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Published: April 3rd 2011
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Day 18 – Thursday the 31st of March
Today was “Wine Tour by Bike” day.
We woke up to the daily ritual of the Marlborough gas guns. It’s an incredibly loud gun powered by gas that lets off 3 loud shots every 20minutes from 7am till 7.30pm every day, something the locals of wine country are very use to. The lovely couple we were staying with were kind enough to warn us of these frequent bursts. It got to the stage we were counting the shots. We’re not sure how the locals do it; they’re probably immune to the sound.
We picked up our bikes at about 10.30, had our itinerary mapped out for us and off we pedalled. Had been over 9 years since Renee has rested her wee bottom on a bike saddle and it showed. The first few pedals were shaky and all over the place. Luckily the owners had a nice flat stretch of concrete to practice on.
First on the itinerary was Villa Maria, a winery that we were well acquainted with, as Matt’s work tend to give a few bottles every year for his Christmas present. It seemed to be the
All the grape varieties
Tasted them all in their nature's intended form. Only available all at the same time for two weeks of the year. Man we planned our honeymoon well!! first stop for most on their wine tour and when we arrived the cellar done was pretty busy. Aussies, Americans, Kiwi’s.........a popular vineyard. It may have helped that the lady behind the counter, Michelle, was bubbly and knowledge. So we bought a bottle of wine, put the helmets back on (a must on kiwi roads) and off to the next stop.
It was nearing lunch time and the bellies were rumbling. So Highfield seemed the perfect stop, it also came highly recommended. We sat and enjoyed lunch on the patio in the sun. Was a cute vineyard and seemed a popular lunch stop with the locals and other wine enthusiasts. You’ll never guess what Matt had. Yip...Blue Cod, but it came topped with an oyster, so score for Renee. We also had Rabbit for our entree, another newbie, and it was again surprisingly good. Then it was off to their cellar door, this vineyard was brand new to us so we were excited to see what they had it store. It was good, so good, that a case of wine later we left for some more pedalling.
We had a beautiful day with hardly any wind and the
sun beaming down. Was only the 2nd day that Renee’s legs came out of hibernation.
A few more wineries were on the list Gibson Bridge, Mahi, Framingham, Forrest, Isabel Estate, all in all a successful day with a few bottles from everyone except Isabel Estate....they were a bit too Oak driven for our tastes. Forrest were busy setting up for “The Grape Ride” a cycle run that rides for 100km through the vineyards.
A long cycle home included constant complaining from Renee that she had lost circulation in her behind. We had to stop though to watch a mechanical graper-picker at work. It was amazing to watch. It basically drives OVER the top of the vines chopping the lower hanging branches off that contain the grapes. Awesome sight to behold.
About 10 to 6pm we pedalled into the driveway. Yay, even though Renee is certain she won’t be walking straight for days, we had a great day and sooo much fun. Both of our Four-bottle wine holders were fill, that alone says it was a fantastic and successful wine tasting experience.
The evening ended with a can of lemonade, we were both wined out and a
Matt eating lunch at Highfield
The sunhats are provided complimentary, along with sunblock movie on the laptop. We were both exhausted and muscles we didn’t even know existed were aching.
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