New Zealand really is wine country. From the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island, there are vineyards and wineries everywhere. Wine making is not new to New Zealand. The first grape vines were planted in Northland in 1819 and New Zealand’s first winery, Mission Estates, was established in 1851 and is still going strong.

With numerous wine regions, New Zealand is a true wine lovers paradise. There are over 500 wineries in New Zealand, most of which are open to the public and happy to provide tastings. You might even have the winemaker themselves serving you.

Some miscellaneous New Zealand wine facts…

* New Zealand is home to not only the world’s most easterly wine region (Gisborne) but also the world’s southernmost wine region (Otago)

* There are more wine festivals in New Zealand than there are wine regions. Top festivals (every February) include the Marlborough Wine Festival and the Hawke’s Bay Wine Festival.

* Move star Sam Neil of Jurassic Park fame owns Two Paddocks, a winery in Gibbston, Central Otago.

* New Zealand wine makers are always calling out for workers during harvest season, so why not help make the wine as well as taste the wine. Here’s the when, where, and how.

Anyone considering a trip to New Zealand Wine Country should pick up a copy of Classic New Zealand Wine Trail Guide to point you in the right direction. This free guide is available at all wine region information centers or you can order it online.

A couple of weeks ago I took a road trip to the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island, spending time jade carving in Hokitika and ice climbing at Franz Josef. But no trip to the ‘coast’ would be complete without a stop at the Punakaiki Rocks & Blowholes.

Located at Dolomite Point on State Highway 6 between Greymouth and Westport, these limestone formations have been around for millions of years. Worn down and sculptured over the years by the sea and weather, the Punakaiki Rocks have taken on a very distinctive ‘pancake-like’ appearance.

The Rocks are a popular draw card for tourists as they make their way up or down the coast. Most only stay long enough to take the 20 minute Dolomite Walkway through native bush to the Punakaiki Rocks.  Many don’t realize that timing is everything when visiting the rocks. It’s impressive ‘blowhole’ show - when the sea water surges into the numerous caverns and then spouts up to 30 feet in the air -  only happens during high tide.

But even with my best laid plans, I missed the blowhole display. I arrived in Punakaiki mid afternoon, checked into the Punakaiki Rocks Resort, and headed to the Rocks. About 10 minutes early, I  planned on walking in and enjoying the scenery until the show began. But nature had a different idea. Suddenly, it was all rain and wind and by the time I reached the first lookout, I was drenched.

So I hightailed it back to the road and took refugee in an expresso at the Wild Coast Cafe , waiting for the rain to stop. But this is the coast and when it rains, it rains. It often doesn’t stop. I decided to save the Punakaiki Rocks for another day.

Video of the Punakaiki Rocks and Blowholes.

A New Zealand Road Trip continues…

Next stop Glacier Country. It’s only a few hours south of Hokitika and the only way to get there by car is via State Highway 6. Named ‘one of the top coastal drives in the world’ by Lonely Planet, this highway is sandwiched between the often fierce Tasman Sea on one side and the formidable Southern Alps on the other. Driving this highway lets you experience the extreme diversity of New Zealand’s landscape, from stunning ocean views to hidden pre historic looking rainforests. The only thing missing in the dinosaurs.

It is deep in this rainforest that you will find first the Franz Josef and then the Fox glaciers. There are actually hundreds of glaciers here, but these two glaciers are New Zealand’s most famous and most accessible ones. You can easily get up close and personal with these glaciers by taking a guided hike or ice climb. Or you could aim for a bird’s eye view through by helicopter or airplane. There are plenty of options available. The towns of Franz Josef and Fox exist to provide these options and more.

And now there is one more option - the Hukawai Center. Catering primarily for those rainy days (and there are a lot of them in Glacier Country) when visibility is non existant, the Hukawai Center offers a new way to explore the glaciers. It’s Interactive Walkthrough uses audio-visuals, amazing 3D creatives, leading edge animation technology and local knowledge to create a stimulation of the Franz Josef Glacier, complete with ice caves and crevasses.

It also offers a 10 meter indoor ice climbing wall. And that’s where I headed soon after I arrived in Franz Josef. I’m not a climber. I don’t even like heights. But something about the idea of ice climbing appealed to me and I wanted to give it a go in comfortable and safe surroundings.

So I suited up, loaded up with equipment, and got tied up with rope. I was good to go. And under the amazing patience of my instructor, I managed to slowly make my way up the ice wall. Very slowly. Not very far. In fact, only a couple of steps up and I was ready to get back down. But my instructor persisted and somehow I made it up another step and then another.

I never reached the top. But that’s okay. Just trying was enough.

(Disclaimer: That’s me on the left. I only wish I could have been as agile as the climber on the right)

A big hello from New Zealand to all the Perceptive Travel readers.

