The Lodge at the Inlet Wellington

... boat so we brushed it off and arrived in Picton just in time for the Springboks vs. the All Blacks Saturday night rugby game. This was our first introduction to New Zealand’s rugby obsession and a Scottish bar was a great place to figure things out. New Zealand’s All Blacks lost unfortunately, but the game was close and I realized that rugby is the ultimate spectator sport.

Brooks signing off.

... sweet fruit.

2008 Estate Pinot Noir – Minimal oak, light bright colour, ripe cherry nose. Light on the palette with more cherry and good acidity.

2006 Runholder – 10 months oak, 25% new, medium intensity, dark colour, thinning edge. Savoury spicy nose – cinnamon, nutmeg and maybe some plum. Rich velvety palette, savoury, blood, good acidity and silky tannins.

2007 Hawke’s Bay Merlot – ...

OK, this is our way of avoiding having to send emails to everyone telling you all what we're doing! For anyone who doesn't already know, Rob is going to Wellington, NZ on Sat 13th and I'll be joining him in July for my summer hols so you'll have to put up with his blogs ...

... say that none of these were serious.  Helen made a really nice breakfast and then we headed out for the day.  Our fist stop was the Chemist (Pharmacist).  He said there was nothing to do about my eyes except let my body work out the medication from the patch, oh yeah and continue wearing my sun glasses.  The rest of the day was a lot more relaxing.  We went to Mt. Victoria and got a 360 degree view of Wellington, the airport, and the ...

... We discovered this is the birthplace of Richard O'Brien's cult-classic, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show".  They have a large statue of "Riff Raff" as a monument. We arrived at Kaori Lodge, a beautiful accommodation set right in the bush, in the early afternoon.  The main attraction in this area is the surfing -- apparently the beach has amazing conditions.  The local school claimed they could have anyone up on a board within one afternoon of lessons.  We opted for a ...

... to stop there before we got to Wellington. Hnmmmm pretty jewellery!!! Turned out to be a nice wee shop where the woman made all her own stock and Sarah got a very nice & unique necklace type thing..... I'll maybe suggest that she adds a few words later since she can probably describe it better. Pretty pretty necklace!! Oh and I got a super latte and cake..... just as much a treasure to me as expensive jewellery :) Speaking of coffee, everywhere over here ...

... peak of the gardens for a birdseye view of the city. After a quick stroll around the observatory at the top we decided to run a few errands and head off to the airport. We arrived near the airport with an hour to spare so we drove onto a hill to watch planes land while taking in the sweeping view of the bay. Wellington would be a great city to spend a couple of ...

... the series, and it was a 3km run followed by a 300m swim. It was my first competitive run since the Round the Bays 7km run in Feb, so I was a bit nervous about whether I could run the whole way or not, but I managed it no problems. Swimming was a bit harder as I am woefully out of practice, but I was pleased with my time of 33mins. Next time will try and go faster!