The Road to Yellowstone

From Hudson we by-passed St. Paul and Minneapolis and headed for Fargo on the I94, stopping in St.Cloud to try to find a quilt shop we had visited 5 years before....and we did! We also had a scarey moment on the road when we thought we were being chased by a giant chicken (pic stolen from the "Gold 'n Plump" web site). Imagine that sight suddenly turning up in your rear vision mirror!

I had all sorts of expectations for Fargo, mainly due to the movie of the same name. But it turned out to be a fairly typical large mid western city, much industrialised and commercialised. It did redeem itself a little, the following morning, when we sought out the historic area and found the old part of town with its large Victorian houses and tree lined streets. But by far the most impressing structure was the water tower.

Then it was on half way across North Dakota, via Jamestown for lunch, to its capital Bismarck which lies on the mighty Missouri River. Here we caught up with Aleycia, Jim and new baby Miles. I liked Bismarck. Nice shady tree lined streets, some architecturally interesting older houses and an impressive capitol area.

Here they commemorated the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery which over wintered a few miles north at Fort Mandan for 146 days in 1804/05. It was during this time they met Sakakawea the pregnant native American wife of their French guide who turned out to the heroine and possible saviour of the expedition.

We enjoyed a visit to the street fair and market which took up quite a number of blocks of downtown and did not leave there without contributing to their economy.

Next day we were again on the road early (still the I94) with Billings, MT our target. This was a very long drive across some of the most featureless landscape I have ever seen. But from signs on the road the day before we knew we were in for a treat. Just a few hours into our journey lay the town of Medora, "North Dakota's Number 1 Tourist Destination"

It was closed for the winter......in September!

http://www.medora.com/

We made a brief stop at the overlook of the North Dakota badlands at Theodore Roosevelt NP but freezing cold temperatures and driving rain encouraged us to go on.

We met up with the Yellowstone River for the first time at Glendive where we had lunch. It's just a little way from there that the river flows into the Missouri so we were still well and truly on the Lewis and Clark Trail. After 10 hours on the road we arrived in Billings and met up with Karyl and Joe and enjoyed a pleasant evening catching up.

Next morning it was on via Red Lodge to the Beartooth Pass. Red Lodge was a good place to stretch the legs and top up the caffiene level in preparation for the road ahead. The Montana Candy Emporium in the town must be the biggest lolly shop I have ever been in. We resisted the urge to buy tempting as it was too see all that genuine old fashioned stuff, not the repulsive Chinese copies so readily available these days.

The Beartooth Highway is an "All American Road" that runs between Red Lodge and Cooke City. It has a series of steep zigzags and switch backs to the Beartooth Pass on the Montana/Wyoming border and reaches a height of 3345m (10,974ft). The road rises 800m in 20km. Due to heavy snowfall at the top, the pass is usually open each year only from late May through to early September. In fact it was closed a few days before we made the trip due to a snow storm. At this high altitude, snowstorms can occur even in the middle of the summer and the pass is also known for strong winds and severe thunderstorms.

We had been a little intimidated by the road's reputation but after checking with the ranger station that morning we decided to bite the bullet. And we are glad we did. This is probably one of the most spectacular roads in the world. It was a perfect day with a high blue sky, sunshine and no wind. The views were spectacular and out little car handled the climb well. Campers, RV's, motor cyclists and even push bikes were doing the climb. Some places were definitely of the "dont look down" variety, especially where there was no safety rail but once above the tree line and heading across the alpine meadow towards the western summit it was plain sailing. Plenty of snow at the top to play in too (for those not used to it) and the view across the Rockies was breathtaking. Also breathtaking was the lack of oxygen at that altitude. I could only manage to throw three snowballs at the photographer.

Needless to say as much care had to be taken going down as coming up so it was good to reach Cooke City for lunch. Americans seem to be very liberal with the word "city" when naming their towns. This one had one main street with a thin sliver of potholed tarmac, a gas station, a few bars, restaurants, cafes and tourist shops plus a couple of motels. Population 140.

From there it was an easy drive into Yellowstone through the north east entrance and onto Gardiner at the north gate where we had booked our accommodation.

