Jetlagged in a good way and wine, wine, wine, wine 🍷 ...

Hannah and I made it to New Zealand! After feeling like I narrowly avoided a cavity search going through the many customs screenings (seriously, we were pulled aside and specially checked for explosives, we went through x-rays where I was questioned about my Australian peanut butter, then a nosey dog pulled me aside accusing me of smuggling meats or cheeses that could kill unsuspecting kiwis), we got on the fanciest shuttle bus I’ve seen to our hostel. We checked in, unloaded, washed up, and walked to find a ATM and a place for dinner. We happened to pick out what must be the hip place to be called The Rockpool, which is a big restaurant and bar with pool tables in the back and lots of tables in front for people to have dinner. We both ordered steaks that came with salad and chips (fries) and wine. We also split a brownie and got mulled wine for dessert. We then returned to the hostel and promptly went to sleep.
     

 

This morning, we woke up, got ready, and walked to find a place to get a SIM card, a NZ hoodie, and breakfast. We found all three, and returned to our hostel to get picked up by our tour.
    


    


Our tour guide Sue picked us up at 12:20 outside our hostel and as we drove, she told us all kinds of things about Christchurch. We stopped and picked up Marcus and Kelly, a police sergeant and high school math teacher who happened to be from Long Beach, California. Sue drive us to the Waipara Wine region, where throughout the day we visited 4 wineries: Waipara Springs, Greystone/Muddy Waters, Waipara Hills, and Pegasus Bay Winery. We had a delicious lunch (pictured below) at the first winery.
 

My favorite winery was probably Pegasus Bay because they had a merlot/Malbec blend that I enjoyed. It was our last winery of the day, and they have beautiful grounds and an award winning restaurant on site. We also ended up having Trump discussions instead of wine tasting notes at our last stop, and it was refreshing to learn Kelly and Marcus felt similarly to Hannah and I about our current president.



After our last tasting, Sue drove us back to Christchurch and dropped us off at a grocery store. Hannah and I bought food for dinner and breakfast the next few days, and walked home as the rain started to fall. We got back to the hostel, prepared dinner, and chilled out for the evening. Tomorrow is the Akaroa Tour, including the Banks Peninsula.

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