Hamish

We've had a gentle day.  We woke quite early, but had a slow start.  W cooked us poached eggs in the outdoor kitchen (first extra shows the kitchen to the right, under the higher living roof, and the bathroom is to the left of that under the lower living roof).  By the time we'd eaten these, we felt it had warmed up enough to have our shower in the bathroom (second extra).  Getting in and out of the bath was a challenge for my knee, but the view was wonderful (third extra).

We then drove down into Motueka, where we visited the information centre.  We were persuaded to buy tickets for a day trip on a boat all around the area tomorrow, and then advised on a local scenic drive.

We drove down the coast to Mapua, where we had drinks in a cafe whilst watching the birds on the shore through their lovely big picture window.  Hamish flew in.  Apparently he is a regular visitor.  He's a white heron, or kotuku.  There are only about 30-50 breeding pairs in New Zealand, who all congregate in one place for this purpose, but then scatter for the winter.  It's not common to sight one, unless you happen to have one like Hamish, coming back year after year.

We had a little walk along the shore, and then drove back towards Motueka along an inland route.  We saw the sign "wine tasting" so of course we had to stop.  What a lucky find.  We had chanced upon the Himmelsfeld Winery, where the owner gave us three lovely samples.  Sadly for her, we felt that though the wine was clearly very special, the price per bottle was largely wasted on our unsophisticated palates.  She was so passionate about her small winery it was a delight to chat to her.  She allowed me to take her photo (fourth extra).

We then drove on, and went up the coast to Kaiteriteri, where we had lovely fish and chips (fifth extra).  Having been told that the fish was elephant fish, we thought maybe we had the elephant ears on our plate.  Reading this this evening, I'm afraid my younger daughter would feel that we should not have been eating this fish.