One of the most memorable days of the trip.

USA 2008 / The First Week

The United Airlines flight to LAX from Sydney was almost full and we had the obligatory crying baby to put up with. The food was pretty ordinary and they even wanted to charge $6 for a beer! The movies were also a mixed lot. Not the best of flights. It was a long 14 hours.

Arrival procedures went without incident with an unusually nice lady INS officer processing my visa waiver. But as usual, LAX was a zoo and we couldn't wait to get out of there. Luckily we were able to get an early flight to Denver and wait there for our flight to Sioux Falls. The Democratic Party Convention had just finished so after a nice lunch (and a large Ben&Jerrys), we were able to people watch as delelgates moved through the airport on their way home. Funny hats and banners were the order of the day.
After a final short leg, family met us at Joe Foss Field, Sioux Falls and we were soon hitting the hay.

29 hours from door to door...a very long day!

Next morning we headed up to Flandreau for doughnuts (my favourite bakery in Dell Rapids is closed!) and then onto Brookings for a Farmers Market where good fresh veg was on sale. That night we went bowling (better known in this part of the world as "get the foreigner drunk") in Dells and had a fun evening. Scott ran defense for me most of the night so I didn't get involved in too big a big shout (round).

We had a nice family gathering on the first Sunday with lots of good food and despite severe jetlag managed to be almost coherant for most of the afternoon. Scott has installed a professional volley ball court in his backyard. While some played their hearts out in the heat and humidity, others watch with their feet up on the veranda with a glass of the cold stuff....a much more sensible option.

On the Labour Day Monday, we travelled up to Mitchell to Cabelas for some bargain clothing. Unfortunately most of their summer stuff had gone but I managed to get a few nice shirts on special. It was also an opportunity to reunite myself with Culver's butter burgers which is conveniently right next door.

We picked up our little red Nissan Versa hire car and started doing the rounds. It was good to catch up with everyone, do a bit of summer sales shopping and reacquaint myself with Perkins (pancakes!), Caribou (great cappos and blueberry muffins), Applebees (brewtus burgers) and off course Walmart!

Also had time for a short visit to the local casino to play some slots. Was a fun 3 hours and I broke even! Yes, I really did. Well except for the $4.95 it cost for my secret date's lunch.

Then it was time for the road trip.

Despite some protestations from my co driver we decided to cut across country on minor roads to Minneapolis instead of using the interstate highway system. This turned out to be a good decision. Despite the slower pace we passed through some pretty parts of Minnesota and lots of small country towns. This is the real America and it is a pity to pass it by at 75mph.

We noticed signs along the road that said "lots for sale". They didn't say what they had lots of to sell, but it was nice of them to let us know anyway.

We spent a few nights in Hudson, WI and had a great meal once more at a Carribean restaurant there, the San Pedro Cafe. Had two entrees (appetizers), fresh Ahi Tuna marinated in key lime juice with red pepper, mango, pineapple, papaya and red onion and tropical crab cakes made from blue crab folded with peppers, onions, spices and bread crumbs and finished with coconut cream and tropical salsa .........and a bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
But the best meal was the traditional mucho nachos at Cindy and Steve's washed down with a few cans of Coors. And I learnt a lot more about American football thanks to Steve's tuition during a televised Green Bay Packers/Minnesota Vikings match.

Thanks for a very special evening, Steve.

Then after a bit of a female shopping spree at Woodbury Lakes, it was time to head west!

August Wrap-up

August is a fairly quiet month around the farm. Most of the pruning has been done and the winter spraying of weeds and pests, mainly vine scale, completed in the vineyards. Repairs to netting have been made, trellis wires tightened and stays reset if necessary. All is about ready for budburst in spring .

This winter has been particularly cold (for us) and windy with a couple of frosts already. We have also had plenty of rain.

The wind brought down a few trees over the boundary fences so this was a good opportunity to not only repair this damage but upgrade much of the fencing in general.

Working with four strands of high tensile barbed wire is always fun. It gets you when you least expect it. After a week you look like you have been in a war zone.

