This weekend we had our first visitor from Scotland, Gillian, the niece of an old school friend of mine who had been studying for a term at Melbourne University and wanted to see a bit of New Zealand before heading home to the northern hemisphere. We were blessed with lovely weather, and so able to show her Wellington at its best.
Wellington
The Civic Square
The Botanic Gardens: magnolia
On Sunday we drove over to Martinborough, where, if you have been following this blog, you’ll know we have visited quite a few times. We thought it would be nice to go there to see a bit of countryside outside the city and also taste some Kiwi wines.
After a lovely salmon sandwich made with sourdough bread at The Village Cafe, we started off at Schubert Wines, which we visited on a wine tasting tour when we first moved to New Zealand. Karl was driving, but Gillian and I enjoyed a few good wines, including a lovely rich rose which I bought to save for the next time we have lamb. From there we went to Murdoch James, which we had also visited on our tour, including an excellent pinot noir that we bought to have with dinner later that evening.
Our third vineyard was a tiny, boutique one, Cabbage Tree Vineyard, where we tasted 4 wines. Finally, we stopped at the Martinborough Vineyard where we tasted some excellent wines, including a lovely lemony Riesling that I would not normally have chosen.
Purchases
For Gillian’s final day in Wellington, we had a good lunch at Floriditas on Cuba Street (buns filled with pulled beef brisket and red cabbage and fennel slaw) and then visited Te Papa museum, a must visit place for anyone coming to Wellington, with its exhibitions on New Zealand geology, wildlife (including a giant squid) and history.
On a different note, we appear to have a new visiting cat, Charlie the stripey one who we have met a few times already, usually in a confrontation with Misse Moj. More on him in the next post.
Thistles and Kiwis 