It had rained a little over night and some low clouds hung over the bay as I walked around Picton’s foreshore this morning. I have loved the walks around here. But it is time to move on to our next destination.
Before we caught our bus, we had time to do some laundry at the local laundromat.
We (well Mick) almost got into a fight yesterday when we visited said laundromat to find out how the machines worked and what change we would need.
There was a machine that changed notes into coins, so Mick decided to change a $5 note (despite the sign in red capital letters), and we started to leave. The owner then came out from behind the building and approached us asking why we had changed money and not done any washing. Oops.
He went on to say how he has to drive to ‘somewhere’ (a long way away apparently and he doesn’t like doing it) to get the coins for his laundromat.
Mick assured him we would be back tomorrow and he seemed to be ok with that. Phew.
While we waited for our washing and for our bus, we spent some time in the local library, which were almost next door to each other. It was a real find. Nice and warm, free WIFI, comfy seats, a community jigsaw puzzle which I thought Mick would love to do and a group of women with spinning wheels and crochet hooks that kept me mesmerised for awhile.
While I was sitting quietly in the library during washing and drying segments, I was approached by an elderly, long-bearded man who asked if he could sit in the comfy chair I had saved for Mick (who was off perusing the shelves and shelves of jigsaws available for borrowing here). Of course I said yes. The chair was facing the main street, in front of large windows giving a great view of what was happening outside, and was bathed in sunshine. Perfect.
He was keen to tell me that his family (of Scottish origin) were some of the first settlers in Picton. He went on to say that the hill out the window was named after his family. He said he’d come back to Picton to retire.
When we returned after morning tea, he was still sitting in that chair. Obviously it is his ritual morning activity, and I’m pretty sure if he had found Mick in it earlier there may have been words.
For morning tea, Mick tried a New Zealand speciality – a Louise Cake, with shortbread crust, jam filling and a coconut meringue topping.
I remember my mother used to make something very similar.
Verdict – Delicious!
The Intercity bus arrived a little bit late, but there were only a few passengers and the bus driver was not worried that we’d be arriving late. After we loaded our bags and found our seats and made ourselves comfortable, it was just about time to get off.
Yes it was not very far!!
We spotted rows and rows of vines about 10 minutes out of Picton, all with the leaves turning orangey brown – ready to fall off in the next few weeks.
We will spend three nights in Blenheim (pronounced blen’em.)
As we got off the bus we spotted this sign. And it had us hooked. Challenge accepted!!
After settling into our hotel and exploring the main street, we went back here and had a blind tasting of a white and a red wine.
This challenge occurs here at Fidelio’s each Tuesday.
We were given a glass of each wine and a scoring sheet. We had to get each of the three questions right – variety, country and vintage if we wanted to get them for free.
Mick scored the white wine and got 2 out of 3 correct. The sommelier was very impressed. Mick guessed it was a Riesling from New Zealand but thought it was a 2015 based on its very yellow colour (however he was confused as it did not have the nose of an old Riesling). The vintage was 2021.
I guessed the red wine was a Montepulciano from Italy and a 2021 vintage. Again 2 out of 3 correct; the vintage was 2019. Again the sommelier was impressed because even some wine makers had not guessed the variety.
We will go back to Fidelio possibly tomorrow after our wine tour. They had an interesting menu and an amazing wine list.
Dinner tonight was at Gramado’s – a Brazilian restaurant that we had been told about by people on the Queen Charlotte cruise with us. While it was not too far from where we are staying, we got there via a taxi as we would have had to walk along the highway.
It was amazing.
Starting from the right (the red ball shaped ones) – the chillies ranged in heat from 0 to 17. We tried most of them and coped quite well.
It was a wonderful experience with great service.
But it’s time for bed. Good night.
Jane and Mick's Holiday Adventures 
I suppose you have to careful when blind tasting; too much and you go blind.
Boom Boom Christopher