As an introduction to my world, I’d like to take you all on a road trip…to the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island.

Last week I decided to run away from home for a few days. I was tired and grumpy - a sure sign that it was time to get away from the computer and spend some time in the great outdoors and recharge the batteries. And where better to do this than the West Coast.

After all, it’s only a three hour drive from my hometown of Christchurch if you go via Arthur’s Pass (an alternative route, via the Lewis Pass, will take you a few extra hours).

Leave at sunrise and you can be on the Coast mid morning, just in time for a late breakfast at the popular Cafe de Paris in Hokitika. Located on the corner of Tancred Street, this cafe has been serving up ‘French food with a Kiwi accent’ for the past 20 years. But before you place your order, go across the street to the Information Center (housed in the historic Carnegie Building) and pick up some brochures and maps to study while you eat.

Don’t let the towns quiet demeanour fool you. It might seem like a sleepy little town but there’s more to Hokitika than meets the eye. It has a wild side that shines through every March when the Wild Food Festival comes to town and challenges those with cast iron stomachs to participate in the ultimate taste test. We are not talking about the traditional Sunday roast here. We are talking weird, whacky, and downright strange dishes. Dishes like ‘crouching grasshoppers’, ‘worm terrine’ and ‘bull semen shooters’.

I was too late for this years Wild Food Festival but that was okay. I had another challenge in mind. I wanted to do some jade carving and create my own taonga (treasure).

It would, of course, been much easier to slip into one of the many jade studios lining the streets of Hokitika and purchase a jade pendant. But anyone could do that. I wanted to do something different.

So I headed for the Bonz ‘n’ Stonz Studio and Workshop a couple of doors down from the Cafe de Paris. Run by Steve Gwaliasi, this carving workshop is truly a hands-on experience. From tracing the design onto the jade to the final polish and buff, the work is all your own. It’s messy work - the jade is held under running water while you grind away the sides and carve out the design. Along the way, I was splattered, dusted, and attacked by rotating sandpaper but luckily no fingers or blood loss occurred.

The gentle guidance, instruction, and direction by Steve (and his apprentice) make it safe and easy - so much so that the final product looks and feels as good as anything I could have bought in the studio shop. Granted, there are some imperfections, but they are my imperfections and they make my jade pendant a real treasure.

So where, you might ask, is this magnificant creation? Why haven’t you added a before and after photo?

All I can say is ‘technical difficulties’. I’m having trouble getting the images transferred from camera to computer…but as soon as I get it sorted I will be showing off my handwork.

Tomorrow: The Journey Continues - From Jade Carving to Ice Climbing.

Some of the glossy mags’ more interesting stories (and some of the less interesting):

The Atlantic Monthly (May): Clive Crook has a piece about the inhospitable but eerily beautiful Skeleton Coast of Namibia. It’s unfortunate that the essay itself feels a little passive and bland, speckled with words like “breathtaking” and “awe-inspiring,” but when Crook sticks to the details, the geography of the sand dunes themselves succeed in making me want to see it for myself.

Conde Nast Traveler (May, US Edition): This month’s issues has depressing, “see-it-before-it’s-gone” coverage of 20 of the world’s most alluring places at risk due to over-development, deforestation, oil drilling, and other issues — including Baku, Borneo, and the Everglades. To balance it out is a report on the impact for good that some hotels around the world are making on social issues — a long overdue look at the not-so-small impact of tourism on communities and the planet.

Lawrence Osborne travels The Decan Odyssey, one of India’s old-world glamour trains, from Mumbai to Boa. And there’s a pretty bizarre fashion photo spread shot on location in the pristine, undeveloped parts of Brazil 100 miles (160km) southwest of Rio.

Budget Travel (May): The best section in this advertisement-heavy issue is a very funky photo essay by Sara Hart on the bridges that the wild and innovative edges of architecture has brought us this century. It’s worth looking at just for the photos.

Tiffany Sharples’s Rocky Mountain cycling trip unfortunately fails to get beyond her admitted New Englander’s “romanticized view of the Rockies,” but the tour itself is a nice itinerary. And Erik Torkells is surprised to find that Bermuda’s beaches are actually pretty nice, once he gave them a fair chance.

Town & Country Travel (Summer): Dorothy Kalins seeks out the best of Basque’s revolution in local cuisine. A piece about Sydney’s Byron Bay (how overwritten that place is!) escapes cliche only because the author admits in the first line, “I’m not the first person to wax poetical about Byron Bay.”

Kate Sekules has a very good piece about the effect of “a new generation homesick for a mythical former life” is having on her beloved Norfolk. And there’s a compilation section that creates a sweet, nostalgic look at San Francisco. I wish I could say it gives the insider’s view the article promised, but the piece’s strength is unfortunately in the nostalgia and memoir aspects rather than the — hem — perceptive travel.