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Marlborough wine region through to Tauranga
The wine tour began with us having to choose a bike. Lauren chose the Grandma bike as she's used to that at home. Nigel, the tour operator, gave us a planned route of the vineyards. We began at Wither Hills an established wine maker with a good viewing tower and barrel cellar. They had a good variety of wines to taste. The Montana and Mutua vineyards, ones you might have heard of, were closed. Continuing on we found Fromm vineyard an old school style, with a European wine making process being used. The Riesling was excellent, this due to their selective hand picking process suppossedly. For lunch we dined at Highfields Estate, a Tuscan style building raised up with great views of the area. We both donned the sunhats that were provided and thought how much Kay and Ian would have loved the setting and food. We had an amazing seafood chowder and cheese board accompanied by their award-winning Sauvignon Blanc 2007. Yum! Having now consumed a fair few glasses each we were feeling the effects. So we set off on our bikes the wrong way-it was a rubbish map, honest! The next stop was the Isabel vineyard, our favourite. As we negotiated their great dane Luna and long pebble drive on arrival we were pleased to have another glass in our hand. The Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir were the best we tasted and apparently this is because it appeals to a more feminine palette due to its softer texture. We both thought, given what the lady had told us, that Darsh would like it too!! They had an amazing Sauvignon Blanc dessert wine which happened to be a mistake initially. Mahi was the next vineyard we visited. A nice lady served us but from what we had already tasted it was only the Chardonnay that appealed. The Gibson Bridge winery was started by a guy who had bought the land with no experience of wine making. He has since won awards all over the world. The Pinot Gris 07/08 were both superb. We had a fairly long cycle back but lucky it was opposite to the morning ride because the wind was on our backs.
We had to leave the next morning for the ferry to the North Island at 4am. We almost over slept. Being so tired we slept the whole three hours of the ferry journey. We drove through Wellington and stopped at Taurangi to visit Barbara who was holidaying with her friend Leith. Over a cup of tea we chatted about what we had all been up to. Exchanging bungy stories for Auckland treks. It was great to see a familiar face in Barbara and thouroughly enjoyed both their company.
Then we made the 40 minute drive to Taupo, where we booked our skydive. Being picked up in a battered Limo , Lauren said "this could be embarrassing, I'd rather a normal car. At least in that we wouldn't be drawing attention to ourselves". Signing our death certificates in the back felt like a common occurence. The staff kept on asking us if we were nervous. We weren't in the slightest (perhaps the bungy had something to do with it) so we opted for the 15,000 ft tandem jump. Once again we donned our unattractive attire but Lauren was pleased to get an experienced male instructor. We crammed in the plane and with great views on the way up, it was a great way to see Taupo and the surrounding area. Due to Taupo being the centre of the North Island, from 15,000 ft you can see the east and west coast of NZ at the same time. The freefall was easily the highlight of the skydive. As doing it from 15,000ft allowed over a minute before we opened our parachute. Taking in the views on the way down, being such a beautiful day, we were very lucky to be able to see everything. Back on the ground we found it hilarious watching the dvd back as the wind resistance made our faces contort but Lauren was pleased to hear that it even happens to Jennifer Anniston!
We left for Rotourura to find a few missed calls on each of our phones. Being 3am back home we were naturally worried. As it happened, Si and Pressy had been on a night out with Si making a citizens arrest while Pressy bought them a couple of cheese burgers. We could tell they were wasted proving the point was the fact that they both started the night with 200 quid each and had nothing was left! Fair play lads.
We were picked up at 9am the next morning to do our white water rafting on part of the river called Kaituna, a catogory 5 river with the higest commercially raftable waterfall in the world at 7metres and 14 drops in total. We still can't forget Steve's "near drowning" experience whilst white water rafting with Big Al in Australia. We had Matt as our instructor and four others in the raft-two townies from North Devon, neither realising their paddles had to be in the water to move the raft and with timing as good as a fake Casio, this wasn't a great combination. We were in the middle of the boat and behind us were a couple from Ireland (they sounded Welsh) who took instructions as well as a disobedient deaf dog. The whole experience was great fun, the highlight being the 7metre drop where we successfully came through without capsizing. We still managed to take a gallon of water up our noses. Another trick they did was make us kneel at the front of the raft into a cascade on the river, drenching both of us. During our way down there were two tandem Kayaks each with their own instructor. Looking like they were having a more dynamic adrenaline fuelled experience of the river, Ben decided he wanted to give it a go. Being the only place you can tandem Kayak down a grade 5 river, it was one he couldn't let pass. Instructor Tim, a man mountain, was great. The Kayak offered a more energetic ride with non-stop paddling, capsizing and more manouverable turns. Also ten times as much water went up your nose. It was well worth it.
We're currently in Tauranga, hoping to swim with Dolphins tomorrow and take in a bit more scenery before heading to Auckland.
Until next time.....
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