On our last evening in Queenstown, we had dinner at Rātā, a restaurant named after the New Zealand “Christmas tree” (Metrosideros excela). Rātā is the Maori term for this coastal evergreen tree, which is in the family Myrtaceae. The species is endemic to New Zealand and blooms from November through January with a peak in … Continue reading
E.M. Forster wrote a novel in 1908 about two British women who travel to Florence, Italy and find that their room in the Pensione Bertolini does not have the promised view of the River Arno. They are upset and proceed to wring their hands and complain about not having “a room with a view”, which … Continue reading
I was eavesdropping last night on a couple sitting at the next table. This behavior happens when Irv is spending an inordinate amount of time perusing the wine list and looking up the stats for each one on the Wine Spectator’s website. While he’s occupied, I have little recourse but to listen to the conversations … Continue reading
The bane of wetland scientists is biting insects, which can be distracting when you are trying to work and even dangerous as disease vectors. Most of us have horror stories about encounters with swarms of mosquitoes, blackflies, and no-see-ums. Here in New Zealand’s fiordland (that’s how they spell it here), we’ve encountered the notorious “sandfly”, … Continue reading
Wines and Wetlands 