We spent a long lunch at this little winery Amisfield and came home with a few bottles - two pinot noirs, two pinot gris and one riesling.
Carrick was where we intended to lunch but we'd had a late start and weren't really hungry when we arrived. I'm now a fan of their riesling and we bought a couple of bottles.
Being a big Olssens fan we stopped off there to taste a few pinots. They were out of the Nipple Hill but we did buy some Jackson Barry.
We caught up with a few bloggers. The first was Mary who lives in Dunedin, home of Emersons, where she had arranged a private tour with her friend, the owner Richard. Excellent beer and we can buy it in Auckland. My favourite, the Taieri George, has a fruity, spicy flavour almost like drinking a hot cross buns. Would pair nicely with a rich dark fruit cake.
Next was Paul in Christchurch and dinner at Alchemy and I got to try the Akaroa Salmon Alchemy devised for the Corbans Perfect Match event. Paul introduced us to the Camshorn pinot gris. We left Alchemy and with Paul headed to the latest bar scene in Christchurch. When the doorman said "are you on the list?" I was a little concerned but Paul obviously knows the right people because we were in without being on the list. All Black and Jockey model Dan was there.
On our last day we caught up with Bron and her family with a picnic at Orana Park. We spent more time drinking, eating and chatting than looking at the animals. We are food bloggers after all! Bron brought along some local and imported cheeses including my favourite St Nectaire. 
And naturally Bron brought along baked goods to share. 
Thanks Mary, Paul and Bron for treating us so well and taking care of us in your respective cities. Hopefully we will see you in Auckland soon ..or we might be back down south another day.
I've added some vista shots of the South Island landscape to my Foto Blog if you'd like to see more.
