The Alex & The Eleanor + 1

Wednesday January 2, 2008
Blenheim to Nelson
Sunny and Hot

Another lovely DIY breakfast, and we head for a couple more vineyards, it’s a very short drive to Nelson  so we have a bit of time. We start with Hunters, which a fairly well known one, the winemaker, Jane Nelson, was named best female winemaker in the world, I believe, recently. Her Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling were nice, the Riesling was very well balanced.

Next was Huia, a small producer with a very nice selection. In particular, they had some half bottles of Sauvignon Blanc from 2005 that they had produced for the US market that had not sold well so they were shipped back, and I am torn for being amazed that it did not sell, I am always on the lookout for well priced halved of white, but lucky for us, because the bottle age, esp. in the half was really lovely.

Next we hit Framingham, who doesn’t export to the US, but is known for the Rieslings, they do 4 different ones, a dry( 5.5% residual sugar) , an off dry (17% R.S.), and select (60% R.S.). The off dry was a real winner, though the select, although very sweet was remarkable well balanced. They also do a Botrytis Riesling that was nice.

Next was Forrest Estate, with another sweet but balanced Riesling and a nice Pinot Noir. We only tasted 6 of maybe 20 of there wines as it was hot and we have to drive, but I would have like to try the rest of there wines. We then hit the road for Nelson, stopping en route in Havelock for lunch. Recommended  to us by the locals on New Year’s eve, the Slip Inn was right in the Marina in the green lipped mussel capital of NZ. Seems like a place to try green lipped mussels of I ever heard one. They are much bigger and meatier then regular mussels, and seem to often be served on the half shell with toppings – we had a mixed platter with 8 different toppings, and some fish and chips. The toppings were plain, garlic and butter, bacon and cheese, camembert and cranberry, feta, tomato, and pesto. I know that’s not 8, but I can’t remember the last flavor. The garlic and butter was my favorite, though I liked the feta as well. The fish and chips were very tasty, very nice batter.

We then hit the road again and it seemed like it was going to a nice drive to Nelson. (scary foreshadowing music here) But then…. Alex (as driver) went to swat a fly from his leg and…. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH. It was a bee. It stung him. Bad bee! Bad bad bee! He pulls over and I frantically get the stinger out, but his hand is on fire, and neither of us have been stung in probably the last 20 years, so we can’t remember if its really just the the way its suppose to hurt, or I will have to start screaming, “Quick, whats the number for 911?” (its  111, just so you know) I take over the wheel and drive like a … well, like a Kiwi, as we wait to see if Alex’s hand merely hurts like hell, or starts to swell up. He might be mad at me for saying this, but luckily it only hurts like hell, and we stop at the next “town” (ie, a pub and a store) and get some ice and some antispectic cream. Note to self, get sting stuff for my kit. The ice seems to help put out the fire, and we continue on our way.

We get to Nelson and decide to head straight for the B&B we are staying at before exploring some. But although my guide book nicely has the location listed on the map, they are wrong, and we explore some windy suburban Nelson backroads. After getting sick of that, we change our plan and go back to town and hope to find a better map or a friendly local. This is one of the first times we have made it town before 5, so we have high hopes we can actually do some shopping, but it turns out the 2nd is a public holiday here as well, so some stuff is open, but not all that much. It’s a cute town though, and what stores are open sorta confirms what we were suspecting – the Kiwis, though a lovely friendly people, are not at the cutting edge of fashion, and there isn’t really anything that catches my eye. Even after 2 weeks without any shopping! We also, fabulously, find a detailed map that has the street our hotel is on, and it turns out its about 3 blocks from where we parked. Sigh.

We check in and find, gasp!, that there is free wifi. Shocking! And oh so fabulous. But the day is still young, or at least we still have many hours of sunlight left, and Alex’s hand, though still sore and getting itchy, is feeling better, we decide to check out the geographic center of NZ, which is handily about a kilometer away. It’s a fair hike, but a great view at the top over the harbor (largest fishing port in Austrasia) and the mountains beyond. Someday I will link the photos to the blog, so you can see what I am taking about.

We head back to town and start thinking about dinner, after 2 nights of fancy formal food, Indian sounds about right, and we walk to a place we had passed earlier. We get a mixed platter, because we are slightly silly and seem unable to grasp the idea of not over eating. There is a lot of food, all of it good and I stuff myself silly. We waddle home and crash.