New Zealand - Day Three

Day Three - Monday 3rd May 2010

Yesterday we travelled from Christchurch to Kaikoura (181klms) and arrived in the dark, found a lookout and stayed there the night.

This morning we woke up early so WH could get some sunrise photos. This was our view from the bedroom, lounge room, dining room and kitchen! At this stage I am thinking that the Motor home might be a really good thing!

After breakfast we packed up house and moved on. We drove through the town and had a look around.

Today was wine country day and I thought we should wait until mid morning at least before we started wine tasting!

This Church was beside the highway with beautiful views to the ocean! Everything was so neat and green around this area!

Next stop Montana Cellar Door.

I could live here, the building is gorgeous and the gardens are fantastic!

We tasted the selection that was on offer for the day (pleased to say that we weren't the only ones tasting wine before lunch!) and we bought a few bottles, fortunately the cellar door had a playground for the kids to run around in, so Nicholas was happy too!

Next stop Blenheim town centre to find a map of the surrounding area and decide on what we wanted to see. Blenheim reminds me of Mudgee in NSW Australia and the Hunter Valley in NSW Australia. There are a lot of cellar doors in the area and plenty of choices. We decided to drive around, sticking to the main road and stopping at another two cellar doors to do some tasting and just admiring the rest as we drove.

Wither Hills was an impressive cellar door and the lady who served us was fantastic, she was friendly and knowledgeable making the experience even more enjoyable!

Wither Hills had a great area outside on the beautifully manicured lawns with bean bags and low tables where you could kick back and enjoy a drink or a meal! It looked so inviting, however it was time to move on again!

Unfortunately no playground here so Nicholas patiently waited by the fire.

Next stop - Saint Clair Cellar Door. This cute cellar door was nowhere near as big as the first two but it was lovely and welcoming. The outdoor eating area was lovely and we stopped here for lunch as well. I think we could have happily stayed here for longer in the sunshine enjoying the garden, the views and the wine but the road was calling! Given the short length of the days and the amount of travelling and activities we wanted to do in our two short weeks we really had to keep moving along!

We arrived in Picton late in the afternoon, stopped for a wander around the town and for some coffee. We decided that we would stay here for the night and get an earlier start in the morning.

We think this was meant to be Mickey Mouse (Donald Duck was standing close by) but something about his ears was not quite right!

Kaikoura to Picton (157klms)

Well I hope you are still awake and have stuck around for the end of Day 3.

Thanks for your patience! xx