Wine Country in Autumn
The Clutha River runs, as if a fairy-tale theme, through Central Otago's stunning and famous country side where Funny French Cars can give you a very memorable day out in this unique landscape! Central Otago also hosted many locations for the Lord of the Rings movie triolgy.
Paradise ducks "patrolling" near the Clutha River.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
the vineyards throughout most of the cromwell and bannockburn region have harvested their grapes, and this is a very exciting time, passengers lately have been able to sample not only the wonderful wines but the bunches of grapes in the vineyards, they are sooo delicious , quite small compared to a table grape but intense flavour and have a thicker skin and a seed, this is a treat to be able to sample both grapes and then wine from the region. we continue to have the most interesting and enjoyable passengers from all walks of life join us on our tastings and we always manage to squeeze in as much as possible with opportunity to visit some of the stunning and special places/ sights here, thats if guests wish to explore as well as winetasting. the autumn colours are just glowing and with the rain and hopefully no wind will hold for some time yet. old cromwell town is often on our list to visit and today we had a gorgeous cafe lunch at the seed and grain cafe well worth checking out in old cromwell town, Although cromwell region is lucky to have so many great cafes, havent found one that i wouldnt be happy to recommend yet. we often lunch at the bannockburn cafe because it is also a special and delicious cafe, with a selection of cool giftware and local made or grown produce, we always try and support local , Bridget at the goldfields mining cafe has an amazing selection of rabbit venison and cardrona merino on her menu all local and all well worth the experience if looking for different and local produce. we are gearing up for our off season where winetastings are still on the go but we also branch out more into sightseeing and offer tours to see the special places in the region and meet some of the characters that make up our community, with winter our ski community moves into town and there is a festival atmosphere all about
so dont hesitate to contact us if we can create a day special for you to hold in your memories and show u the special sights and the gorgeous wines of the region. enjoy and have fun julie posted by Funny French Cars # 8:55 PM
we are operating daily and are entering both the harvest of the grapes throughout the central otago region as well as the splendid autumn colours that are just starting to turn and are so stunning and beautifully breathtaking.
our wineries are all very excited with the fruit that is coming in to begin the process of becoming delicious wine.
quartz reef winemaker was nominated as 1 of only 6 winemakers chosen for a major german award for winemaker of the world 2010 and the only winemaker chosen from the southern hemisphere. an outstanding achievement showing the huge dedication tipical of the wineries and winemakers here, and Rudi came home to be awarded the agricultural societies easter shows winemaker of the year. Rudi like other wineries are reaching the top of world winning awards with wines from the central otago region.
we have been enjoying some great adventures whilst winetasting, recently we have had requests to fo gold minning and we had great success panning and all came home with a few specs of gold in our tiny jars. have ventured up the backcountry nevis road to experience off road and show how capable the 2 cv car can br. our wine tours are flexible and varied so everyone has an enjoyable and special experience that is of interest to them. lunches with us are an extra as we have such a wonderful range of culinary delights we dont want to restrict anyone to just one menu and price. we will discuss with you and suggest a few culinary delights that best suit your pallet. we are always happy to offer ideas and suggestions so feel free to contact us for anything regarding our beautiful central otago region. posted by Funny French Cars # 10:17 PM
we are well into summer here in lovely central otago, the grapes are forming on the vines and the little 2cv,s have been buzzing around the vineyards, we have a couple of new tasting rooms opened on our trail, and we struggle with our flexible tours to get around all of those tastings offered in the cromwell and bannockburn regions, we can also cover alexandra and gibston, just ask? and of course our local winery in wanaka( Rippon,) Many of the wineries are thinking outside the square so to speak and releaseing new styles of wine , some lovely desert wines now available and even those who dont enjoy sweet wines are buying these. the knowledge from the tasting rooms is outstanding so if u want a relaxed fun filled tour, flexible to suit your requirements, then give us a call, so many of our tours are thru word of mouth, bookings recommended although soon we hope to have Claudette certified to join the funny french cars, hope u all had a merry xmas and ready for a gr8 new years celebration, cheers julie and team @ funnyfrnchcars.co.nz posted by Funny French Cars # 9:30 AM
Claudette will need to become certified b4 beginning her career meandering around central otago,s, wineries.
meanwhile winter in wanaka and central otago has been foggy compared to usual resulting in lighter frosts, but for the skiers who love the central otago slopes, they have had a bumper year. snow everywhere.
