Martinborough

We had planned to visit some of the wine country and Katherine graciously offered to drive us. This gave us the chance to hang out again as well, which was really great. Thankfully my bout with whatever I had the day before was gone. We had seen this interesting restaurant called FInc (Food Incorporated) down the street from the hotel on one of our walks and decided it would be great to try it for breakfast before Katherine came to pick us up. This place was great. I had ricotta and blueberry hot cakes with a berry compote while Ziad had French toast with Canadian (can you believe that?) maple syrup, bacon and haloumi cheese. Of course we both had a flat white coffee as well. The food was awesome, the atmosphere really cool and the staff great. Highly recommend this place if you're ever in Wellington. It's located Wakefield Street if I remember correctly. Our total bill came to $40 and was worth it!

We had a little time after breakfast still so we went back to Te Papa Museum so I could see some of the exhibits I missed the day before. It's quite an interesting museum with lots to see and it's too bad that I didn't have much time to explore it more. It's here that I learned that New Zealand is a relatively newly settled country with the first settlers coming from the Polynesian Islands somewhere between 700 to 2000 years ago. I really like learning these types of historical facts about places I visit. I also learned that the Kiwi Maori's have a slightly different dialect than the Cookie Maori's. The Kiwi Maori's say Kia Ora (hello) whereas the Cookie's say Kia Orana, which I think sounds better (sorry Katherine).

Anyway, the drive to Martinborough was about two hours through some very scenic lush green valleys and mountainous ranges. The road is very windy. It kind of reminded me of the Sea to Sky highway, except we didn't end up in Whistler. Along the way, we had to pull over because a herd of cows was making their way up the road either on their way to get milked or on their way back. They literally took over the entire road, traffic had to pull over in both directions. It was quite a scene, something I've never experienced before. We sat there for a good few minutes before the road was clear to drive on again.

When we arrived, we decided to visit Tirohana Estate for a little wine tasting and lunch. Unfortunately it was between growing seasons and so the vines were bare, but it was quite picturesque nonetheless. Another thing I learned was that New Zealand is known for their Pinot Noir wines. We tasted some wine, Ziad tried their Pinot Noir while Katherine and I tried the Chardonnay. I quite liked the Chardonnay, but didn't have much more than the taster glass because I still wasn't 100% sure if I would feel sick again. Ziad liked the Pinot Noir so much that he bought a bottle. In fact there is a cool story behind the bottle he bought. The 2007 vintage was just about ready for harvest, when bad weather hit and practically ruined the entire crop. They managed to salvage what they could and ended up producing and bottling only 100 1/2 litre bottles and Ziad now owns one.

It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day while we were there so we had lunch on their outdoor patio. Lunch was amazing. I had cream of tomato soup with fresh bread, Ziad had lamb shank with veggies and Katherine had Italian meatballs with a green salad. The food all tasted so fresh and home-cooked. The meal was capped off with some dessert. It was all just such a wonderful experience and the sunshine just made it all that much better. The staff at the vineyard was very attentive, knowledgable and very friendly. Our lunch bill came to $90, which included Ziad's glass of Pinot Noir. Very reasonable in my opinion for the quality of food served.

We didn't want to ruin this experience so we decided not to visit any other vineyards. Instead we stopped back in the town at the wine centre before heading back into Wellington. Again, something I did not know about New Zealand is that they are also an olive oil producing country. They not only sell regular olive oil, but also different infused oils. I purchased a bottle of lemon infused olive oil for myself (no I haven't had a chance to try it yet). Katherine dropped us off back in Wellington and we said our good-byes. I was sorry that it was time for this, but we'll keep in touch. It's now her turn to visit Vancouver.