OK, so that was the dumb name we came up with for all the wine we bought. I mean, we rode bikes through the vineyards of Napier (Hawke’s Bay region) and the van following us to carry all the wine we bought had to know whose wine to ask for!

Logo for the city of Napier in the heart of north island wine country

The reunion. John and Lisa have been five weeks land cruising the south island and we managed to meet up here in Napier for a great weekend of wine tasting

We spent a great day with “On Yer Bike” riding hither and yon through beautiful vineyards. Add to that it was my birthday AND we were able to meet up with Lisa and John from Orcinius who were headed back from five weeks on the south island, and it was about the perfect day. Well, it became perfect after the amazing dinner they treated us to at “The Old Catholic Church”. As it sounds, it was a church built in the 1800’s but transferred to private hands when the parish outgrew it and built a newer, larger one closer to town. Amazing venue and food. I even got to confess my sins to “St John” in the confessional. Might have worked, but probably would have taken a couple days. Ann made up for the blasphemy with some Hail Mary’s and we headed home marveling at the great time we had.

It was a beautiful day for riding and tasting...

...tooling through the vineyards without a care...

...blue skies...

...gorgeous scenery...

...and our trusty bikes to convey us around the country.

A little tasting...

...a nice picnic...

...a little wine...(OK, quite a lot-but we weren't technically driving!)

It all added up to a great birthday! Thanks Ann, John and Lisa for a wonderful day!