A very memorable day for me, Southern Hemisphere Birthday Celebration (a day early from the states). Our hosts deliver our breakfast to our cottage this morning, warm croissants, fresh juice, coffee and a beautiful fruit plate.
Then onto a once in a lifetime (yes, I mean that) “Wine Tours by Bike” a business also run by our hosts and included with our accommodation. There are more than 17 cellar doors within a 30-minute bike ride of us. Steve has many bike options; from the standard fat tire bikes, to tandems, adult tricycles and some sort of strange two-person side by side thingy. Dick opts for the regular bike, but I am not certain of my biking skills at this point, let alone after several wine tastings, so I opt for the tricycle. The tricycle is supposed to be more stable, however navigation is totally opposite what you do on a regular bike, meaning – no leaning into turns, you go where you steer – not at all intuitive after 50+ years of bike riding and on bumpy gravel paths. As it is a self-guided tour, we could take our time and we kept to just a couple of wineries that were off the bike path, not on a main rode. There were many memorable experiences today, such as the running into a pine tree and almost going into a creek; but no scars and a good time was had by both of us.
At the second winery, Giesen, we are standing next to three people who sound vaguely American. When we ask where they are from, they say Pennsylvania, then we ask where, and they say Pittsburgh, and then we say where, and they say South Hills, and then we say where, and they say Mt. Lebanon. Looks like we live about 3 miles away from each other, I guess it really is a small world.
Once we, and the bikes safely returned, we opted to take the car and visit Moa Brewery for a quick beer for the craft beer lover, he has been ever so understanding regarding the wines.
We take our hosts up on their offer to drive us to the restaurant this evening and we will get a cab home, so no one needs to drive. Honestly, they think of everything to make your stay great!
We had dinner at Arbour, a wonderful restaurant in Blenheim, and decided to do the “just feed us”, chefs tasting with wine pairing, excellent.
When we get home, I find that Jo left us some cake and candles to celebrate my birthday – how nice.
Mary
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Birthday in the Marlborough region for Mary. I’d guess a dream come true.
Activity for the day is a biking wine tour of the local area. Mary’s described it well. It’s a beautiful day with a nice breeze, the trail is easy and not crowded, all the wineries are good fun, and the wines fantastic. Hard to beat.
I’ve been looking forward to checking out the Moa Brewery, just down the road. Doesn’t disappoint – good beers and a cool scene.
Dick