It's All About Wine

Cafe culture is going strong in Napier, and it seemed like everyone in the city was out and about Saturday morning. This made for great people watching until it was time to head for the vineyards. Our group consisted of 2 Americans, 3 South Africans, and 2 kiwis, so we had a diverse (accent wise) group, and that made for some fun conversation, especially as the day went on.

We went to 4 wineries and a brewery and tasted a large variety of wines, our favorites included...
Matariki- Chardonnay, dessert Reisling
Ngatawara-Merlot/Cab
Askerne-Cabernet Sauvignon, dessert Cab

The wineries were all very nice, and the cheese plate half way through came at just the right time to soak up some of the quickly setting in alcohol. I think our driver was the only one who spit any wine out(legally obliged), the rest of us went along drinking, it's not like we were judging a contest or anything!



Our final stop was at a local brewery where Michelle enjoyed a really tasty pear cider and Evan tried a ginger beer, I know it's not alcohlic, but it was so good! We chatted with our group for a good while and receieved a primer on the rules of cricket for our upcoming match in Melbourne.

More random thoughts...
People walk around without shoes everywhere - the grocery, airport, etc.
Stores all around NZ close at 5:30 on weeknights. Towns feel deserted especially since it's summer and bright out until after 9pm.
Hostels have been very nice here. I have a feeling that we're getting spoiled. Everything has been very clean and the people are very friendly. We have our own cubbies in the kitchen to store our food and access to all kitchen amenities.