Hidden Lodge in Queenstown is a Hidden Gem
November 24, 2018
Hidden Lodge is the bomb. Make sure to stay here if you stay in Queenstown, New Zealand. The property is just as gorgeous as the surrounding countryside.
Hidden Lodge living room overlooks lake Wakatipu
The Wha room is downstairs and overlooks a verdant lawn.
All showers are glass
The Toru is upstairs with windows on both sides.
The shower is NPS approved
The wood fired hot tub is an excellent place for a soak. Just make sure it gets properly stoked!
Wood fired hot tub
The food and cocktail scene in Queenstown is pretty touristy, but that can be a good thing. Food at Blue Kanu is creative and delicious.
Budda at Blue Kanu
Get the KFC at Blue Kanu
Cloudy Bay bubbly
On the other hand, though the scene is fun at VKnow, the food does not live up to its hype. Danny is a hoot.
Joe’s Garage serves a nice lunch.
For cocktails, the Bunker can’t be beat.
Experimental Cocktail
Barman Dermot Hynes made us an Experimental Cocktail
10 ml Laphroaig
45 ml woodford reserve
20 ml lemon
10 ml sweet vermouth
10 ml simple syrup
dash angustora
stir down. serve up. twist.
Take a walk up Queenstown Hill.
Five showerheads and a hope to return for the Hidden Lodge. Just top notch.
Knobs Flat Cabins in the Heart of Fjiordland
November 24, 2018
After a day packed with adventure in Milford Sound, we drove off over the mountain and through the tunnel to the other side just as the sun was going down. Turns out that spending dead turkey day in the southern hemisphere is a good thing!
Leaving Milford Sound
The drive to Knobs Flat is around 45 minutes. Though the cabins are rustic, they are perfectly suited to the environment. We cooked a very late dinner at 10pm (which included a fake Thanksgiving turkey).
Unconsumed, but present
The great people at HQ allowed us to stash groceries purchased in Te Anau for a day while we stayed at Milford Sound. We stopped in on our way to Milford Sound. This was a very good plan.
Headquarters
A morning hike to the waterfall is recommended. The trail itself is wild with a log creek crossing, lots of moss, notched trees, and drippy bushes.
Cabin 1 on the left
Sadly, we did not snap any pictures inside the cabin. So the shower and the little kitchen will go undocumented. Such are the hazards of a high adventure day.
The drive to and from Te Anau is gorgeous.
We stopped by Te Anau for a fantastic super fun jet boat ride and some delicious Indian food at Radhas.
NPS highly recommends the Knobs Flat cabins. Four showerheads and a waterfall hike!
Milford Sound Lodge Monopoly: Nope
November 23, 2018
Milford Sound is an incredible place to be on the planet. Lots of outdoors things to do. SCUBA diving with black coral. Sea kayaking down the sound (with sailing of you’re lucky). Hiking. Just wow.
Sadly, there is only one place to stay in Milford Sound. What we can say for Milford Sound Lodge is that they are taking advantage of their monopoly status. Not our cup of tea, especially when it comes to dining. (A better bet is to stay in the cabins in the national park on the other side of the tunnel.)
We were assigned room 13 (which we booked WAY in advance and overpaid for). The internet did not work.
Little cabins in paradise
The bedroom
At least the shower was not plostic!
However, the toilet was
On our way in, we did the Key Summit walk. A great hike.
Key summit reflection
panorama from key summit
Anyway, skip the Milford Lodge and just do all of the things. We recommend SCUBA with Descend and Sea Kayaking with Rosco’s.
SCUBA with descend diving in Milford Sound
Kayak with Rosco’s Kayaks in Milford Sound
More about high adventure fun at Milford Sound on apothecaryshed.
Two showerheads and some dinner service that works for Milford Sound Lodge. And maybe a staff with some training? Just camp.
The Sun Appears at Villa del Lago, Queenstown, New Zealand
November 23, 2018
What a difference a day makes. It rained like crazy in Dunedin almost the entire time we were there. The rain was so intense that major highways were flooding and bridges were impassable.
After lunch on our way up to Queenstown, we barely made it past an important bridge. New Zealand is small enough that there are really not that many alternative routes available. Even the big roads are, well, two laners with the occasional one lane bridge.
We drive by Lake Wakatipu on the way to Queenstown. The lookout at Devil’s Staircase was blustery and wet.
We checked in to Villa del Lago in the rain (about which more in a second). By the next morning, the rain was replaced by a spectacular view.
And of course, the lookout at Devil’s Staircase on Lake Wakatipu was a completely different scene.
So that’s the difference a day can make. Now on to Villa del Lago. Basically, Queenstown is a major tourist destination for skiing, hiking, and general partying. Villa del Lago has a very much ski chalet feel. Nice, but slightly abused and just a little declasse.
Our apartment complex had several rooms. We were in number four.
The living area features great windows
The kitchen remained unused
Pretend fireplace
The Boy’s room
Master bedroom view
The washer and dryer came in handy after our time in San Francisco.
The all important bathroom was of the Euro variety with a nice shower—not plastic.
The non-plastic shower
Ivy and Lola’s is a very good restaurant indeed. Great lamb in interesting combinations. And a decent negroni to boot!
