Saturday 31st MarchWe get the ferry from Picton to Wellington and we're met by Justine who is one of the girls from my Africa trip. It's wonderful to see her and we chat away over drinks and dinner. She invites us to come up to parents place in Levin when we're passing through so we arrange to meet up in a couple of days.Sunday 1st AprilThe weather isn't great so we head to Wellingtons purpose built brand new museum, Te Papa, which is just massive...

Friday 30th March We take ourselves off on a wine tour on bicycles today. Well - it would be rude not to considering we're in the most famous wine region in New Zealand. Hee hee. We start off at Wither Hills and I try to sip appreciatively at the various wines before me even though it's 10'o'clock in the morning! We cycle along to Villa Maria, then Matua Valley and buy a bottle of chardonnay to go with dinner tonight. We're visiting Clare a...

Thursday 29th MarchWe drive to Picton today and take a boat out into the Marlborough Sounds. They are similar to Halong Bay, almost like an archepelago of islands. The boat trip is serene and we see penguins, seals and lots of birds. It's a bit more sedate than some of the other things we've been doing - I know this because everyone on the boat is at least 30 years older than us. But it's good fun and very entertaining watching the captain, who is pro...

Wednesday 28th MarchWe arrived in Nelson yesterday which is a cute little town around the size of Llandudno. We stay at a lovely hostel called Honeysuckle House which has a really comfortable feel to it. The lady who runs it has booked us on a horse riding trek so we trot off up there this morning (excuse the pun). We meet Susan who is our guide. I'd guess she was in her late 30's. She comes from the Channel Islands and used to be a merchant banker but ga...

Sunday 25th MarchWe have a lovely breakfast in the garden with Jean and Roger. I'll be sad to leave today. Jean shows us around the vineyard and we learn about how to test the grapes sugar levels. They have nets over their grapes to stop the birds getting in. There's also a wind machine and some diesel burners which are used if a frost sets in to help protect the grapes. We meet their two horses and their pony Sammy. They have hens, sheep and a peacock th...