Napier and the Wine Tours

After leaving Jan And Dave's place, we wandered up the road toward the seaside town of Napier. Rick is always willing to stop where ever so that I can snap photos. I kept noticing the California poppies (I wonder if they call them New Zealand poppies here) and loved the intense orange among so much green. We stopped. Rick kept noticing the utility poles made from plastic and we had to stop so that he could send an image to his buddy, Phil, who deals in wooden ones. And don't you just love the rolling hills of various green colors. Have you ever seen different shades of green that don't look just fabulous together?

And atlasta, we arrive in Napier and not to disappointment. Our hotel is right across from the beach and after exploring this a bit, Roland sohws up for our wine tour. He is a Brit who learned the wine trade in France but followed his girl to New Zealand. It was nice to have a guide who knew the wineries and was also our designated driver. We sampled all that we wanted.

He took us to five wineries, each different from the last. I love the decor and the displays as much as the wine. I learned that a rose bush is often planted at the end of each row because it will be the first indication of a pesticide problem. All in all, this was just a grand day!