Pretty Little Leslie.

Leslie is our new home. Ironically, she has South Park characters painted all over her (the show South Park is based in Colorado). My friend Spencer, who I used to work with at OppenheimerFunds, is traveling at the moment too. He gave me an insider tip about hiring a van from NZ...you get 10% off if you are gay. So, being the frugal travelers we are...we asked the booking agent about the discount. He said, yea I guess it's hard to really tell if it's true or not, but are you? Really gay, I answered. $60 off, thank you. Leslie is her name...isn't she a beaut?

We began traveling north towards Nelson and Abel Tasman National Park. It took us about six hours but the scenery was so beautiful that we barely noticed the drive (but I promise we were watching the road). The trip was filled with mountains (lush and green!), lakes, winding roads (and I mean winding) and animals. Fenced in farming animals...thousands of sheep, cows and deer...yes, deer! It was odd seeing them that way.

It's hard to see the cliff we're on, but it was a grand view

Deer!

  After making it to the sweet little town of Nelson, we found a restaurant, ordered some coffee and wine, and then used their restrooms to wash our faces and brush our teeth. Smooth. Then back to Leslie to find a place to park and crash. We agreed that a hotel seemed safe, so we parked and got some shut eye...only to wake up to someone beating on our window at 7 am. "Is anyone in there? This is private property...you must move now...the police are on their way!". Halfway asleep, halfway peeing her pants out of fright...Bri got in the front and drove off. Then we laughed. Then we got a coffee.

It was a rainy day in Nelson...we definitely didn't have the gear to go on a hike (they call it a tramp) in that kind of weather. What to do, what to do? Wineries. Yes, that sounds just right.

Sweet Italian woman named Angela who gave us tips on our next two stops

Richmond Plains winery...one of the seven organic wineries in the country (there are 700 wineries in all)

Next stop: Stafford Lane Estate...known for their chutney and oils (and their wine too of course) 

We were taught how to 'fluff' our wine to help separate the alcohol from the grapes to be able to distinguish the different notes in the wine

Of course there was some wool lying around

Funny side note: Stafford was our second winery of the day, so we were being warned to be careful driving around the area, etc. Just after he finished speaking, little Bri spilled wine on her shirt and knocked over her full glass onto the table. You see folks, she was trying a technique that we had been taught called the canoe (done with your tongue) and she kind of choked on her wine. It was hilarious. We had one more tasting, ate the remaining bread and left. Onto the next...

Rimu Grove Winery...overlooks the Waimea Inlet

They let us under the nets to try the grapes

Onto the Abel Tasman National Park!

Catch ya people.

L.