Storyline: Home to home westward
I can’t believe someone stole my quiche!
This is the first time Alex and I stayed at a backpacker’s lodge. It reminded me my student years. Overall a nice place and surprisingly quiet.
We had a small private room with ensuite and a shared balcony. Mind you they don’t come cheap. There was a common area with kitchen and huge fridges, where we were supposed to leave our food.
Breakfast of freshly baked cheese scones, butter and jam, plus tea and coffee was provided. And pick your own grapes for dessert. On our way into town we spotted a bakery, from where later we bought a really good and freshly baked quiche, but decided to leave it for this morning.
With Alex having been under the weather we didn’t know how long we’d spent in the lodge after the 10am checkout time. Our train for Kaikoura is at 2:15pm. When we went down at 10am with the intention of spending a few hours in the comfy couches, I looked into the fridge and our quiche was nowhere to be found. The owner said he doesn’t often get such complaints, but here we are with a really good experience, until this happened. Many of you probably know that food in NZ is very expensive. But to steal my quiche?! I even had my name written on the bag!
Didn’t want to stay any longer there although the owner offered to bake us scones. So, we packed up and went to the café on the harbour where they make nice lemon/honey/ginger tea for Alex’s cold. Then to another café, where I had the most expensive fish soup in my life! And it wasn’t even good. There, we also experienced the touristy area food and prices, which we usually avoid.
We then wandered around and are now sitting at Subway (international sandwich chain) at the station waiting to board the Coastal Pacific train.
With Alex’s cold, our time in Picton was of missed opportunities. There are many great hikes here and he was looking forward to some, including snapping some night and dawn images.
We still did the winery tour however, and don’t regret it. We decided on the half-day tour that was recommended by the owners and on TripAdvisor. Glad we selected this one. Can’t even imagine a full day of drinking. In half day we visited 4 wineries and a chocolate factory. Each winery had a minimum of 5 samples. At the beginning I was also finishing Alex’s (he had to start pouring his away after a sip), so by the end of it all I had over a bottle of wine.
I didn’t think much of the first one. Maybe because I felt rushed between wines, and I had to ask for water to rinse my glass, otherwise she was just pouring the next wine. The lady was rushing between our group, running her script narrative and the individual visitors. But I did like many of the wines of the other three.
We had private rooms in all 3 and a designated presenter. That made a difference. They also had crackers and water. Much better for wine tasting. One of the wineries was Whitehaven winery. We had a private tasting outside, which was nice. Liked most of their wines. We discovered that the Senior winemaker there was named Diana and was from Bulgaria. We will be buying their wines back in Ontario.
The owner of the backpacker’s lodge recommended we dine at the Oxley on the harbour with a reasonably-priced menu. We found the green mussels again and with some grilled veggies and fries made our dinner. Needless to say, after that much wine tasting it was a dry evening.
If you are taking a ferry from North to South or vice versa and love hiking, there are a few trails around with lovely views. They all start from the town and it will be easy to follow. Lots of hostels, but the hotels don’t come cheap. There is a something for every budget in this small town. And did I mention the views are spectacular?
Great post ?