Commodore Court Motel Blenheim

... herbs and gooseberry. Dry, crisp, asparagus with some minerality. Food wine.<br><br>2008 Pinot Gris &#8211; 6 g/l residual. Pears on the palette. Good acidity.<br><br>2007 Riesling &#8211; 7 g/l residual. Stone fruits on the nose. Some minerality, soft. Fresh apples on the palette, good acidity &#8211; very drinkable.<br><br>2007 Gewürztraminer &#8211; 9 g/l residual. Roses and Turkish Delight again. Really smooth, good ...

... it, I'll save that much after 15 nights) and let's you call hostels at a very cheap rate (four cents a minute) using $20 included on the card you get. There is also a directory of hostels for all over New Zealand, which is where I found the one I am at now. It was the lowest rated out of all Blenheim, but I was lured by prospects of free Internet. If I'm going to be staying here a few weeks working, however, I want a place better than this one, so I'm moving to the highest rated ...

... Didnt forget to take a photo of Split Apple rock. After an exhausting day decided to stay another night at Motueku.It was a spacious campsite with lovely trees. Found a local wine called Northwood, thought it was worth a try! And it was my birthday today, and thanks for all my lovely e cards. I celebrated with a mussel burger! geoff had fish and chips. Next day , off again this time through Nelson, just a stop for coffee and pie ...

... dining table chatting until dinner. We brought our own food with us, so it was easy stuff.... Pasta for dinner and meat spread stuff on sandwiches for lunches. After our trek we all went out for a big meat dinner! The boat company transported our bags for us from stop to stop. We only carried our daypacks with us, thankfully. I did not want to have to carry all my stuff. When I woke in the morning, the right side of my face was all swollen. The day ...

... beginning to wobble a bit on the aul bikes so we wisely finished up at Villa Maria and took the wine and bikes back to base. We cooked up a storm back at the safety of our wee van and enjoyed a couple more glasses of wine. It was a great way to spend our last night in our brilliant van. Although Murph has taken her fair share of bumps on the noggin in the confined vestibule of our little Hi-Ace, I think even she will miss it. We ...

... was the other guests next to us. The Sailor and the farmer's wife told us this couple were really lovely and friendly so we were looking forward to meeting them. No sooner had the car pulled up then out got the wife. I looked up and smiled in anticipation. Nothing. Not even a look my way as she passed. She was the image of Barbara Woodhouse with her beefeater red twinset on, pearls and kilt. Hmmm, ok. Next, came the husband. I, again, looked up and prepared my smile in ...

... coffee and beer! We walked along the waterfront, stopped in at the Dog and Bone for a half pint, visited Teddy Bears with Attitude and rode up and down on the Cable Car (incredible views). Next we drove to the hire car company and they drove us to the ferry terminal. We took the Interislander ferry to Picton. 3 hours.....pure luxury compared to all the ferries we have ever been on. We spent an extra $20ea when ...

... taxis will transport all your luggage, save your day bags, for you. It was a great way to spend four days, although the last 5km were absolute hell... Charlotte even had the pleasure of having 'Happy Birthday' sung to her on the track by a couple of women we had met the night before. Unfortunately they had had a couple of glasses of wine when we met so temporarily couldn't remember her name, despite the hint that the name of the track itself may ...

... it took about an hour from being picked up to get to this point, it was all very relaxed and unhurried, there was no rush and loads of time to ask questions. For once, I didn't have any - I was too nervous to think any up. There were different options for the DVD, we could have a hand-cam, a cameraman or both. We decided we would have both as we probably will only ever do this once. Of course, he can only film one of us so since this is Dean's lifelong ambition, I told him to film him ...

... one. We pull up to find only 3 people fishing. Very odd for such a nice day - even with the cold water, there would be many people on the beach on a lovely Saturday back home. We wander the length of it, and then get back in the car for the run up the coast to Kaikoura. We have some more hills to get over before we are actually driving at the edge of the ocean. We see a travel trailer wrapped around a bridge abutment, our first and only accident of the whole trip. The car was in the ...