Winter frosts kill of most of the native pasture and the cows tend to put pressure on the fencing looking for "greener grass" next door. The improved fences plus back up electric fences in critical areas will hopefully keep them home.

Our Semillon is still in the tank. We had hoped to bottle by now but professional tests showed that while the free SO2 is on the mark, pH is a little low and TA high. This is a result of our early picking. Nothing much we can do about that with the limited technical facilities at this "Vin de Garage" establishment. Deacidification would be a bit of a nightmare to control well so we just have to hope that more tartrate will "fall out" of solution during the few more colder months we have left.

The Cabernet Sauvignon is still maturing in the tank with the oak staves still in place. I will give that a few more weeks. Free SO2, TA and pH are fine with this wine. The Pinot Noir is in the bottle. Unfortunately the rose' seems to have "gone to God". Am endeavoring to save it but such small batches are always in danger of being the victim of oxidation.

Plans for our trip to the USA are almost complete.

Flying from Sydney to Sioux Falls, SD via LAX and Denver with no stopovers will be a bit tiring (23 hours all up) but we have done it a few times before and in my opinion it is better to get it over and done with.

So hopefully the next post will come from the American mid west.

Pruning Tools

Pruning is the biggest job in a vineyard in winter.

It is long monotonous process that does require skill, attention to detail and strong hands.

While many large vineyards today are mechanically pruned, many are still done by hand.

The main prerequisite is a good set of pruning shears.

I have used the Swiss Felco brand for many years.

Considered to be among the best pruning shears in the world, the Felco company began in 1945 when Félix Flisch designed his first forged aluminium pruning shear and manufactured a high-quality and exceptionally durable tool.

Today this business employs 150 people in its modern factory in Swizerland, has four subsidiaries in France, Belgium, Australia and Germany and exports over 90% of its products to over 100 countries.

Their shears are strong, cut well and are easy to maintain.

My original Felco pruner was the F2. They are the most recommended bypass pruners in the world with solid-forged metal alloy handles, Swiss precision-made hardened, replaceable cutting blade, replaceable anvil blade with a sap groove.
A hardened steel center bolt and nut ensure exact adjustment of both the cutting and anvil blades. A rubber cushion and shock absorber provide smooth working and soft closing.

But I found that on larger cuts ie. thicker canes, especially when cane pruning, my hands soon became sore after a few weeks.

The answer was the Felco F7 which is an ergonomic bypass Felco professional pruner.

It has a rotating handle that revolves on its axis, allowing the fingers to move naturally, reducing hand fatigue and the inevitable blisters that so often accompany prolonged pruning work.
The unique swivel action requires up to thirty percent less effort than conventional models and offers maximum comfort on continuous pruning. The swiveling handle feels a little strange at first, but I quickly wondered how I ever lived without it.
Both cutting and anvil blades are not riveted, so they are easy to replace. The narrow, pointed blade design allows for close pruning.

These tools are available in both left and right handed versions.

The next step up is of course the battery operated pruner.

Nice to think about but at around $3000, not something for a really small vineyard like ours.

Pneumatic pruners similar to the these are also available.

The Cook Islands - Aitutaki

Aitutaki is 220km north of Rarotonga. It consists of the main island and a chain of low islands (motus) and atolls forming a hook shape that nestle into a triangular lagoon 12km across the base and 15km long. Fifteen of the motus are permanent enough to have names.

Captain Bligh was the first European to discover the island on his way to Tahiti on the "Bounty" in 1789. In fact the famous mutiny occurred 17 days later.
There is some aviation history to the place as well. The lagoon used to be a refuelling stop for the TEAL (now Air New Zealand) Solent flying boats during the 1950’s when they flew the Coral Route around the Pacific.

We flew there with Air Rarotonga. This is like flying used to be. No ID checks, no security inspection with a friendly staff member wandering over 5 minutes from departure time to waiting passengers to tell us " you can board now if you like".

Their turbo prop Saab 340’s are very comfortable and the flight took only 40 minutes.
Arrival over the lagoon with its turquoise colours and shining white sandy beaches and atolls is stunning!!!!!!!!

