There are Worse Ways To Spend a Day....

....than riding around the beautiful sunny Marlborough, NZ countryside on bicycles, tasting wine all day.

We've heard that NZ is serious about trying to do something about drinking and driving (there is currently a proposal to make the legal alcohol limit 0.5), so we opted for wine touring by bicycle.  We were picked up in the morning, got outfitted, and conferred with the oeprator as to the best route and stops....and off we went!

We visited everything from powerhouses like Cloudy Bay (which brought the world's attention to NZ's Sauvignon Blanc) to small family-owned wineries, including one that grew just 6 acres, all planted, tended, and harvested by hand, and only producing Pinot Gris, and another with a French winemaker that only makes sparkling wine (we definitely enjoyed this - and were pleasantly surprised!).

We stopped for a light lunch - this is your brain....and this is your brain on wine!

Seven hours of riding and sipping go by quickly, even in a horrible headwind (at the end of the day, naturally), and the thrill, if you can call it that, of riding along state highways (yes, 100kph) with virtually no shoulder (to be fair, people in the area seem very accustomed to cyclists on the road and whiz by giving you a pretty wide berth).  We experienced this from the other side of the coin today, as we drove for hours, trying just to keep our car within the lane of the two-lane highway with no shoulders, and then coming upon cyclists!

Then back to our hotel in Blenheim, the D'Urville.  Which used to be an early 1900s bank, which is now converted with about 10 rooms.  Apparently, we're so precious that our room (and several others in the area) have two doors - the door to the room, and a 6" thick vault door!  Apparently our rooms all fed into what was the central vault.

It's a gorgeous hotel, and great room - each one is different, and the historic building is fantastic!