Blenheim Country Lodge

... the email and so we didn't get the job... But the owners of our hostel told us that the company has a very bad reputation, so maybe it's better that we are not working for them.
Beside that, Blenheim is a nice calm city, we stayed at a very beautiful hostel near at the edge of a river and we also went for a coffee with my pen pal Monique who is living there at her parents house at the moment. It was a really nice meeting.

... 8211; a German (I think) small operation producing very dry wines with class. Was tipped off to taste here.

2002 Brut – 55% Pinot Noir, 45% C******nay. Golden in colour, dough on the nose. Bready, yeasty palette, very sharp and crisp. Bone dry.

2008 Sauvignon Blanc – Good sharp nose with passion fruit and wet stone. Good acidity, sweet fruit and good weight.

2007 Sauvignon Blanc ...

... in the Nelson Lakes National Park. The 85km across was largely on a straight road stretching off as far as we could see set amongst the vines of Marlborough, finally giving way in the last few km to winding forest track up to the lack. For the whole journey through the Wairu valley, two very different mountain ranges towered either side of us, dry and almost barren on the left, plush and green on the right. Lake Rotoiti itself was straight off a postcard ...

... we had a nice relaxing afternoon at another lodge, nearly as nice as the night before and lovely owners that only had organic fruit and veg., and today we are at a rather posh place with gourmet restaurant and all. So far the walk has been fantastic, the scenery is stunning as we have walked from the outer bit of Marlborough Sounds to Picton where the ferry arrived. Long long walk, but so worth it! Tomorrow we have ...

... to Christchurch tomorrow for the last couple of days - Christmas Eve and the start of our holiday seems like months ago. This will probably be the last entry while we're out here so I hope you've all enjoyed keeping up with our adventure - we'll fill you in on the last couple of days when we get home and then we'll be able to add pictures too. Lots of love, H&Sxx

... her accent and suddenly there it was - a Northern Irish accent! From Larne she had moved to NZ 2 years before and lost alot of her accent until I turned up! We laughed about 'that freaky guy' for a while and she had honestly thought we knew eachother and there was nothing dodgy going on until my eyes screamed silently at her! Ha ha, still makes me laugh thinking about it.. but I don't think I'll hitch hike again in any shape or form.

We headed straight to the tourist information to find out what options were on offer for us today. After consulting and boat and a plane trip to look at whales, we settled for the plane trip. We headed to the airport and after a brief intro and safety talk, Mike and I boarded the four seater plane, with our pilot/guide. Mike sat in the front with the pilot and I sat in the back. We wore ear muffs, which not only protect our ears against the noise of the plane but also enable us to hear ...

We got up at 06:30 to get ourselves ready for our walking trip on the Queen Charlotte Track. As we are camping overnight, we had to think about what stuff we would need e.g. cooker, food, camping gear etc. We finally made it down to the port at 09:15. Mike parked the car and then we boarded the catamaran, where, Ken, our driver, took us to our drop off point, Ship Cove. On our journey, the sun was shining and it looked set to be a lovely day. We came across a pod of dolphins ...

... in the travel guide but on talking to them they weren't doing any trips at this time of year. Oh well!! We returned to Havelock by the same road, Queen Charlotte Drive and had noticed on the way out, that many of the mail boxes outside the houses here (American style on the roadside) had been decorated and there were some quite imaginative creations. Sunday 4th May A cold and cloudy day. We drove west out of Havelock hoping to see some of the Pelorus Sound. Passing ...

... a good dose of comedy and crowd participation thrown in for good measure. Having worked up a suitable appetite perusing the numerous souvenir shops lining the square, we headed over to the Fudge Cottage in the Art Centre. Fudge Cottage is a small, privately owned kitchen producing just enough creamy confectionary to keep up with the ever growing demand and offering tours of the production line with generous tasting opportunities. We were treated to a brief but ...