You know how you really look forward to a trip? That’s how I felt about going to New Zealand. Never mind, it’s halfway around the world–17 hours ahead of Chicago–and about 13 hours by air from Los Angeles.
Best use ever of my frequent-flier miles (I flew First Class), and kudos to Air New Zealand for excellent service.
No surprise that I was looking forward to the country’s magnificent scenery like Milford Sound–and wacky bungee jumpers. But the trip got hatched because of New Zealand’s excellent wines–been drinking them for years. One night over a bottle, my good pal (and the Tribune’s food editor) Carol Haddix and I said, “Life’s too short.” Or something like that. “Let’s go.”
In two weeks of driving on the “wrong side” (no accidents!), we visited the wine regions of Hawke’s Bay and Martinborough on the North Island, and Marlborough and Central Otago on the South.
We came back even bigger fans and, along the way in city and country, discovered that Kiwi chefs turn out pretty tasty food (Pacific Rim dominates). And the people are gracious, funny and engaging.
Earlier in the year, there were trips to the Caribbean island of St. Martin for the Travel section’s beach series; a travel editor’s meeting in April to Vancouver; a summer trip to London; and a multi-sport trip back to British Columbia.
St. Martin
Yes, there’s a Dutch side to the island: St. Maarten. But for the best beaches, dining, hotels and shopping, French St. Martin wins my vote.
Best place to stay for high rollers: La Samanna. Perennial winner of travel magazine awards. Nicely appointed rooms, and a fine dining restaurant with one of the most romantic settings in the islands.
Best place to stay on a budget: Just about any place with a kitchen to make breakfast and lunch (or a picnic), so you can splurge on dinner at the island’s many excellent restaurants. (Yes, dining out can be pricey; you’re in the land of the euro.)
Best beach for people-watching: Orient, home to parasailing, windsurfing, massages, restaurants and nude sunbathing.
Best food: In Grand Case: Le Pressoir, Le Tastevin, Sunset Cafe and “lolos” (barbecue shacks). On Orient beach: Chez Leandra. In Marigot: Tropicana, O Plongeoir.
Vancouver
Host to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and home to one of the world’s most scenic waterfronts (look out, Sydney, Hong Kong, Chicago!).
Best centrally located hotels: Sutton Place and Fairmont (with a resident dog available for walks).
Best place to spend some time: Granville Island. Lively market, restaurants, galleries, theaters and a good view of downtown.
Runners-up for a morning, afternoon or evening: Stanley Park, for walking and visiting the totem pole collection and aquarium; Yaletown and Gastown, for galleries, shops, restaurants, hotels; Robson Street, for more shopping; and Chinatown (need I say more?). Gastown is also home to Storyeum, a new entertainment attraction that tells Vancouver’s history in a high-tech way.
Best restaurants (in a town with many): Bishop’s (Continental), Blue Water Cafe (seafood), Feenie’s (bistro), Cin Cin (Italian), Lumiere (French), West (regional) and Vij’s (Indian). And try the Okanagan Valley wines.
London
Home base was a rental house in Chelsea that my husband, Scott, and I shared with Harvey and Susan, friends and fellow anglophiles. It was during Wimbledon, and Harvey’s grandson, Max, a junior tennis player, joined us. Despite rain, they went twice, but the rest of us wimped out and headed elsewhere.
Other observations on a favorite city:
Best places to hang out, whatever the weather: The National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain and Tate Modern (a catamaran shuttles between both), and the British Museum (Elgin Marbles, Reading Room).
Best places to find celebrities: Buildings with “blue plaques,” marking where famous people like Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickens and Jimi Hendrix lived or worked.
Best market: Borough Market (Southwark area, and near Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and Tate Modern). London’s oldest fruit and vegetable market also has vendors selling game, meats, cheese, sweets, flowers, etc. Great people-watching, and tops for grabbing a snack. Open Friday and Saturday.
Best place to realize your inner floral designer: Jane Packer Flower School on New Cavendish Street.
Victoria/Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Best ways to reach the island: Seaplane from Seattle or Vancouver; ferry from Vancouver; or catamaran from Seattle.
