Blenheim & Picton - onward to the North Island

Can't believe our days in NZ are slowly coming to a close. We've tried to spend as much time on the South Island as possible...now we have less time to make it up to Hamilton on the North Island. Looks like we'll have to bus it, train it, or possibly fly it to the north.

Thanks to Julie and Chris we spent the rainy Saturday (March 22nd) morning in a warm, comfy bed. The rain was just coming down and all we could do was smile! What a treat! Morning tea came and went...it was time to catch a 6 hour shuttle in Greymouth across the South Island to Blenheim. Errand day for Julie & Chris in Greymouth...they gave us a lift to our drop off point. They gave us so much and the only thing we could give them was a bag of Afghan Biscuits from the Greymouth Fresh Choice. These just weren't any Afghan Biscuits...these come recommended by none other than Jeroen and Jenny! These are highly sought after. Take a peek to see what's in this yummy NZ delight! http://www.azmetro.com/nzrecipe.html#afghan

Once again, thanks so much Julie & Chris for making us feel so comfortable and welcome. We appreciate your generosity!

Easter Sunday we decided to partake of the element. Blenheim & Renwick is widely known for its wine production. The best Sauvignon Blancs & Pinot Noirs can be found throughout the vineyards dotting the Marlborough landscapes. Our first destination, Saint Clair Family Cellars. Saint Clair is the largest family owned winery in New Zealand. The Vicor Choice label is sold in the states...but we'd highly recommend any of the Reserve Range or Pioneer Block. Wow! Super yummy and every one's super friendly. http://www.saintclair.co.nz/wines/ Tasting was free so we had some lunch and another glass of wine. Might as well, right? We had so much fun at Saint Clair we almost forgot there were other wineries on our map of drinking! We visited Henri Herzog (only sold in Europe) and Hunter's (wouldn't recommend), then a wine village that sold us on a bottle of Pinot Noir from a local winery called TerraVin. These guys set high on a hill so irrigation is limited. To add as much zest into their grapes as possible they cut back the batches of grapes to 2 per vine. This almost guarantees these grapes every bit of attention (flavour). It worked for us...could have been a bunch of malarkey but the sommelier sold it well. The story got passed onto you, eh? By then we've had several tastings and we were hungry...so we stopped for some cheap pub food and a jug of beer in Renwick. Couldn't have been a better day.

Monday, March 24th we biked up to Picton to prepare us for our 5:45 AM ferry to the North Island on Tuesday. Across the Cook Strait into Wellington awaits our chariot...rental car. The cheapest way north with the most flexibility to catch our flight out of Auckland on the 29th. Between here and then we'll be visiting Paul's relatives in Hamilton and Auckland before our departure. Oh, and we'll take a few side trips to see some of the North Island we missed on our earlier trip. Did I forget to mention there's an Icebreaker Outlet just north of Wellington. www.icebreaker.com You must supply your wardrobe with several articles of their product line. It's awesome. I've been wearing the same shirt for the past 4 days and it doesn't stink yet! Wool is the way to go. We've converted and proud of it.