Wine O'Clock

We enjoyed a bit of a sleep in and reorganized/repacked all of our gear before heading out of Havelock. We grabbed a bite to eat for brunch in Picton, another town along the Marlborough Sounds.

Our journey continued to Marlborough, which is a wine making region of New Zealand. We stopped for tastings at five vineyards – Whither Hills, Villa Maria, Highfield Estate, Isabel Estate and Te Whare Ra. Our favorites were definitely the Sauvignon Blancs and the Pinot Noirs. We purchased a couple bottles of “Sav” to share during the remainder of our trip.
Our next destination was about 3 hours away so we got back on the road towards Westport. Along the way we spotted a sign for the longest swing bridge in New Zealand. I’m certainly not a fan of swing bridges, but when we saw another sign for a flying fox ride back we decided to take in a little adventure. A flying fox is essentially a harness ride across a cable. It was lots of fun but we were attacked by mosquitoes (it was becoming a regular occurrence) which wasn’t so enjoyable. Once we arrived in Westport we checked into our motel and drove to a restaurant that the motel owned recommended. The restaurant was called Porto Bella and the meal was certainly the best that any of us had enjoyed at that point.

Stay tuned – coming up soon is our adventures at Franz Josef Glacier!