I´m sat here supping a $9.99 (that´s Argentine pesos, so less than 2 quid!) bottle of Malbec from a chipped teacup in my Mendoza hostel and am struck by how hypocritical that seems – after spending Thursday afternoon critically analysing wines potentially destined for the US market that will be sold for near US$20 (more like a tenner) …and I thought I had an expensive palate! I guess wine works on different levels, and sometimes it´s nice to turn my wine-head off and just drink some plonk with my dinner.. (don´t get me wrong, this stuff is certainly not the cheapest available!)

After our brief, and rather soggy time at the Iguazu falls, we headed down to Buenos Aires for the rest of the week. Rather than giving a day by day run down of our touristy activities, I thought I’d give a run-down of my favourite eateries near where we were staying, along with some of our holiday snaps.

Tango bar in San Telmo

We were staying in San Telmo, a very bohemian end of town seemingly caught in a time warp – like the Paris portrayed in Moulin Rouge, with Tango clubs, bars and Parilla restaurants on every corner. The feel of the place, with narrow streets and beautiful, somewhat run-down architecture, is very much like a French or Italian city, and the thirty year old European cars everywhere add to the illusion. Like the USA, Argentina is a country of immigrants, with one of the lowest proportions of indigenous peoples in South America, so the culture has a definite Mediterranean influence, while having its own twist.

San Telmo seems to be the hub of reasonably-priced dining, as long as you like steak, and home made pasta. My friend Aaron, after having been in Argentina for a while now, finds himself longing for spicy food, but so far the novelty of fantastic steak has not worn off…

As my friends Gordon and Katherine have only a couple of weeks down here, we went straight from Mendoza up to see the Iguazu falls – a must-see when in Argentina.

As well as the spectacular waterfalls (there are over 270 of them!) where the Iguazu and Paraná rivers join there is a natural border between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. We were staying in the tourist town of Puerto Iguazú on the Argentinian side of the ´Tres Fronteras´ home to a mainly transient population of international tourists who flock to see the ´Cataratas´

The drive to Mendoza – over the Andes passing near the famous peak of Anconcagua (the highest in the Southern hemisphere at almost 7,000m!) was breathtaking, the gigatic landscape making even the double decker coach seem miniscule. The snow that had blocked the mountain pass just days before was still heaped high in drifts at the side of the road, but of course the highest point was also the border between Chile and Argentina, so we were stopped in the snow for over an hour while everyone (and their baggage) was processed through customs and immigration.

We spent our first day walking around town and soaking in the Mendocino atmosphere, somewhere I have totally fallen for plenty of parks and open spaces, old european style architecture, and old european cars!

It was with great difficulty that I prised myself away from Nueva Zelandia, and more specifically from Amber, who I won´t see again until November…

The weather in Santiago didn´t lighten my mood, with heavy rain for the first two days, which combined with the jetlag (apparently the worst in the world!) meant that I didn´t get much done – although considering Tuesday 3rd June lasted about 40 hours for me, I did quite a lot that day!

Determined to make something of my Thursday, and discovering that it was the opening day of one of the ski resorts just out of town, I had arranged to go snowboarding with an Australian I´d met in the hostel. As well as being the first day of the season, it was the first clear day for a while – there had been heavy snowfall up on the hills for over a week before. So conditions were perfect, with untouched, soft, deep powder as far as the eye could see! After learning the basics at university on the Sheffield dry ski slope, and

Well I’ve been living in Masterton a while now, and when I’m not too busy working all hours god sends in the winery, I’ve been making the most of my time here and have met some great new friends…

With the Autumn already starting to show itself with the grape harvest just around the corner, we were blessed with a glorious sunny day for the Wairarapa Wines Harvest Festival. With bands playing all day, local restaurants providing samplers of their wares, and of course local wines to be sampled, it was a great day out.

The small town of Martinborough is certainly the most famous for wine in the Wairarapa province, and as they had had their own event ‘Toast Martinborough’ back in November, so this is mainly about the wines

I just thought I’d stick up a quick note to mark the occasion…

Wow – 10,000 hits! It’s nice to know people are reading my meanderings – and not just my friends and family, I’m pretty certain I don’t know that many people!

I am now just over halfway into my year in the Southern hemisphere, and what a lot I have done in the first 6 months! I have stayed in a mud hut in Africa, gone walkabout in the Australian bush, bungy jumped (twice!) and of course met winemakers and sampled wines in some of the most prestigious wine regions in the world..