forgotten the marvellous camaraderie of mountain people – that everyone you encounter is your immediate best friend. It was a glorious day – not too hot, not too cold, the rivers sparkled turquoise below the dark line of the bush. And despite the volume of fellow walkers, there was plenty of time alone with the birds, just walking in the bush.
Even more refreshing was the friendly Ranger at the Routeburn Falls Hut who offered me a cup of tea and the query,” What’s Pinot?”
I was wearing the relaxation as the plane touched down in Melbourne and I stepped out to a temperature of 46 degrees – the hottest ever on record.
My son collected me with the words that I needed to keep tuned into Emergency Radio. I had walked into a crisis, with bushfires erupting by the second and it was almost too sudden to keep track.
I drove back to my home in the Victorian countryside on instant alert, not knowing whether the fire had crossed the Calder Highway towards my hamlet as it had the day I left (and came within the outskirts of the nearest small town). My mind was in a whirl of survival plans and worry about my lack of water. There is a problem with my bore that I hadn’t succeeded in having fixed before I left.
Well my property was and is OK and I’m OK. It was a sleepless night that night for me and many others. Unlike others, I’ve been lucky so far, but with a 12-year drought and predicted further high temperatures, it’s not over yet.
Labels: bushfires, Central Otago, Melbourne, New Zealand, Pinot Noir, Victoria, wine
posted by Jill@flyingconnoisseur at 9:38 PM
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