New Zealand is known for its good wines, but beer-wise it isn’t yet as far. If you like wine tasting, this country is the place, go to Napier on the North Island or Marlborough on the South Island or many more. That’s what my friends and I did. Enjoying the sun in the Marlborough region, eating great salmon and lamb and sipping on wines. A regular weekend turned into a holiday.

We were happily on our way to the third winery when we saw a sign: ‘Moa Brewery and Cellar Door”. Bye bye wine, hello beer!

The tasting costs 5 NZ dollar and is worth the while. You enter a charming bar with a quirky decor and a lovely atmosphere. And not unimportant, a nice barman willing to answer all questions. Outside you have big wooden tables and a barbecue waiting for you. Great if you want a break from all the wine and vineyards and just want to hang out with locals and tourists.

Of course you’re not only here for the fine interior, but for the beers! And they are great too! Moa Beer experiments with different flavors, which spices up the tasting (pun intended). It was for example the first time I tried a ‘smoked’ beer, a strong and hoppy beer with coffee, mocha and smoked cedar characters. My all time favorite though was ‘Moa St Josephs’, the strong spice and caramel characters did it for me.

Go and let yourself be surprised!

Cheers!

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Anyways. The last couple of weeks I worked my way down the east coast. It was pretty, but I’m not as big a fan as for example the west coast, the south or New Zealand. Yes – after traveling for a while I have the right to become picky. The east coast is really touristy and covered with young travelers that just want to party and get drunk. I guess I am getting old. I did see some nice stuff. I went snorkeling and diving -with my diving license from Thailand- in the Great Barrier Reef. Saw really cool coral, a lot of fish and a turtle.

I also went sailing and snorkeling in the Whitsundays. There I saw the biggest fish I’ve ever seen – and I touched it! I don’t have an underwater camera, but it was this fish. He is pretty famous in that bay. Meet George:

whitsundays

A bit more south I went to a couple of nice beaches. And in Brisbane I went to some bars, had some coffees AND went rock climbing at Kangaroo Point! Huge rocks IN the city, next to the river. So cool. I found some climbers on Couchsurfing and I could just tag along!

sunset in brisbane

Byron Bay

And now my last last last days of my travels I’m just hanging around in Sydney. Enjoying the food, the markets, the bars and the people! Life is good!

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