Friday, Day 34 - Feb 9 - 10am to 6pm, Picton, South Island, New Zealand

Picton is located in the Marlborough region of New Zealand, near the head of Queen Charlotte Sound on the South Island. This is our first port of three on the South Island. The town is named after Sir Thomas Picton, the military associate of the Duke of Wellington, who was killed at the Battle of Waterloo. The Edwin Fox Maritime Center features the Edwin Fox, the only surviving ship that transported convicts to Australia, which is undergoing preservation and restoration. We got off the ferry from the North Island here in 2009, picked up our rental car and headed west to the Able Tasman National Park to start our exploration of the South Island. Today we are going to explore the wine producing area of Marlborough on a free ship’s tour, Iconic Wines of the Marlborough at 10:30AM for four hours.

Today we visit three premier vineyards in New Zealand's renowned Marlborough wine-producing region and sample their signature, award-winning vintages. We drive through Koromiko Valley and on to Blenheim, the largest city in the Marlborough wine-producing region. Hailed as the "Gourmet Province of New Zealand," Marlborough contains more than 60 wineries, the majority of them acclaimed for their distinctive, herbaceous Sauvignon Blanc. In fact, one third of the region's grapes are planted in Sauvignon Blanc, which thrive in the free-draining alluvial soil. Plus it is just a beautiful area!

We visit Wither Hills, a winery that produces the definitive Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. It's an intensely herbal wine, a reflection of the region's unique climate and the vineyard's intricate pattern of gravels and silts in the soil. Wither Hills also produces an extraordinary Dry Riesling and Pinot Noir.

Then it's on to Forrest Winery. The winery was established in 1988 by the Hunter family and is still very much a family business. It has become one of New Zealand’s best known wineries and produces a high quality of wines, earning it numerous awards over the years. We have a chance to sample some of their Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir wines.

Next, it's on to the family owned and operated Allan Scott Winery, another highly esteemed winery in Marlborough. The vineyard's gravelly soil is ideal for the production of the aromatics, such as Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer. We learn about  each wine's characteristics and sample some of the finest vintages. The wineries today are, to our taste, the best of the lot over all, though Mission was very good.

After our sojourn in the Marlborough wine region, we stop at Makana Chocolate Factory, one of New Zealand's leading producers of handmade chocolates and other sweet temptations, Makana offers classic truffles, macadamia bark, Marlborough wine gelées and plenty of sugar-free treats. They are offering samples and like all cruise ship passengers, we are worried about our next meal, so we pig out! The chocolate is really good and everyone is carrying a bag to go with the bags of wine already on the bus!

After a loop through Picton, again we are a little late back to the ship. The wine tours seem to take longer than what is scheduled, but the ship held the La Veranda open so we head up there for some lunch at 2:30PM as we are a bit tipsy from all the wine samples in the middle of the day!

An afternoon nap is in order and then it is on to dinner. We arrive at Sette Mari as they are opening. We want to sit out on the back deck and enjoy every bit of the sail away through Queen Charlotte Sound. After all the beautiful scenery and a leisurely dinner as the sun set over the Sound we head back the room and bed!

It has been a very nice day and maybe we are finally on the mend except for the cough.