Starting South Island Sightseeing

Busy day today, up at 6:00am to do the following 3 things:

1. Caught the Cook Strait ferry from Wellington to Picton - very scenic ferry journey through the Marlborough sounds.

Photo: View of Wellington from back of the Cook Strait Ferry

2. Sampled wine at 4 of the Marlborough region vineyards (Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay mainly).

3. Picturesque drive along East coast of the South Island to Kaikoura in preparation for our whale watching trip tomorrow.

Would write more and post photos but so sleepy now... sAJasdzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Hunter Valley Happiness

Hunter Valley - home to over 300 wineries. 3 things I learnt about the region;

1. Vines are meant to survive in harsh climates - they grow around other plants and outcompete them for sunlight and nutrients. In a sense, you don't want a large yield of grapes as the flavour compounds held within the grapes are then spread out over lots of grapes and diluted down.

2. Hunter Valley Semillion and Shiraz tastes pretty unique. The Wyndham Estate Semillion has a very acid / sharp finish. Wyndham Estate Hunter Valley Shiraz actually tastes of olives rather than the usual peppery plum fruit.

3. Hunter's also famous for it's cheeses. However, given it costs around £10-20 for a block of cheddar or brie, I wasn't too keen to buy cheese. Buying wine can get fairly expensive in Hunter Valley (even though you're practically buying it at source!)