We were staying at Etu Moana and a representative was at the airport, one of the smallest I have been to, to pick us up.

We were presented with a huge neck ei (lei) of tropical flowers. which smelt terrific and driven to the resort to check in. Here we were given a fresh cold coconut with a straw to drink the milk.
I was already thinking……this is my sort of place!
I had read great things about this boutique resort on the tripadvisor.com web site and had to make a booking 10 months in advance it’s so popular. There are only 8 villas.

It had a great reputation to live up to but did it with flying colours. The room facilities were all you could ever ask for, the grounds were an immaculately kept lush tropical garden, the pool big enough for a decent swim and the staff bent over backwards to make their guests’ (mostly honeymooners) holidays perfect. And best of all, our villa was on the beachfront 15m from the lagoon at low tide and 10m at high.

The day always started with a nice breakfast around the pool with most people then heading out for daily activities. We chose to relax on the beach under a shady tree for a few days, swim in the lagoon, do a bit of snorkelling around the coral heads, find lunch a short wander up the beach and chill out on our balcony with a cold bottle of something from the honesty bar (much cheaper than a mini bar!) and watch the sunset. Then it was off to dinner.
Life was certainly tough!

The weather was pleasantly warm, 26° -28° C, with reasonable humidity. We had one afternoon of strong wind and one morning of rain which cleared to a stunning day. We did not turn on an air conditioning unit the whole of our stay. The locals were complaining about the cold mornings (18° C) and were wearing jackets more suitable for the Alps!

The highlight of our visit had to be the lagoon cruise on the yellow boat with Captain Puna and his charming daughter. His amusing banter and great local knowledge just added to the itinerary.

We opted out of the snorkelling phase of the trip in favour of being dropped off on Honeymoon Island where we spent over an hour alone either sitting under a palm tree contemplating the fuzz in our navels or swimming in crystal clear water.

All you could hear was the surf on the reef and the cry on the nesting red tail tropical terns which frequent the island in great numbers. Quite a number waddled up to visit with us while we sat there.

The boat came back to pick us up just at the same time as a tinnie arrived with a snack of fruit juice, all sorts of tropical fruit and yes (I couldn't believe my eyes), doughnuts! Captain Puna knew how to look after his passengers.

Then we headed across the lagoon to visit "Survivor Island" and eventually ate a late BBQ lunch of fish, sausages and all sorts of salads on One Foot Island. Before motoring back we had a chance for another swim.

Here K was introduced to some more new food. Taro which is a starchy root vegetable and a staple in the Islands (uuummmm…I don’t think so) and breadfruit which had been made into something like a potato salad (yum!)
It was a MAGIC day!
Now I am NOT a "Survivor" or "Shipwrecked" fan and can honestly say I have never watched an episode of either one. But for all you "Survivor" tragics out there, here is some goss!
We know all of this is true because Captain Puna’s father owns about a third of Survivor Island.
"Survivor" has been made once there, "Shipwrecked" four times.
"Survivor" took over the whole place for three months paying out all accommodations that their crew didn’t take up as compensation for loss of tourist revenue.

They used seven lagoon islands for the program. There were eight cameramen; 4 Mexican, 2 Aussies and 2 Brits. They leased an Australian helicopter that had been stationed on the Great Barrier Reef for the duration of the show. They employed almost all the islanders in some way or other eg. catering, transport etc. They taught the islanders all sorts of new skills as the production team consisted of many trades eg. builders, plumbers, electricians etc.
The crew ate, played and socialised with the locals for the duration. They helped with building projects on the main island eg. schools.

Every child on the island got to sit in a helicopter. Some islanders had the chance for the first time to see their home from the air. They set up a huge outdoor screen so the crew and the population could watch the soccer world cup via a satellite link (there is no TV on the island).
The producer, Mark Burnett, brought the children of his three marriages to the island for a holiday all at the one time.
The islands were returned to their original condition after the show wrapped up, no environmental damage at all.
There is talk they are coming back next year.
The general consensus is the people of Aitutaki will welcome them with open arms.