Ivy and Lola’s
The Bunker is a very good cocktail location. Excellent skills and interesting drinks.
The Bunker
Corpse Reviver #2
Smoke
The Villa del Lago earns three showerheads. Time to clean those stained bedspreads and spruce things up a notch to match the scenery!
Welcome to New Zealand: Bluestone on George, Dunedin
November 19, 2018
The Bluestone on George is a cozy place to stay in Dunedin, New Zealand even on a cold, rainy, Spring day. 
Once the dense cloud cover broke (at a very low ceiling), the green of New Zealand peeked through.
A quick trip into town from the airport was aided by the fact that Eli can drive on the left, which is right around here.
Bluestone on George is nicely upscale. Clean and modern with friendly staff. We are in room 405. The room features a balcony overlooking soggy Dunedin. In the middle of the night, the wind and rain was so strong that the doors blew open (they were not properly latched).
The lobby is a great place to vanquish your temporary chess enemies.
Beautiful lines in the lobby
Dunedin from the balcony
Without further ado, room 405.
Eaves set off the balcony
Sleek kitchenette
Though tight (probably because the hot tub thing is so wide), the bathroom is also sleek and modern. Cool showerhead too.
So many nozzles
Dinner at Etrusco features working class Italian in a setting with a great fireplace. Friendly service and good food.
Fireplace at Etrusco
We accidentally discovered a new gin at the restaurant. Too many sweet aromatics for a Negroni. This gin should be saved for cucumber cocktails. Tellingly, they were advertising Bombay Sapphire as a London Dry. Nopey nope.
New Zealand gin
For breakfast near the George, try Capers which has great pancakes. Good Earth Cafe is a nice college hangout with great looking cakes.
If you’re on the road, make sure to hit the Hokonui Moonshine Museum in Gore. Turns out it was NPS ancestors who brought hooch to New Zealand from Kintail.
Four showerheads and a nice warm welcome for Bluestone on the George. Highly recommended.
Hotel Kabuki: San Francisco as Leg 1
November 14, 2018
NPS is on a 25 day adventure that includes San Francisco as a first stop. Loyal readers know that means Japantown, and Japantown these days means the Kabuki.
The lobby is a great place to hang out and get some work done. And the bar is pretty good to boot.
And there is now espresso on the property.
It was hazy in San Francisco every day due to the fires in California. In fact, the air quality was the worst on the planet on Thursday.
This trip we’re on the top floor (16) in 1602. The rooms are well appointed.
1602
1602 has two large windows overlooking the city
The bathroom is sizable, but the room is cold. The poor heater can’t keep up with nights that drop into the upper ’40s. That means the bathroom is chilly in the morning. Fortunately, the shower door in 1602 seals pretty well and does not let tons of cold air in. But the old sliding doors (still) need to be replaced with more modern glass that insulates better.
The shower is a room of its own with two shower heads and a large bench.
Bathroom accoutrements
Of course, San Francisco is a great place to visit when it comes to food and beverages. A cocktail or two at PCH is highly recommended, especially if your friend Jacques Bezuidenhout shows up with time to spare on his visa and a bottle of Amer Picon. Much fun was had.
Dinner at State Bird Provisions is outstanding as always. Incredible flavors put together in remarkable ways. NPS just walked right in on a Tuesday night with no reservation.
For an interesting diner-like breakfast, try out Sweet Maple.
Ramen at Iza Ramen is very good indeed.
Hard water has a top notch bourbon and rye collection (though Jack Rose in DC has it beat). Hirsch 74. Sazarac 18. Stagg 11.
The Mymy cafe is a great place for breakfast. Creative delicious options and espresso that does not suck. Recommended.
Dinner at Prarie is very good, though noisy and crowded.
Skip ABV and go straight to Churchill for a nightcap. Fewer hipsters and no bullshit at the door.
Have a wine tasting at Domaine Carneros.
It helps if you know someone who is in their club. https://twitter.com/noplasticshower/status/1063957983468474369
Four showerheads, clean air, and some warmer nights for the Hotel Kabuki. We’ll be back. Next up, New Zealand!
Back at the Grant Street Inn in Bloomington, Indiana
November 6, 2018
Though NPS has lost track of just how many times we’ve stayed at the Grant Street Inn, our previous visit seems to have been in October 2015! Whoa. Well, it’s nice to be back.
The good news is that room 30 was available (or rather, became available) for this visit. Thanks to the staff for freeing it up!
The fireplace in 30 no longer seems to function
The bed, on the other hand, functions just fine.
Still no opportunity to try out this hot tub thing
The plastic shower can be forgiven due to the hot tub thing. We guess.
It was a nostalgic visit this time, back to the town where NPS went to grad school. The weather was awful, rainy and chilly, so, as a result, much time was spent inside.
A new cocktail club in town called C3 Bar is worth a visit. Had to teach them how to make a Lion’s Tail, but they did a fine job. The food is good and beats the kind of weird suburban location hands down.
A visit to the Irish Lion was an absolute blast as always. So much laughter! And great Sazaracs made with Whistlepig 10 rye.
Back up to four showerheads for the Grant Street Inn. One of these years, maybe the hot tub will come into play.
