We took two days off work and headed on a 4 day break with Rukshan de Silva and Tracey Anthony for some wine touring in the Hawke's Bay.

We rented a cute little Townhouse in the heart of the wine region; Hastings, which was oddly enough not all that dissimilar from Hastings in England. On our first night we took a trip to the local Pac N' Save (supermarket), where men with towels as lower body clothing, stood around in groups, staring at people rather disconcertingly……. this area of town appropriately named 'St. Leonards'!

Friday we took an 'On Yer Bike' tour of the Gimblett Gravels, exploring 9 vineyards & wineries on bikes, one of which was a tandem! We all had so much fun, with no need to decide on a designated driver.

Saturday we took a trip towards Havelock North to sample more wines, this time we started quite early and by 11:30am, felt very tipsy so decided to break to see what else the area had to offer; big hill with amazing views & cute village. We had lunch at a fab winery called Blackbarn, where we dined outside under some vines and enjoyed our meals with their wine matches! This was all very sophisticated and of course expensive. Saturday afternoon we continued with some more wine tasting, then Sunday morning, we decided to concentrate on food; exploring the local farmers market with all it had to offer. We had to make some second trips to a few wineries to replenish the stock which we'd drunk!! Sunday afternoon we took a trip to the Cape Kidnappers on the coast and attempted to explore some of its wineries, however only managed to get tastings in 1 of the 4. Sunday evening we indulged in a huge platter (mostly purchased from the Market), consisting of cheeses, chutneys and generally yummy food. After some Charades and Pictionary, at midnight we got a second wind, finished the desert platter and washed it down with some desert wine.

We had such a fab weekend, completely overindulged but have developed a whole new appreciation for wine! Who would have thunk it!? Our bank balance is certainly delighted the weekend is over, but with a case of wine, oils, chutneys and avocados to show for it!!

In other news, we're now officially in drought. This is good news for the wine, however not so good for the farmers. We've also got a complete fire ban and water restrictions and no rain forecasted for at least the next 5 days…..