We hired a car, an ultra mini convertible, for a day and, after getting my Cook Islands driver’s licence at the local police station ($2.50 for a year), covered just about every road on the island (some twice!) all the time dodging huge land crabs as they scuttled across in front of us. We opted to drive up to the Piraki Lookout rather than the climb up to the highest point, Maungapu, and the view over the lagoon from there was just fine.

The "interior" is very interesting with all sorts of plantations, dense jungle and friendly people who were somewhat surprised to have unexpected visitors when we made wrong turns into their driveways. Well, those and some of the back roads were hard to differentiate.
There is just one tourist shop, a market, the game fishing club and a few food places to visit in Aruntanga, the very small township, and the oldest CICC church in the Cooks is also an interesting coral limestone building.

We saw some other interesting sights on our travels reflecting the layback attitude of the locals. Many times we saw motorbike riders with the arms hooked around the window pillar of a car getting a free ride and having a chat. One guy was even sitting on his bike on the back of a pick up. Well, petrol is $7 a gallon and the island does sometimes run out. And there were lots of tiny children perched precariously on the back of bikes driven by their mothers. The government had tried to introduce safety helmet laws but there was such protest that these were partially withdrawn. You can only get fined now if you drive a bike helmetless over 20km/hr. And on Aitutaki that just ain’t gonna happen.
Total distance covered for the day was 65km.
Most tourists hire motor scooters to get around. We had been warned it was dangerous if you were not an experienced rider. We saw confirmation of this when a severely jet lagged young mid west honeymoon couple staying at Etu Moana came to grief in the first hour of their stay. Split heads, terrible cuts and grazing and daily visits to hospital is not a great way to begin life together.

If there was a downside to our visit, it was eating out. Some of the 11 restaurants on the island were pretty ordinary. These included a couple of well-known resorts. It’s not culinary rocket science to simply grill a piece of fish, chicken or meat to the correct tenderness and deliver it to the table hot.
It was our experience that this sometimes just didn’t happen.
Maybe the Aitutaki Tourist Board could invite Gordon Ramsay over for a week of kitchen butt kicking to improve things.
But there is a light at the end of any tunnel. The Boat Shed produced acceptable meals and then there was Café Tupuna. This restaurant, despite its restricted menu, could hold its own in any capital city in the world. And it showed what could be done with the limited raw material available on the island. The fish and chicken were sensational and the chilli mud crab looked great too. No warm white wine, over cooked fish or a salad of limp lettuce, grated carrot and canned pineapple here!
We returned a few nights later for more of the same.

We should also add that Kuku’s for a lunch of a hamburger with the lot, breadfruit chips and a fresh fruit slushy was terrific too. Bring your appetite with you if you visit this place! And grab a table under the huge breadfruit tree.
Also one evening a villa neighbour who had been out game fishing brought us slices of tuna he had just caught together with some soy and wasabi. Two hour old sashimi is one great taste sensation!
One thing I should also mention was a 2 hour afternoon activity organised by Etu Moana with a practical talk about the "tree of life", the coconut palm, by a very knowledgeable local. He showed us how to climb a palm to collect the fruit, how to dehusk it with a sharp stick, how to crack open the nut perfectly in half without spilling much of the liquid contents, and how to use all the edible and drinkable parts not only of the nut in its various stages of development but the palm itself. So now if we are ever stranded on a desert island we could survive…..maybe. It was a bit disconcerting but the guy also showed us how he could dehusk a coconut with his teeth!!!
One of the local staff members gave the ladies and some of the men a head ei making lesson.
By this time my camera battery had died (this is a long story related to oldheimers!) so no pics of K’s creation, folks!

Many visitors had commented on TA about the wildlife that frequented the island and its waters. Number one complaint was the mozzies. They were not as bad as made out. Well, not in comparison to living in rural Australia that is. Sure they attacked at dusk or in dark moist places (like anywhere) but nothing unusual for us. We had taken a selection of repellents collected from all over, including Minnesota, for a bit of an experiment. The winner (as expected) was good old Aussie Aerogard tropical strength! With this applied and a coil burning under our table we could watch the sunset from our balcony with a cold bottle of NZ Sauv Blanc completely bite free. And we never had any problems at any of the restaurants either.