Deane guided a tasting in Tin Tin today taking 3 great fun customers on an enjoyable tour thru the bannockburn , cromwell and onto gibston regions, a memoriable day had by all,
be in touch soon, julie posted by Funny French Cars # 9:58 PM
The car is going to be a welcome addition to our existing Citroen 2CV fleet that specialise in our Wanaka based Central Otago vineyard tours, wine tasting, local produce, sightseeing, off roading and garden visits.
Wanaka has also just recently had it's inaugural Farmer's Market, so watch this space for more news on this and any associated Wanaka news, and how the car performs on our drive down from Christchurch, through the MacKenzie Country, over the beautiful snow tussock landscape of the Lindis Pass, and over the Red Bridge by Luggate to home [which is midway between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea and just 5 mins. from each].
posted by Funny French Cars # 2:27 PM
This is 2 CV Tin Tin decorated with wedding ribbons...
After we enjoyed this wonderful celebration we met about 23 other 2CV cars and their owners from all over New Zealand, for a full New Zealand 2CV rally.
We went cross country via the Old Dunstan Road across Central Otago [inc. vineyards and wine tasting en-route], thru the Haast Pass to New Zealand's South Westland World Heritage Area inc. Westland National Park. From here we travelled north casually to the famous Wild Foods Festival at Hokitika.
The group always tries to park together near French cafes. Our car Tin Tin is on the left...
posted by Funny French Cars # 2:20 PM
Netting, at Rippon Vineyard in March, to stop the birds from doing the harvest...
posted by Funny French Cars # 7:02 PM
Welcome to our new newsletter page, where we'll be able to give you up-to-date news as to what is happening seasonally in the beautiful area we operate in.
This is a new facility though and still under testing, so thanks for your patience.
posted by Funny French Cars # 8:29 AM
winter fun
Hi Here once again in the rain, we seem to be getting our annual rainfall in a week, rivers flooding and sandbagging in wakatipu lake to stop queenstown flooding; i love the way humans try and control mother nature. anyway we have been re establishing some gorgeous locations and sights and of cause some wonderful characters to forfill a spectacular days sightseeing with funny french cars. Over winter the winetasting quietens down but the wonderful fun wine tasting tours are still available. we just want to increase the options to you to enjoy. with our knowledge of the region we can bring to our tours opportunities to head into gorgeous scenery not generally available to the public, often off road, not quite 4wd but be prepared to push no 2cv,s dont get stuck, depending on your idea of a fun day we can offer visiting a small petting farm visit the animals , visit stunning works of a variety of artists at their residence, see their work before it goes into the open market. check out a shop for those who love patchwork and all related with materials sewing cardmaking ec. with the famous photograhers works above, whilst inbetween destination we can visit wineries, cafes or restaurants(even bring a picnic) to sample the goods,we can sample local produce including rabbit and vension, go goldmining at the mighty Kawarau river, if the warbirds or transport museum appeal we can call there , a special treat is to visit little brown house, a unique gift shop and chocolaterie , featuring many gifts from France, and designer clothing , special books and such a fun and interesting shop to see, if old interest you we can offer a farmlet of horders of the horsedrawn area, you,ll need to stroll around to find the many masses of treasure from the horsedrawn area. see a couple of rare Norwegian fjord horses and a 19hh shire horse *( unfortunately hes for sale ) of course visit the gorgeous winnery on the shores of lake wanaka such a stunning location, many wedding parties go their for photo,s we can offer the history of the region and really you might need to join us for a week to get thru the possibilties. whatever your requirement we will do our best to show you the parts of central otago that you will enjoy whether it be a wine tour a sightseeing tour or a combination of both. looking forward to showing off our gorgeous region and our lovely wines cheers julie and deane funny french cars. posted by Funny French Cars # 9:47 PM
Saturday, April 24, 2010
all go with funnyfrenchcars
Hi jon has repaired our emails so alls go again and we are recieving emails from funnyfrenchcars webpage. more rain again today, but still we are in drought.the vineyards throughout most of the cromwell and bannockburn region have harvested their grapes, and this is a very exciting time, passengers lately have been able to sample not only the wonderful wines but the bunches of grapes in the vineyards, they are sooo delicious , quite small compared to a table grape but intense flavour and have a thicker skin and a seed, this is a treat to be able to sample both grapes and then wine from the region. we continue to have the most interesting and enjoyable passengers from all walks of life join us on our tastings and we always manage to squeeze in as much as possible with opportunity to visit some of the stunning and special places/ sights here, thats if guests wish to explore as well as winetasting. the autumn colours are just glowing and with the rain and hopefully no wind will hold for some time yet. old cromwell town is often on our list to visit and today we had a gorgeous cafe lunch at the seed and grain cafe well worth checking out in old cromwell