Week Two

Mt Cawte - The hill we climbed that is behind the cottage we rented.

Hard to believe that next week is our last on the South Island.  We’re taking the ferry again over to Wellington for the much anticipated USA vs Australia.  Australia lost to the Irish last weekend, so they will be coming for us with a vengeance to prove they can play good rugby.  I hope the Eagles are ready because we have been beaten in the past by the Aussies by an average of 31 points.  We waited to book hotels for these weekends and it seems to have paid off.  We’ve been paying much less than I was finding rates when looking from the US.  We are very pleased that the prices have come down now that we are here.  Price gouging was huge in the news when we arrived and all of the Kiwis that we’ve talked to say they are disgusted with those that are charging the exorbitant rates.

Spring in Havelock.

The last few days have been nice and relaxed.  Wednesday we went into Blenheim and did a lot of internet-ing.  The one thing that I am slightly regretting about our accommodations is the lack of internet.  We can’t look anything up about where we want to go or what we want to do, without making a 40 minute drive into town.  I think it’s probably best for me in the long run, because it keeps me away from the work email and worrying about things at home.  After all, checking my work emails twice a week is hardly shabby.  We got lots of things researched and booked for the last two weeks of our time here and went to the Blenhiem i-site for a bit of information on wine touring that we intended to do on Thursday.

First winery - Forrest.

Winery touring on Thursday was so much fun!  The Marlborough region of New Zealand that we are staying in is famous for its wines and there are over 80 wineries in the area.  It seems everywhere you go in the valleys there are lots and lots of grapes and lots and lots of wineries.  There are almost as many ways to tour the area as there are wineries, but we settled on a self-guided bike tour after much consideration.  We had a really nice day and made it to at least 7 or so wineries.  They are generous in their complimentary tastings, so you have to say no thank you or else you’d hardly be able to walk, let alone bike.  The bike ride was easy other than the rather strong wind we were sometimes riding into and we had great chats at all the wineries.  The only winery that we were tasting with more than one other couple was called Omaka and they said it’ the busiest they been… ever.  I think there were 7 people there at once so, it’s quite a bit different than the packed tours I’ve done in Michigan.  Many of the wineries had restaurants as well and we shared an amazingly delicious chicken curry at the recommended lunch stop.  It was a gorgeous sunny day and we couldn’t have waited for a better one to savor the delicious Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Gris of the area.

Super hot biking pic!

Still planning what we’re doing next week.  We were considering a drive to the Abel Tasman National Park for a hike or the Pancake Moutains(or hills) that Kevin & Jennifer suggested a little further south.  Whatever we do I know we’ll have a nice time and it won’t be too crowded.  Apparently even with 80,000 plus visitors, New Zealand is still plenty big!