Thursday, October 4th
We are right in the heart of the Marlborough wine region which is especially well known for its Sauvignon Blancs but also produces Chardonnays, Reislings and Pinot Noirs among others.
Tom mapped out a 25 mile ride for us that would travel through a very dense winery area with many cellar doors. Flat as can be here as long as you stay in the valley, so that sounded like a nice easy day. As you can see, the valley is inside some quite steep mountains, a few of which are still snow-capped.
It was chilly when we set out but we soon warmed up as we struggled to push against a fierce headwind that plagued us right up until we got into the winery area. We stopped at Nautilus because they are not one of the big names, and they were advertising a cheese plate. We were both tired and hungry so the “Cheese Plates” sign confirmed the choice of that winery. We were quickly set up in a lovely seating area with a nice spread to enjoy while our tasting was brought to us.
Might just be the most enjoyable tasting we’ve ever had and the wines were pretty decent as well.
We pedaled on and after a few more miles stopped at Allen Scott. We’ve had some of their wines in restaurants and enjoyed them. The winery dog was happy to see us and the tasting was quite good.
Heading home Tom spotted a “Real Fruit Ice Cream” shop. We’ve seen that quite a bit but have yet to give it a try and the timing just seemed right for our first NZ ice cream.
No discussion needed, 2 smalls with a chocolate wafer
Intense strawberry flavor, made in a machine with fresh hydroponic strawberries. Delicious!
Back at the bach we had a nice chat with our hosts. They are mountain bikers and e-bike owners. Tom took a ride on one and came back with a big smile! We’ve seen quite a few e-bikes here on the trails. I would have appreciated that little motor with the wind this morning. Chatting with them about the earthquakes was a bit disconcerting. Tremors are frequent and they had a 7+ magnitude just a couple of years ago. Their house held up just fine so that was good to hear, but the neighbor’s chimney fell into his house and the roof had to be redone.
The coastal roads in and out of Christchurch were closed for nearly a year and are still being rebuilt; but as they are rebuilding the road they are putting in a bike path next to it so there will be a 100+ Km path along the coast from Kaikoura all the way to Christchurch.
Friday, October 5th
Our bach owners gave us some great tips for rides in the area and Tom took those tips and again turned out a good ride plan. There is a shortcut to a trail that you can reach right from this neighborhood. The trail heads to town in one direction and to a dam and mountain bike park in the other. We set off first for the dam and it was pretty decent riding although there was one rather interesting challenge along the way.
We back tracked a bit from the dam and headed for the mountain bike park. After spending a very small amount of time on their “easy” track we decided to go hunt down a cafe in town that the bach owners had mentioned! And a good choice that was. The trail into town is a paved delight through lovely parks and leading right into downtown Blenheim and this
Case of wine is tucked away in the car and we depart for Kaikoura tomorrow.
Sign for the day, from the mountain bike park
