Our tour guide was originally English but had lived in this part of New Zealand for 38 years, so certainly knew the area. Due to the train time being a little early our tour started with a coffee in one of the Martinborough cafes. Then we went to two different wineries - Te Kairanga and Muirlea. The photos are at TK, and the weather was again wonderful.
Back to Martinborough for a great lunch at a different cafe (across the street from the first one), then on to two more wineries in the afternoon - Schubert Wines and Murdoch James Estate. Of the wineries we visited, Murdoch James estate was the largest, but it still fell within the boutique winery definition. They were all lovely, and the children were fun!To finish the day off we went to a third cafe in Martinborough for a cheese tray and tea/coffee. I think the wine tours must be the main basis of Martinborough's commerce. Then our bus picked up a few others (as it also functions as a shuttle to the train) and returned us to the train station for the last train into Wellington.
All in all another great day.
Tomorrow a cyclone is supposed to reach us, so our wonderful weather is having an interruption. We were told a cyclone is a hurricane, but turns the other direction (if a hurricane is clockwise, a cyclone is counterclockwise). It's not supposed to be a terrible one, but hasn't been downgraded to a tropical storm yet. It is forecast to last 9 - 15 hours. We assume Dave is cancelling his golf game tomorrow. It is likely going to be followed by a couple of wet days. We'll see how much it interferes with our vacation.
