Blenheim Palms Motel

... on the palette, good acidity, some ginger notes.

2007 Pinot Noir – Apparently a difficult year with frost and a damp flowering season. Fresh, earthy. Dark cherry nose with a touch of smoky bacon. Crisp acidity, still very fruity, good length.

Late Harvest Riesling – Apricots and Almonds on the nose. Orange Marmalade on the palette. Not very long and quite simple.

Allan Scott Wines ...

... by beautifully cooked lamb from the bbq and lemon sponge cake. Yum Yum Yum, I say!! We had lovely NZ wine with this and just enjoyed chatting with them and the 3 other guests, Judy from US & Rosemary from Germany and their guide Glenn. Imagine it was Rosemary's 70th birthday and she was doing nearly the full 71km. Good for her! Yesterday, we had an easy day with only 12km, so this was over and done with in no time ...

Our time in the South island of New Zealand ended with a two day stay in Blenheim, which is in the centre of New Zealand's largest wine producing area - The Marlborough region. This area produces about 65% of one of New Zealand's largest exports - WINE. So it seemed a little fitting that we should go on a wine tour while we were in the area. This we did with a company called the Bubbly Grape wine tours. If you had asked me would I like to go on a wine tour a year and a ...

... him harm, so we wished him luck on his impending accreditation and hit the road. Lunch stop at Nautilus for yummy wine and cheese. Huia in the afternoon and enjoyed their fizz, been on the lyes for 5 years dont ya know. Last stop was Cloudy By ( had to be done) and I think we shocked them by not tasting their entire range...such a tourist thing to do! We tried their reislings as they are not available at home. Bought a bottle to have on our last night in NZ. While we were in ...

... 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.

Haere Mai, Get a large glass of vino for this one! It's true; New Zealand is every guide book superlative you can throw at it. It's plentiful fresh air, acres & acres of rolling green hills with hardy sheep, cows & deer, imposing snow capped mountains, azure blue lakes, miles of unoccupied highways, wild sea's, remote town's & outdoor adventure. It stands up to it's motto of being "green & clean", local papers even specifying "oil free chain saw's" & "poo ...

... most common wines they make here, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, we also got to try a few Reislings, Pinot Gris' and C******nays. It's much more of a white wine producing region, with Pinot Noir pretty much being the only red. There is the odd merlot occassionally. At Huia, we got to try lovely sparkling white wine. At about 16:30, we took the scenic cycle route back to the B&B, passing through vast areas of vineyard, with the pretty mountains and countryside in the background.

... of each other. We continue through some small towns, stoping at one to visit a fudge making shop and get lunch of chips which we eat by the sea. That evening we stop in Westport, another small town with not a lot there. The next day we drive to Nelson which is a much bigger town and we stop there for the night in a lovely hostel. We pick up some tips from people who have been in Nelson for a few days and the next day we drive up to Abel Tasman National Park. We aim to ...

... to the cost of the wine itself. Gary, our driver, was very informative and amusing, so we had a really good day out. Ours was supposed to be a half day tour and we could have stayed on but by the time we had visited the last winery, we no longer knew or cared what we were drinking! For once I was pleased to get back to the darkened van for a rest. Off to Kaikoura tomorrow.