Marlborough Region

     Next up on mine and Robyn's agenda was to head to the Marlborough wine region.  Robyn is a big fan of their Sauvignon Blanc and really wanted to do a wine tour.  We left Franz Josef by bus to Greymouth.  From there we took the TranzAlpine Rail to Christchurch spent one evening there and headed to Picton via the Coastal Pacific Rail on November 4th.

Stops along the bus ride:

 Stopped at the National Kiwi Centre and was able to see the nocturnal kiwi.

TranzAlpine:

Coastal Pacific:

Picton is a small town with a port to get from the South Island to the North Island.

     On November 5, 2013, Robyn and I were picked up in the morning for our wine tour.  I like wine, but I cannot drink too much.  Luckily we were taught how to taste the wine and was encouraged to spit it out in order to be able to try more.  My favorite is dessert wine and I definitely did not spit any of that out.  Our lunch was so amazing!  Delicious meats and cheeses from the region.  Really fun day! Definitely recommend a wine tour in the Marlborough region even if you're not much of a wine drinker like me.

     On November 6, we took a ferry through the Cook Straight from the North Island to the South Island.  It was a pretty rough ride.  Fortunately for me, I fell asleep for most of it or I would have definitely done some puking!  Beautiful sites along the way when I was awake.  Onward to Wellington!

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these". -George Washington Carver