Thursday, February 5
More rain was disappointing but tempered when Robert fixed a delicious hearty farm breakfast complete with free-range farm eggs and farm bacon. (In most hostels/backpackers we stay there are two garbages - one for trash and the other for food scraps - for the pigs!) In preparation for the next day's regional Hawkes Bay wine festival, we did a little tsting of our own, discovering several very nice wines along the way. We also had a yummy lunch at the Terroir Restaurant at the new $60 million Craggy Range winery. Returning to the far, we found our luck had run out and two new guests had arrived.
Friday, February 6
Finally, the sun's out!!! After another fab farm breakfast we went horse back riding. Along with a guide we toured some of the 3,000 acres of rolling hillside populated by wild goats, sheep and cows along the Pacific coast. All that riding prepped us well for an afternoon of more tasting - giddy-up!
Saturday, Feburary 7
After a night at the Gannet Cottage in Clive, we stopped off at the Village Farmer's Market in Havelock North at the Black Barn Vineyard. We picked up provisions for a later roadside picnic on the way to the next wine region of Martinborough (where we arrived late in the day for a few tastings of the choice variety of Pinot Noir). Our lodgings couldn't have been finer. We stayed in the magical home of Odette and Ken Trigg. Rossglyn Homestay had a charming hostess who regaled us with stories of her family, 98-year-old mother and her journeys around the world. Her retired Queen's Guard husband Ken was away, but fortunately Odette had a cat larger than her dog, many doves and two peacocks for company! After the stories and some tea with homemade cookies, we walked to the town center for a delicious meal at the Est Wine Bar.
Sunday, February 8
While enjoying Odette's hearty English breakfast, our cellphone rang and Robert got the exciting news about the early arrival of Baby Betz (who's just beautiful). Then after a couple more wine tastings and lunch in the car, we were en route to Wellington.