Day 16 - 17 Fly to Blenheim/Renwick and explore the vineyards

We flew from Wellington to Blenheim.  Blenheim and the nearby town of Renwick, in which we stayed two nights, are in the Marlborough wine growing region at the top of the South Island of New Zealand.

The flight was a short one, about 30min.  We took a local shuttle from Blenheim airport to Renwick.  We stayed at the Olde Mill House Bed & Breakfast for 2 nights.  The couple that run the B & B also run a bicycle rental company so our stay at the B & B included the use of bicycles at no extra cost.   When we arrived in Renwick in early afternoon it was warm.  It is a dry wine growing region.  So soon after we arrived we got setup with our bikes and set out on a new adventure.  We rode the bikes and had some lunch at a local cafe and then, armed with a map of all of the wineries in the area, there are 150 plus, we rode to the first stop.   The first visit was the Forrest Winery.  We got there just in time to enjoy a wine tasting flight before they closed for the day.   

Our bicycles, not hi-tech, but effective

We enjoyed a meal of ribs at a local pub after our wine tasting.

On the next day we set off after breakfast at our B & B for some bike riding to our wine tasting stops of the day.  The country side in the area is beautiful with mostly flat landscape in the vineyards, but with hills and mountains in the backdrop surrounding the area.  

On this day we stopped at Gibson Bridge winery, Bladen winery, Nautilus Estate Winery and we finished with a stop at The Fancy Cow winery/distillery and restaurant.  At the Fancy Cow we had a gourmet pizza and followed it with a wine tasting !  We then rode back to our B & B and had a rest before heading out with a Canadian couple we met at the B & B for supper.   

The Bladen Winery was probably the highlight.  At that winery we were treated to having the daughter (and current full participant in the business with her brother) of the owners introduce the wines we tasted  and explain the history of each as well as that of the winery.  It is a very small family owned and run business.   

Here are some pics from our day: