An 11 seater bus arrived with Chris driving. Out first stop was Allan Scott, a well known Marlborough wine maker. He has a restaurant also, and that was where we had our first tasting, followed by an excellent lunch. Our fellow tasters joined us there.
The restaurant.
Once we has assembled, we moved on to our next stop, the Nautilus vineyard
This nautilus like structure is used by some sea creatures to protect and incubate their eggs. When it dries out, washed up on a NZ shore, as here, the structure is strong but not as hard as a shell.
In the bio vines at Seresin some South African visitors were having a stroll
A typical scene
The other vineyards we visited were Framingham, Seresin Estate, no 1 Family Estate on the Wairau river and Lawsons Dry Hills. The majority of the grapes grown here are Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, or Pinot Noir with a number of other minor varieties, for example gewurztraminer and riesling grown alongside.
It was certainly a great way to spend what had promised to be a rainy day, although the weather improved as we went along.
The next day, we took another train, the Coastal Pacific from Picton to Christchurch. The journey wasn't as long as the Northern Explorer - 5.5 hours and took us back to Blenheim, through the vinyards and then on down the coast.
Before we left Picton, we climbed up a hill to get views over the harbour.
The inter islander had just arrived
Vinyards between Picton and Blenheim from the train
They we turned towards the coast and could see North Island on the horizon
The salt has an interesting colour in these salt pans
Along the coast, we saw dolphins playing and seals on the rocks
Birds got in on the act too - by now the weather was deteriorating.
The Waimakariri river as we approached Christchurch
The train stops outside Christchurch now so we needed a taxi to reach our apartment.
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