Predictably, on the day we had planned to do a long walk it was raining. Joined our fellow guests for breakfast: a delightful, youngJapanese couple who spoke good English and got the camera out to document every course.The eggs Benedict was yummy, and Annelise was pleased with herself as, gulp, she tried the granola and liked it!

Small issue to start the day was returning the bikes in the rain. Needless to say, I volunteered to cycle them back - 2 journeys - whilst Annelise followed in the car, revving encouragement. Spent the rest of the morning in an internet café with sulking backpackers, booked next few nights of accommodation and some glacial activities (more on this tomorrow).

Headed off to the local vineyard for a snifter with lunch. Rippon is reputed to be the world's most beautiful setting for a vineyard, and it would definitely take some beating. The tasting facility was little more than a garden shed, with a young hoodie running the show. Being in central Otago, the best grape to grow is Pinot Noir, so we sampled their young and old vine brew. The guide told us how to distinguish them and then we did the pepsi challenge and got it right. No pressure to buy wine, so we didn't. But we did get a handy souvenir corkscrew. Lovely spot and the old vine PN was very palatable.

It was still raining and scooterman unavailable, so hung a right down the next dirt track to the lakeside and found a deserted spot to have a picnic. We had a bottle of PN with us but - OMG! - no glasses. In a fit of survival initiative that comes only from watching a lot of Ray Mears, I hacked an old water bottle in half to form two receptacles which could function as wine glasses.

After lunch drove on to lake Hawea: weather was foul, so came back for a power nap. Later once the rain had finally stopped I went for run along the shore and returned to find Annelise propping up the breakfast bar with our charming hosts, Michael and Carla. Michael had established his own vineyard and clubbed together with 3 friends with vines to harvest enough grapes to have their own label.

Decided to go for an early dinner, preceded by a glass of Mount Charlotte Otago PN and a Monteith pilsner. Opted for a quick pad thai. Annelise was genuinely very excited by tomorrow's glacier walk so went to bed very early!