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SUNDAY, February 26, 2006
Sailing in Dusky and Milford Sounds, New Zealand

It's a magnificent country, New Zealand.

Though we missed our scheduled stop in Napier, earlier in our cruise, we were able to add a very special, unscheduled experience during our visit to Picton, our first port of call in New Zealand's South Island. This charming little port town provides a gateway to New Zealand's famed Marlboro Sound wine district. Several years ago one of the region's first wineries, Cloudy Bay, shipped thousands of bottles of their sauvignon blanc to the US, where grocery stores sold it for $5-6 dollars a bottle. That changed dramatically when Wine Spectator magazine gave it a 90+ rating and connoisseurs began buying it up in quantity, thereby placing New Zealand wines on the map. Today Cloudy Bay is only available on an allocation basis and is sold on board our ship for $65 a bottle.

For our stop, we arranged a private visit to one of the newer wineries, Herzog, created by Hans and Therese Herzog, part of Swiss wine making family that dates back 200-300 years. After this young couple visited this region, they bought land and moved here to create wine and open a restaurant. Hans and Therese met us personally and brought us into their cellar for a tasting - their hard work and passion for perfection was evident in the first sip or two of their superb chardonnay and pinot noir.

At the same time as they developed their vines, they created a warm, elegant country restaurant aspiring to the same high standards. Together with their fine wines, we began our lunch with a delicate smoked salmon mousse followed by a piccata Milanese with risotto - each dish prepared with perfection. The standard of cuisine in New Zealand's better restaurants is pretty high but our lunch exceeded all expectations. As Hans and Therese waived good-bye to us, they gave us a copy of a review in the previous day's New Zealand Herald newspaper that rated this restaurant the best in the country. We were not surprised.

The next day, in Christchurch, we were scheduled to board New Zealand's noted Tranz Alpine Express train bound for New Zealand's "Alps". Unfortunately our ship arrived 30 minutes late, causing us to miss the train's departure. Thanks to back-up arrangements and a good bus driver, we caught up with the train down the line, just in time for the best part of our journey. Under deep blue skies our train brought us up to the summit at Arthur's Pass - a beautiful trip. We finished our day with a brief trip though the lovely gardens of Christchurch.

Yesterday we stopped in Dunedin, the "Scottish" city of New Zealand. Though windy the weather was pleasant once again, perfect for a day in the region's spectacular countryside.

Today we've sailed around the bottom of New Zealand to explore the pretty fjords known as Dusky and Milford Sounds. Unfortunately we seem to have left the beautiful sunshine behind but the narrow passage below the soaring mountains is still marvelous.

This evening we depart New Zealand to begin a two-day passage across the Tasman Sea, bound for Australia's Tasmania. We'll tell you all about it in a couple of days.

Meanwhile we're all doing well and wish you were here! Best regards,

Paul Niskanen