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 available. But the girls are distracted by Pataka - The Food Store, which is next door and sells cheeses, gourmet pickles etc. including black garlic. This shop merits closer inspection than our first stop, but eventually we are all in the café for a morning coffee. One of the founding wine families in the district, the St Clair wines we tasted were excellent.

Driving a short distance west brings us to one of New Zealand's best known and well regarded wine labels, Cloudy Bay. Being such a popular spot, the winery has a tasting fee, so we split the tastings and K&T try white and reds respectively. The alfresco area was very pleasant on this sunny day with plantings, a grassed area and large trees. The laid back atmosphere was emphasised by the hanging pod basket chairs that were just perfect for relaxing, and photographing! We also learn that the iconic scene depicted on Cloudy Bay bottles is based on a photograph taken of the mountains and Wairau Valley. We try to reproduce the scene in our own photos, but without much success.

Just across the road was another winery, Allan Scott Family Winemakers. A very classy frontage, and a well-regarded restaurant. We had not booked but just managed to get a table upstairs, very lucky on Easter Monday. We order, then choose which wine we would like with lunch. Our pasta, salmon and salad dishes arrive, all excellent.

Our last wine tasting stop is further west again, at Nautilus Estate. A very welcoming, family run business, the wine making and cellar are explained by a very helpful lady. We only try one or two wines but again they are very good. Like Cloudy Bay, Nautilus is available in Perth, and in fact we chose it as one of the Wines for Kathy's 60th birthday dinner at "Chez Pierre" in Nedlands.

Everything is quite close and convenient in the Marlborough Wine District so again, just across the road is Wairau River Wines. We don't try any wine, but the café looks inviting and it is tea time. We take afternoon tea on the patio and there is a surprise "birthday cake" for Suz including the words "Happy Birthday" thanks to Kathy bringing along the decoration to place on top of the cake. We head back to Wai Natur but don't need a big evening meal after our gourmet lunch. Cheese & nibbles then, and perhaps just one more glass of wine?