Given the view we had when we went to sleep last night, which did not include land, this was quite a surprise this morning. We knew we'd arrive in NZ today but, still ... surprising. We opted to spend our first port visit in Marlborough country. As this is famous wine country, my guess is that this is not surprising to you. We were a bit alarmed when our sumptuously accented Irish tour guide apologised for the extreme weather, noting that the bus AC may not be able to cope with the severe temperatures predicted for today. Somewhat sadly, 31° no longer constitutes those desperate superlatives for any Penrithian so we were actually happy to hear that was what everyone was worried about. 31 we said to ourselves flippantly, walk in the park.
Forrest Estate was our first stop.
fun fact: they plant rose bushes at the end of the rows because they are so close to grape vines botanically speaking and the rose bushes become an indicator for the condition of the vines ... roses have bugs/disease = vines have bugs/disease.
best rose of the day here
next stop, Spy Valley
fun fact: The label for the US spy substation also located, apparently this is a cause for much discussion and acclaim/concern in the area, and the spy theme is used as a marketing tool. The wine bottles have Morse code messages on them. This was overall the best wine of the day, certainly the best Sav blanc but not my #1 pick for the day. Their Riesling had the most amazing kerosene nose. I could not believe how different the flavour was ... thankfully, I can't imagine a kero-tasting Riesling would be a big seller ;)
last, but not least, Wither Hills.
fun fact: this estate is in the Wairau Valley. Wairau translates to 'hole in the clouds' and is so named because this is the sunniest part of NZ.
This winery definitely wins the classy award for the day
and also, my choice of yummiest wine, a limited edition Frivoli. A fun Gewürztraminer is always a winner in my book. It's exhausting having all this fun! We were very happy to return to the ship for an early dinner.
MGM was the dinner-winner tonight, he had the most DElish escargot, followed by garlic lobster and chocolate souffle. We wandered around to see some musos play and part of a cabaret which we were told was a 'must' but turned out to be not very us. We preferred to stroll outside in the refreshing cool of the evening and watch north island on one side
AND the sunset over the south island, on the other side of the boat and we cruised through Cook straight.
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