Easter Monday 28 March, Suz's Birthday Tour with Captain Colin Today is a special day for Suz, her birthday, and so Captain Colin has volunteered to drive today on a tour of the Marlborough wine region, including a nice lunch. The first stop is at a chocolate factory, Makana Confections, which actually does not take long to inspect. Perhaps the ladies were not too impressed. Just across the road is the St Clair Family Estate, Vineyard Kitchen where coffee was a...

Easter Sunday 27 March, Day Off in Wairau Valley. Kathy & Tony are taking it easy today and sit around the heated pool enjoying the sunshine and 25°C. A good opportunity to catch up with postcards etc. The afternoon is equally relaxed but we take a stroll up the road, past the tavern, to the old church which has some interesting headstones. Some are sad, documenting drownings or early childhood deaths, but many others had a good innings. The lavender a...

Saturday 26 March, Christchurch to Wairau Valley near Blenheim. Today we leave Jeff & Marg in their lovely Burwood home and head north along the coast through Cheviot, Kaikoura and Blenheim, and then 45 minutes west up the Wairau river to Wai Natur. In total a distance of 318km taking over 4 hours to drive. The day is cool, only reaching 19°C, but bright and good for driving. We stop in Kaikoura for lunch and find a busy seaside town, plus the local sc...