We had a relatively early start with a taxi ride to the port. We giggled at the small group singing carols whilst we queued for the Interislander ferry from Wellington to Picton. The boat was rammed as they had one boat out of service and it also being a few days before Christmas. The journey was just over 3 hours and the scenery good as we approached Picton.

On arrival we picked up our 'new' car from omega. A silver Sunny with manual gearbox. I decided I liked automatics! We made the shortish journey to Blenheim and checked in to the Lugano Motor Lodge. The chap at reception was incredibly helpful and gave us advice on which wineries to visit.

We started by having lunch at Twelve Trees at Allan Scott. We sat in a sunny courtyard and had a more than civilised late lunch, washed down with a bottle of 'The Wallops' (I didn't have much mum!)

We then visited the Cloudy Bay winery. Being a household name we wanted to go there but were disappointed and stayed only a few minutes. We were keen to look at the wine making process and cellars but no one offered this - amazing! In France you'd not get to taste the wine without a tour!

We stopped to buy some fresh, juicy, nicest I've ever had cherries and I devoured quite a few! Still with time before the wineries closed we headed for Brancott estate who grew the first wines in the Marlborough region. We watched a short video about the history then looked out over the vines whilst Gary tried a glass of white.

I wanted to see the sea at Cloudy bay itself, so I drove across, it was a lot further than either of us had anticipated, and Gary made the most of it by going for a swim!

On returning to our accommodation we had GnTs and supper on balcony as the sun set on another day in NZ.