Under the Vines

Friday 27 December

Beautiful sunrise over the vines this morning - a perfect start to a lovely sunny day.

I had a wander between the rows of vines - so peaceful and pretty. After a few days of sitting & eating and a bit of travel my knees have been playing up so, after a croissant for breakfast, feeling very French) I tried a bit of yoga in the sunshine which felt good, before settling down to work on the website. Love my new office!

Headed into Blenheim so Louis could swim at the outdoor pool and I could get a few bits we needed. Blenheim is a funny town - the railway line literally runs straight through the middle - even crossing the centre of the main roundabout. While we were there we saw the Southern Explorer (one of the Great Train Journeys of the World) pass through heading north, then about half an hour later it held us up at the railway crossing on SH1 as it headed back south again!

Wandering around Blenheim trying to sort out my drug prescription (proved complicated) I was struck by the number of murals - they were pretty cool!

Being Twixmas many of the cafes were shut, but we got lunch at Ritual Cafe which promised more than it delivered - we loved the Mickey Mouse coffee sign!

Back at Banjo we had a wee siesta then got the bikes down and went for a leisurely cycle around the neighbourhood - apart from a speedway track and the odd house it was vines as far as the eye could see - an amazing landscape. Fascinating how some vineyards were lush and bushy whilst others were serried ranks of neatly trimmed and flat topped vines! Personal choice or grape type? I’ve no idea!

I was very taken with the share the track sign - with the earnest cyclist and the pissed pedestrians toasting each other with glasses of wine as they walked!

Outside Nautilus was a beautiful wire metal sculpture which looks like it lights up after dark - I want to go back and see that, it'll be gorgeous!

Cycling the back roads was so quiet and we only saw 2-3 cars along the way - hard to believe this is the height of the summer season!

Dinner in the dying sunshine of the day then a long wait for Abby & Jeremy to arrive not long after midnight. The wind had been gusting much of the afternoon and evening with us, but the other side of the Cook Strait it had been blowing a hooley across the North Island and several ferry sailings had been cancelled, so it was touch and go whether their crossing would happen. In the end, it was probably only slightly rougher than ours and they found their way to the vineyard around 12.30am.