A Funny French Afternoon

There was snow on the hills this morning after a cool and wet night.  We needed to switch on the heater as the temperature here was around 11 degrees.
After a very full continental breakfast, we set off on the shuttle into Queenstown and took a ride on the gondola to take in  the view of the city and lake.

The weather was improving all the time.
When we returned to the hotel we had a quick sandwich and then we met by Julie from funny french wine tours, for a chauffeured  tour of the mid Otago wineries.
We started with a small cheese maker and tasted some delicious cheeses, one of which we bought to sample later in our room.  Then it was on to four other boutique vineyards with a running scenic commentary as we went along.  Julie clearly knew all of the producers personally and had chosen some fine wines for us to taste,  We also took in Roaring Meg hydroelectric power station and a cafe on Lake Dunston, an artificial lake constructed for the power station at Cromwell. Heads turned when whenever we arrived in our 2CV!

Back to the hotel for a quick break and then out again for a gourmet meal at "Rata", a superb restaurant which had been recommended to us by the vintners; it certainly was a memorable meal.
Early to bed for our 7.25 pickup tomorrow.