Best three things to do in Victoria: Whalewatching (April through October), ogling the flowers at Butchart Gardens (year-round, except Christmas Day) and admiring the provincial Victorian parliament buildings (lit up at night) along the waterfront. And, if you must, have afternoon tea at the Fairmont Empress; touristy, but so what?
Best hotel near Victoria: Sooke Harbour House, less than an hour away and one of Canada’s best for lodging and food.
Best restaurant near Sooke: Point-No-Point, a rustic roadhouse perched on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Olympic Mountains. Excellent food–and binoculars at each table (to spot whales, eagles).
Best reason to leave Vancouver Island: Salt Spring Island, one of the Southern Gulf Islands, and from mid-April to mid-October, home to the very colorful Village Market in the main town of Ganges. Art, crafts, food, flowers.
Best luxury (and pricey) place to stay on Salt Spring: Hastings House, a member of the Relais & Chateaux group that will transport you to the English countryside. Raves for the food and accommodations–and the setting.
Best ways to see Vancouver Island and environs: A multi-sport trip combining biking, whalewatching, hiking. (More details in a future story.)
New Zealand
Best way to get from the North Island to the South Island: Interislander ferries (3 hours) or the Lynx catamaran (2 1/4 hours). If the Cook Strait crossing is rough, you’ll forget upon entering the stunning Marlborough Sounds en route to Picton.
Best way to see Auckland: The Link bus. Buy a day pass and hop off wherever you want.
Best Auckland hotel with a view: The Hilton on Princess Wharf. Its restaurant–White–is one of the city’s best.
Coolest place in Auckland: Minus5–that’s the temperature in Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit) in this bar where everything’s made of ice, even the glasses (one drink with admission). You’re given heavy coats, hats and gloves to wear, and there’s a 30-minute time limit. It’s a hoot.
(There’s another Minus5 in Queenstown.)
Best Auckland suburbs for eats and shops: Parnell, with Ponsonby a close second.
Best cluster of restaurants and bars in Auckland: Near the waterfront at Viaduct Harbour. Good people-watching. Soul’s Mediterranean menu is an award winner.
Windiest city: Wellington. And Chicagoans think our town is a blast.
Best things to buy: Hey, it’s the land of all things sheep, so check sweaters, coats, gloves. (Possum fur–that’s right, possum fur–may figure in the item.) Also, Maori arts and crafts, and jewelry made of paua shells or greenstone (also called jade and known as pounamu in New Zealand).
Best place to soak in thermal waters and observe pools of bubbling mud: Rotorua.
Best place to capture the Maori experience: Again, Rotorua, and lots of other places, especially on the North Island. Various museums pay tribute to the country’s native people. Excellent exhibits at Wellington’s Te Papa Museum, and at the Auckland Museum, where a friendly group gives daily performances explaining Maori traditions with music.
Best-known sports team: The All Blacks rugby team. New Zealanders are bonkers for them. They’re an industry, and chances are you’ll buy something (hat, rugby shirt, etc.) with an All Blacks logo. (I’m wearing my All Blacks hat on our cover.)
Best cellar door: Can’t go wrong at any, and some have charming “guardians” like Penny, the border collie at Felton Road winery in Central Otago.
One of the South Island’s most charming towns: Arrowtown, less than an hour from Queenstown, and full of Gold Rush history as well as shops, restaurants (tops are Saffron and Postmaster’s House) and a “Lord of the Rings” film site–one of many in the area.
Adventure capital of New Zealand: Queenstown, South Island. Bungee jumping was invented here, and it’s a departure point for many trips (planes, helicopters, buses) to Milford Sound and Dart River jetboat rides.
Best view of Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountains: From the Skyline Restaurant high above town and reachable by high-speed gondola.
Best restaurants in Queens-stown: The Bunker on Cow Lane, and the House Bar in Eichardt’s Hotel and the Bathouse, both on the Marine Parade.
Cheers, and here’s to happy trails in 2005.
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Carolyn McGuire would love to hear from readers about their best “finds” (hotels, restaurants, etc.) and adventures in any of the places she visited last year. E-mail: cmcguire@tribune.com
