From the Southern Hemisphere

Yes, we have indeed made it to New Zealand. After twenty four hours of traveling we arrived on Saturday at the Blenheim Airport, though without three of our four checked bags (which were sent to Melbourne and wouldn't arrive until sunday and monday). We had lunch with Marj and Bob, at a great restaurant right on the ocean.

We spent Saturday and Sunday getting settled and taking a tour of the two closest towns, Renwick and Blenheim. Here is a picture of part of the vineyard.

The land towards the back is the neighbor's. Marj and Bob own the vineyard and stay in the yurt(on the right side). The container that is visible is the kitchen. There are two other containers, one for the bathroom and shower, and the other is Tadeu's room. Tadeau also lives and work on the vineyard.

For the first three nights we stayed in the back of the van, but last night was quite cold, so we moved into Tadeu's room. There is quite a range of temperatures. At night its been below freezing, by mid afternoon its in the fifties.

We started work on Monday, though the day was cut short by rain. We started out working with young vines that didn't make it originally and were replanted. We spent monday and tuesday taking these vines out of their protective covers and clipping them above the first few buds. Today we'll probably start wrapping vines to the guide wires.

So far everything has been good, despite the cold weather. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous(more pictures to come) and I can't wait to see more of it. Bob and Marj have been great and the we've got everything we need.

Cheers