Fishing and Wine tasting

We reluctantly left the Golden Bay area to see what was on the east coast of the South Island. We would have stayed even longer in the beautiful Golden Bay area, but we still had much more to explore. We took a course heading east over the mountains and past the Queen Charlotte Sound down the east coast to Kaikoura. We had heard it was beautiful in this area and was great for fishing. Below is the hostel where we stayed.
The area was nice, but small, and there was one drawback.....the fog. Kaikoura might have been the most beautiful place in New Zealand, but we would've never known. The fog covered every square inch of the peninsula town and it never lifted the two days we were there. Anyway, we got over the fact that we wouldn't get a glimpse of the towering mountains that are the backdrop for the Kaikoura Peninsula, and got on with our adventures.

We booked a charter to take us out fishing 4 or 5 kilometers off the coast. Above is the dilapidated vessel we chartered. Hmmm..... I am glad to say that the vessel did actually float, and we got on with our deadliest catch episode...

It turns out that we were the only ones that showed up for the charter that day, and we were glad at first that we would have personal attention from the skipper and deck hands. All was well right? Well, the three hour tour was more like a fishing trip for the skipper and the deck hands than for Denise and I. The giant seagull below had more to say to us than our hosts....

The good news is that we did catch some Sea Perch, Blue Cod, and a New Zealand Lobster, or cray fish as they call it here. The skipper was nice enough to give us some of our fresh catch of the day to take with us. We had a wonderful feast that evening, but the day was not the greatest in the NZ.


That was Kaikoura in a nut shell. Been there, done that, and don't need to go back.... Now on to wine country! We back tracked north, up the east coast to Blenheim where the sun was shining, and the wine was pouring. Apparently about 20 years ago, someone decided that this area had the perfect soil and climate for growing grapes. Over that twenty or so years, 48 different vineyard sprouted up. Conveniently, all of them are packed into an area that is assessable by bicycle if you are so inclined to try all 48.
Anyway, Blenheim was a nice quaint town, and most of the wine was delicious. We were unable to taste all 48, but put in a good effort. By the end of the day, I was shattered, and ready for bed....
The next day would be our trip back to Auckland and back to the grind. But first we relaxed on the back deck of the hostel we stayed at in Blenheim and watched the sun go down....