Next winery please!

We had planned to rent bikes to cycle around the wineries of Marlborough. However the bike rental was expensive, the weather forecast wasn't great and it would be a lot of riding. Someone suggested we hitchhike, possibly as a joke, but I thought it was a great idea! Hitchhiking is legal, safe and common in New Zealand, especially in the South Island. I've picked up a few but I've never done it myself so that was another reason to try it.

We got up slowly and made our hitchhiking sign. We wrote "Next winery please!" to make it a bit fun and also to make it clear that we weren't travelling far. After less than 10 minutes, a local guy picked us up and dropped us a few miles down the road. We had a nice selection of wine tastings and then some samples of various foods at the store next door.

We went back to the main road with our sign and almost everyone laughed or waved as they drove past but we had to wait for about 40 minutes before a guy on his way to Nelson was kind enough to pick us up. Even though our next stop was on the same road, people obviously didn't want us in their car. Luckily the next stop had three wineries next to each other. I'd heard from a few different people about the lunch platters at one winery, so we had their tasting and then shared possibly the best platter I've ever had (see the extra photo). I had a delicious pinot noir to go with it.

We went to the other two wineries next door but slowed down the tastings as it had definitely started to go to our heads. We were the last people at the final winery at about 5pm. We were still on the same road but at the other end, so we knew that almost all vehicles passing us would be driving past our campsite. Even though all the wineries were now closed, we still used the sign as otherwise we figured people would think we were probably hitchhiking to the ferry terminal. We only had to wait a few minutes before a wine tour bus pulled over. All the customers were very merry after a day of tastings, so they had asked the driver to pick us up as they thought it was funny. They asked us lots of questions and seemed really happy to have us on board. The driver asked where we were going and she said it was fine but they were going to the chocolate factory first. That was fine by me!

We had the free sample of chocolate and then back on the bus the driver had bought everyone on the tour a truffle, including us! We couldn't believe it. Free transport and chocolate! They were all so lovely.

Back at the camper van, we had a bit of a rest and then got ready to head in to Blenheim to a Brazilian restaurant I've booked us a table at after hearing great things. I was definitely over the alcohol limit so I couldn't drive us, so we decided to continue the hitchhiking! We knew it would be harder at night, so we left early. It took about 20 minutes to get a lift but unfortunately they could only take us half way. This actually made things worse as we were in a dark area with no place for cars to pull in. We walked until we got to a suitable spot but still nobody was stopping. I phoned the restaurant to say we'd be late and we were about to phone for a taxi when a car going in the other direction, stopped and turned around. It was two young guys and they offered to take us south in to town even though they were on their way north to a friend's house. We were only 25 minutes late to the restaurant in the end. Success!

The delay did mean, however, that the meal we both wanted on the specials board sold out just as we were about to order it. We didn't know what wine to choose so the waitress brought over four different wines for us to try in a blind tasting. We ended up going for the Gewürz to go with our spicy meal. We were given a selection of different chillies to have with our food. They refilled the bowl twice!

For dessert we shared a boysenberry and açaí cheesecake which was probably big enough for four people! The Brazilian owner came to sit with us and brought over some pink peppercorns and vanilla ice cream to taste together and then with the cheesecake. It was possibly the best course. It was so delicious that we finished it even though we had to force it down. We both felt ill from overeating as we walked to the main road for one last attempt at hitchhiking. I put out my thumb as the first car came along. As it passed, I said to James, "well it was never going to be the first one". At that moment, a ute pulled up on the other side of the road and it was the two guys who had dropped us off earlier! They were now heading south but still offered to take us back to our campsite in the other direction. It was so kind of them.

What a great day!