town, Although cromwell region is lucky to have so many great cafes, havent found one that i wouldnt be happy to recommend yet. we often lunch at the bannockburn cafe because it is also a special and delicious cafe, with a selection of cool giftware and local made or grown produce, we always try and support local , Bridget at the goldfields mining cafe has an amazing selection of rabbit venison and cardrona merino on her menu all local and all well worth the experience if looking for different and local produce. we are gearing up for our off season where winetastings are still on the go but we also branch out more into sightseeing and offer tours to see the special places in the region and meet some of the characters that make up our community, with winter our ski community moves into town and there is a festival atmosphere all about
so dont hesitate to contact us if we can create a day special for you to hold in your memories and show u the special sights and the gorgeous wines of the region. enjoy and have fun julie posted by Funny French Cars # 8:55 PM
Sunday, April 18, 2010
problems with email
for the last month we have been experiencing problems with emails coming into funnyfrenchcars, simply we have not been recieving any mail. we have our web designer working on this problem and hope to have it fixed very soon, . we apologise if you have contacted us and we have not responded. please phone us to make an enquiry if you dont get a reply from us in 12 hours from an email, as we check our emails twice daily.we are operating daily and are entering both the harvest of the grapes throughout the central otago region as well as the splendid autumn colours that are just starting to turn and are so stunning and beautifully breathtaking.
our wineries are all very excited with the fruit that is coming in to begin the process of becoming delicious wine.
quartz reef winemaker was nominated as 1 of only 6 winemakers chosen for a major german award for winemaker of the world 2010 and the only winemaker chosen from the southern hemisphere. an outstanding achievement showing the huge dedication tipical of the wineries and winemakers here, and Rudi came home to be awarded the agricultural societies easter shows winemaker of the year. Rudi like other wineries are reaching the top of world winning awards with wines from the central otago region.
we have been enjoying some great adventures whilst winetasting, recently we have had requests to fo gold minning and we had great success panning and all came home with a few specs of gold in our tiny jars. have ventured up the backcountry nevis road to experience off road and show how capable the 2 cv car can br. our wine tours are flexible and varied so everyone has an enjoyable and special experience that is of interest to them. lunches with us are an extra as we have such a wonderful range of culinary delights we dont want to restrict anyone to just one menu and price. we will discuss with you and suggest a few culinary delights that best suit your pallet. we are always happy to offer ideas and suggestions so feel free to contact us for anything regarding our beautiful central otago region. posted by Funny French Cars # 10:17 PM
Sunday, January 3, 2010
rain at last
hi , finally we are experiencing a rainy day, in central otago wine regions we are as close to a desert as NZ gets, our low rainfall and high extreme temperatures, both summer and winter are a major factor in the success of the pinot noir grape growing here and the gorgeous fruity wines produced in our sunny central otago region, to find our more just contact us. we are able to assist in your choice of wine adventure as we personally tailor each tour to your requirements and interests. we can also advise on some our other wonderful local attractions and often end the tour by dropping u off at a local recommended restaurant or assist with grocery shopping b4 returning u to your accomodation to enjoy a relaxed evening. posted by Funny French Cars # 12:03 PM
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
well into summer
hi all,we are well into summer here in lovely central otago, the grapes are forming on the vines and the little 2cv,s have been buzzing around the vineyards, we have a couple of new tasting rooms opened on our trail, and we struggle with our flexible tours to get around all of those tastings offered in the cromwell and bannockburn regions, we can also cover alexandra and gibston, just ask? and of course our local winery in wanaka( Rippon,) Many of the wineries are thinking outside the square so to speak and releaseing new styles of wine , some lovely desert wines now available and even those who dont enjoy sweet wines are buying these. the knowledge from the tasting rooms is outstanding so if u want a relaxed fun filled tour, flexible to suit your requirements, then give us a call, so many of our tours are thru word of mouth, bookings recommended although soon we hope to have Claudette certified to join the funny french cars, hope u all had a merry xmas and ready for a gr8 new years celebration, cheers julie and team @ funnyfrnchcars.co.nz posted by Funny French Cars # 9:30 AM
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Claudette
claudette has arrived to join the stable of funny french cars wine tours, Her history is impressive and the dvd that came with her of her travells is amazing, to think this spunky 2cv has travelled the world and landed in wanaka to join the central otago wine tours circuit with funny french cars.Claudette will need to become certified b4 beginning her career meandering around central otago,s, wineries.
