In order to get from Christchurch to Blenheim airport we had to travel via Wellington, which seemed a bit weird, but none the less it was fun as we got to travel on a scheduled flight that lasted 20 minutes which was a novelty.

We had arranged to be picked up from our hotel at 10am for an all day wine tour. Our first stop was at Cloudy Bay where we were served a very generous pouring of 2 of their sparkling wines, including a 2005 vintage, 2 whites, a red and a desert wine. We both really enjoyed it there.

Next we went to Wairura River for lunch and some further tastings before heading off to Framinghams, then no.1 and lastly Saint Clair's for yet more lovely tastings.

Due to a wedding going on in the hotel we were banished to our room for dinner, which isn't as bad as it sounds as we actually had a chalet type room with a living room, kitchen and dining table. Room service was excellent and we enjoyed just relaxing on our sofa after such a hard day wine tasting!

The next day we spent the whole day on foot traveling between 6 wineries having a tasting or 2 in each. Some charge $5 a tasting (for about 5 to 6wines) and others are complementary. We walked about 10k over 6hours and tasted about 40wines!! It was a fab day. We finished our day with a degustation menu with wine pairing at our hotel which was very good, although we were really stuffed with food and wine by the end and had to turn down the cheese course! There is a first time for everything.