Number two complaint was the sea cucumbers in the lagoon. They had about the same population density as in any other shallow lagoon I have visited in the Pacific. Definitely not wall to wall or in plague proportions. Can’t understand the "eeeewww" factor. They are not slimy, they are hard and leathery. And when walking in the lagoon you have your reef shoes on anyway so treading on them wasn’t a problem. I guess their defence mechanism of shooting a sticky mass of goo out of their, ummm, bottoms, can put people off. Despite all this, they are a source of food for islanders of the Pacific.

Number three was the geckos. Like in any tropical environment, they are there keeping the biting insect population down and clicking about it to let you know. I have never heard during 4 decades of travel in the Asia/Pacific region of one falling onto a sleeping person and eating their face off.
Number four were the Chooks. Yes, there are lots of them and yes, the roosters (nature’s alarm clocks) do tend to go off early and the hens do squabble a lot. But, again, for rural Australians not a problem. We particularly liked one fine fellow who all gold and dark blue with a strut full of attitude. He obviously had a small health problem. Between his "cockadoodle" and "doooo" he sometimes had a rasping smoker’s cough fit. Very amusing for us but maybe not for the predominantly honeymoon population of the resort at 4am.
Number five were cats. There are lots of them. They are companions at most restaurants you visit, some more aggressively begging than others. A good "shoooo" (although a shoe or maybe a boot would have been better) got rid of them.

The major controversy on the island was the introduction of Sunday flights. Two were planned for the day after we left. Extra police and security staff were flown in the days before to control the expected protests from members of the church. Apparently there was an orderly protest at the airport but thankfully no violence or damage to airport property. No one I spoke to was in favour of Sunday flights so I guess commercial interests had held sway. But it’s a pity to see another tradition of island life slowly being eroded.
All too soon our holiday was almost over and we were back at Aitutaki Airport. With a last look at the lagoon after we took off, we headed south towards Rarotonga.
Once again at Moana Sands (see Cook Islands-Rarotonga entry) we prepared for another quiet Sunday, another BBQ at the Pawpaw Patch and a 4am wake up call on Monday to get us to the airport for our 7am departure. We spent some of the morning outside a church listening to the congregation singing hymns in their lilting multi harmony Polynesian way (my going inside may have caused some serious roof structure damage) and then spent the rest of the day in the sun. During dinner that night we were told that the flight back home had been delayed by 12 hours due to aircrew sickness in LAX. That gave us a bonus day in Rarotonga so next morning we took the local bus into Avarua where we spent most of the day window shopping, drinking cappos and enjoying lunch at Trader Jack’s which sits out on the lagoon.

Our flight out eventually left at 6pm and by the time we got to Auckland, we had missed the last connecting flight to Sydney. But Air NZ was well organised with a bus ready to take us for an overnighter at an airport hotel soon after landing. Dinner, breakfast and return shuttles to the airport the next morning for our rebooked flights were also organised. Can’t ask for more than that.
We were soon back in Sydney, picking up our car and heading home.
I have been searching for my very own Pacific Paradise for 45 years now since landing in Tonga off a P&O cruise way back in the 1960’s. Was this the place? Probably not. I really believe now my fantasy island only exists in books and in Hollywood movies.
But one thing is for sure, Aitutaki will be the closest I ever get to finding it.
Kia Orana!

The Cook Islands - Rarotonga

It was a cold winter's morning in Sydney when we headed to the airport for our 3 hour flight across the Tasman to Auckland. Then, after a one hour wait in transit, it was another four and half hours to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. We arrived to balmy 26C at 10:30pm on the night before we left! Sometimes the international dateline thing can be very confusing. Immigration and customs formalities were quickly and smilingly dealt with at the small international airport and we were soon on our shuttle and heading for our hotel.

The 15 islands of the Cooks fall into two distinct groups scattered over two million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean, roughly half way between Fiji and Tahiti.

Rarotonga is the capital and lies in the southern group as did our ultimate destination, Aitutaki.

