Christchurch — 8 February 2001

After a pleasant (and very filling) hot breakfast, we headed out to run some errands. We purchased sweaters and socks made from a hybrid of wool and possum fur (the World Wildlife Fund endorses the use of possum fur in New Zealand because possums wreak havoc on indigenous species). The clothes are very light and warm. We stopped at the post shop to mail some things back to the States (including the fudge we got the day before and some things we decided we didn't need to haul all over the country). We finally got in to the South Island Aquarium in Cathedral Square small but nice — to see the glow worms. (Follow this link to see a simulation of what we saw.)

After noon Sefton from Vin de Pays picked us up for our tour of four wineries. Our tour mates were Billy from Scotland and Wayne from Northland (NZ). Our first stop was Waipara Springs, where we ate a delicious lunch of fruit, cheese, bread and meats at a picnic table guarded by Jody the dog. (We also had small sips of many good red & white wines with our food.) Our next stop was Torlesse Wines (run by Aussies), where we had some more wine, and received film reviews and marriage tips from the proprietor. (Jen: this is where I had to start tipping so as not to get too tipsy!) Our third stop was Canterbury House (owned by Californians), where we tasted several more wines (I think they were my favorite of the tour) and took a quick tour of the vineyard and wine-making facilities. (All of the wineries we visited were recent in origin — the industry's grown rapidly over the past decade.) Our final winery was Pegasus, an older winery owned & run by a family. The grounds were beautiful and the winery featured an amazing hanging display of old bottles. Their wine was good too. As Billy said at tour's end: "A brilliant day!" After the long drive back into Christchurch, we sobered up.

Jody, the Waipara Springs dog, is very interested in sharing our lunch.

That night, we grabbed some take-away Greek food and headed to the ampitheatre in Victoria Square to see "The Castle" (an Australian comedy which is well worth renting if you can find it).