South Pacific Cruise - Day 8
Picton, New Zealand
Day 8 of our 26-day #epicadventure brought us to Picton, New Zealand. We jumped 2 hours forward over the past 2 days as we sailed southeast from Syndey and entered the fjords of New Zealand this morning. The temperature dropped into the 60’s. The scenery was simply breathtaking as we got off the ship in the tiny port of Picton. They had to thread the ship into this tiny lumber port. We boarded our charter bus first thing and headed into the iconic Marlborough wine region for wine and chocolate tasting tour. This is about an hour ride and the scenery is amazing. Living in Northern California, we spend a lot of time in the Napa Valley. The Marlborough Valley is so similar to Napa. If it wasn’t for us driving on the wrong side of the road I would have sworn we were in Napa.
Our first stop brought us to the hip, Spy Valley Winery. Despite this being a Cruise coordinated tour, this is a sought after winery that is not huge nor commercial. The grounds are perfectly manicured and the tasting room is modern, yet warm. Their selection was great and the staff were so welcoming. Yes, I came home with several new bottles of wine to enjoy when we got home. Our son, Marcus got to try wine, and clearly didn’t enjoy it as much as we did.
After the wine we had a stop at a local deli for some lunch and a little giant chess with some of our cruise mates that we met while on the ship. It’s these friendships that are built during these experiences are why we love cruising so much.
Our final stop before heading back to the ship was the place that goes perfect with wine – chocolate. This shop made all their own chocolate and made some special samples for us.
Tomorrow we sail north for a short hop across the sound to the New Zealand capital of Wellington on the north island.