Total population of the group is around 13,000 and declining. Some islands only have a very small number of inhabitants. I noticed in the phone book that Palmerston Island, population 60, only had two phones, both public. Tourism is the main industry with 80,000 visitors annually.

The country is uniquely Polynesian with an independant government in free association with New Zealand. This means that all Cook Islanders carry New Zealand passports and that country takes responsibilities of foreign affairs and defence.

Maori is the official langauge but English is commonly used.

The southern group consists of the volcanic Rarotonga and a number of raised reef, atoll and sand-cay islands. Rarotonga is about 32 km around and is fringed by an amazing lagoon which is protected from the huge Pacific swell by a coral reef. Within the lagoon are small unihabited islands called motus.

The island interior is very rugged with thick jungle and craggy volcanic mountains. It can be accessed only by walking tracks and to a limited extent by four wheel drive. There is quite an adventure tourism niche being developed for that area. The island has one main road which circles the narrow coastal plain. The main township is Avarua which is a thriving little place with lots of restuarants, cafes, jewellery stores (black pearl culture is a major industry) and tourist clothing shops and of course commercial and government buildings.

We arrived at our hotel, the Moana Sands, which sat right on the beach, around midnight. We could just see the waves breaking on the reef in the moonlight and it was great to hit the sack with the roar of the surf in our ears. We were anxious to see what daylight would bring us.

And below is the view from our balcony!

After breakfast we attempted a beach walk but strong winds thwarted our efforts so we headed back to the room for some reading and possibly some TV viewing on the nation's one channel.

The Cooks are a devoutly Christian community and Sunday is basically a closed day. Very few shops and restaurants are open and public transport runs on an extremely limited timetable early in the morning and late afternoon.

Luckily for us our hotel had one of the few restaurants open, the Pawpaw Patch, and they run a Sunday night BBQ which is very popular with residents and visitors. They offered grilled steak, sausages and fish with a huge range of salads as well as some good old fashioned desserts I have not seen since I was a kid. All this was washed down with a good New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Entertainment was an island string band who played some great stuff. It was also the first restaurant I had ever been to where they say grace before serving the meal. And it was here that K was introduced to Ika Mata. This is chunks of raw fish, usually tuna (but can be other) which is is marinated in lime juice, has onion, chilli (and sometimes cucumber and tomato) added and is served cold with coconut cream. This was to become one of her favourite starters during the trip.

We sat at a table with a young Californian couple on their honeymoon. He was a computer nerd (in the nicest way) and she was a nurse of Korean origin who had gone to the USA to study and never returned home. They had an interesting story to tell about conflict of cultures and the reaction of her family to her total change of life. Reminded us in a small way of another couple we were well acquainted with.

Next morning we were up bright and early and, after brekkie, we were on our way back to the airport to catch our flight to Aitutaki.

Semillon

The history of the Sémillon grape is difficult to establish. It is known that it first arrived in Australia in the early 1800's. It was once considered to be the most planted grape in the world, although this is no longer true
Sémillon is relatively easy to grow and has vigorous vines which can easily produce ten to fifteeen tonnes of grapes per hectare if not kept under control. The grape berries are thinned skinned, small, round to oval and greenish colored. It is fairly resistant to disease, except for rot. The grape ripens early in warmer climates. Due to the thin skin there is a risk of sunburn in hotter climates as well as splitting after heavy rain. It is best suited to areas with sunny days and cool nights.
Sémillon is one of only three approved white wine varieties in the Bordeaux region. The grape is also key to the production of sweet wines such as Sauterne

In Bordeaux it is blended with Sauvignon blanc and Muscadelle. When dry, it is referred to as Bordeaux blanc and is permitted to be made in the appellations of Pessac-Léognan, Graves, Entre-deux-mers and other less-renowned regions. In this form, Sémillon is generally a minor constituent in the blend.

However, when used to make the sweet white wines of Bordeaux (such as those from Sauternes, Barsac and Cérons) it is often the dominant variety. In such wines the vine is exposed to the "noble rot" or what may be called the "positive affect" of Botrytis cinerea which reduces the water content of the fruit, concentrating the sugar present in its pulp. In this case Botrytis cinerea causes the grapes to shrivel and the acid and sugar levels to intensify.