meanwhile winter in wanaka and central otago has been foggy compared to usual resulting in lighter frosts, but for the skiers who love the central otago slopes, they have had a bumper year. snow everywhere.
Deane guided a tasting in Tin Tin today taking 3 great fun customers on an enjoyable tour thru the bannockburn , cromwell and onto gibston regions, a memoriable day had by all,
be in touch soon, julie posted by Funny French Cars # 9:58 PM
Friday, November 21, 2008
A new classic French Citroen 2CV for the Wanaka wine tours and other trips.
We're off to Christchurch soon to take delivery of a new [to us] 1985 Black and Silver Citroen 2CV. We were so excited all the details got jumbled, but it's something like it's been restored and driven over the The Silk Road on it's way to New Zealand, and maybe it's even been through Africa - we'll know more when we see it as apparently it's adorned with stickers from it's travels.The car is going to be a welcome addition to our existing Citroen 2CV fleet that specialise in our Wanaka based Central Otago vineyard tours, wine tasting, local produce, sightseeing, off roading and garden visits.
Wanaka has also just recently had it's inaugural Farmer's Market, so watch this space for more news on this and any associated Wanaka news, and how the car performs on our drive down from Christchurch, through the MacKenzie Country, over the beautiful snow tussock landscape of the Lindis Pass, and over the Red Bridge by Luggate to home [which is midway between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea and just 5 mins. from each].
posted by Funny French Cars # 2:27 PM
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wanaka Wedding Tour and onto a full New Zealand 2 CV adventure
Recently Dean, myself and our two boys Bryron and Tristin travelled to Invercargill to help our friends celebrate their wedding by supplying three of our Citroen 2CV cars.This is 2 CV Tin Tin decorated with wedding ribbons...
After we enjoyed this wonderful celebration we met about 23 other 2CV cars and their owners from all over New Zealand, for a full New Zealand 2CV rally.
We went cross country via the Old Dunstan Road across Central Otago [inc. vineyards and wine tasting en-route], thru the Haast Pass to New Zealand's South Westland World Heritage Area inc. Westland National Park. From here we travelled north casually to the famous Wild Foods Festival at Hokitika.
The group always tries to park together near French cafes. Our car Tin Tin is on the left...
posted by Funny French Cars # 2:20 PM
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The Central Otago Vineyard Season
With the occasional exception of Australia, the majority of Southern Hemisphere harvesting occurs between the months of February and April with some cool climate sites like Central Otago, New Zealand picking late harvest wine grapes in June.Netting, at Rippon Vineyard in March, to stop the birds from doing the harvest...
posted by Funny French Cars # 7:02 PM
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Newsletter page for Funny French Cars
HiWelcome to our new newsletter page, where we'll be able to give you up-to-date news as to what is happening seasonally in the beautiful area we operate in.
This is a new facility though and still under testing, so thanks for your patience.
posted by Funny French Cars # 8:29 AM
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