In Australia, Semillon is produced both as dry unwooded and wooded table wines and as botrytis affected "stickie" dessert wines. In the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Semillon is made into an initially subdued unwooded wine of relatively low alcohol (10-11%). But with bottle age it developes into a full flavoured toasty honeyed wine which is a style unique to Australia.

This year we made our first 100% Semillon from our relatively young vines.

It has been in the tank now maturiung for 4 months and is just starting to develop the typical Semillon nose ie. grass/hay/apples. Alcohol level is around 10.5% and intially we were quite concerned at it's high acidity. But on storage there has been quite a precipitation of tartrate and TA has dropped and pH has increased. We will be ready to bottle in a month or so.

Moths

We have our fair share of moths that are attracted by our lights.
One of the most famous visitors is the bogong moth. Last year they arrived in their millions and our windows were covered for nights on end.
They have been known to completely shut down the electical circuts of multi storey buildings, shutting off air conditioning units and standing passengers in lifts. In our captital city, Canberra, it became necessary to turn off all public building and street lighting to prevent blackouts.
As larvae, the insects live in the soil across southern Queensland and the western plains of NSW. In spring the moths follow the Great Dividing Range, heading to the Snowy Mountains to avoid summer's heat. There they hibernate in caves, up to 17,000 every square metre.
Aborigines once visited the caves to collect the moths, which are rich in protein and fat.
According to one study, 100 grams of bogong moth abdomen has three times the fat, and almost twice the kilojoules, of a similar portion of a Big Mac.
On their southern trek westerly winds often blow the moths off course and over the mountains and into coastal areas. This is when we see them but thankfully not every year.
A few weeks ago we had another moth visitor I had not seen before. They were not in huge numbers but were the size of a small bird. They stayed a few nights and then disappeared.
For identification I sent off a picture to the moth guru at the University of Sydney who said it was Chelepteryx chalepteryx or the white stemmed wattle moth.

He was so impressed with my picture it is now on his web site.

It is considered a large moth with a wing span of an adult male up to 10cm (4 inches).

We can only guess that the caterpillar feeds on the local wattle trees (Acacia sp.) that abound in this area.

End of Vintage 2008

The second week of April we decided that the Cabernet Sauvignon had gone about as far as it could go. The weather, reflecting a most difficult season for years, was still against us with periods of constant rain. We were running the increasing threat of diluted juice and disease outbreak.
The harvest was completed in under a day with a minimum of fuss. There were some very small outbreaks of botrytis spotted and, given the good yield of the total vineyard, the affected bunches were simply dropped.

The crush went without problems and the resultant juice had a sugar level of 12.5 Baume and pH of 3.7, an excellent result considering the season.

The yeast and MLF cultures were quickly added to the must and fermentation started within 24 hours.
It was quite a vigourous ferment which meant the desired higher temperature for red wine ferments (25-30 degrees), which improves color extraction, was achieved.

We added French oak staves to the ferment to give the final wine its oaky character without having to go to the expense of oak barrel storage later in the winemaking process.

We also made a concerted effort to punch the cap down at least 4 times a day in an effort to extract as much colour and tannin as possible.
This resulted in the infamous "purple hands" syndrome that most winemakers suffer from during vintage and is a constant source of surprise to those people in the supermarket line.

Due to the vigour of the ferment, we monitored the reducing sugar level with a refractometer on a daily basis.

And finally the more accurate hydrometer test showed that the ferment was over after a week and it was time for pressing.

So it was into the press.

The free run wine was run off and the remaining skins were given a good "squeeze" to extract the remaining wine with its higher color/tannin component.

And both free run and pressings were added together in the tank so the fermentation lees could settle out and MLF could hopefully begin.

This is a critical time in red wine production as MLF (malolactic fermentation) can only be initiated in the absence of sulphur. So the wine is virtually unprotected from oxidation at this stage. We sparged the wine with CO2 and sealed the tank to minimize this risk.
So now it's a matter of waiting and monitoring MLF progress before we can start the clarifying/racking process.