Over the "Hull" and into wilderness

Up early. Well only "early" for those not on holidays. In this case your blogger was up well before non-blogger to watch our young host play under 15s softball. Fabulous and exciting.

Watching Zach hit a home run, which subsequently the whole game really opened up was well worth enduring the strong cold wind that was defining the experience. The wind kept defining the rest of the day. Once we got our gear (and act) together five of us crammed into Adrienne's caboose and headed of over the real "hull". This hill is what the locals fondly refer to as a seriously significant roadway carved out of steep slopes over the top of big mountains in order to open up the lush green pastures of the east of the north island. On a windy day (which it was) you could almost hear the wicked joys of laughter from the wind spirits as they whipped past the avid listener on the peak knowing they'd be soon heading down to Mt. Victoria to pick up more unprepared tourists and deposit them somewhere in the Straight.

Locals drinking beers whist driving and experiencing the same moment in time may have missed the nuances of the situation. They will find their own fate. Once down on the flat green lowlands we headed over to Martinborough to checkout the morrows layout as well as brunch, gift and vittals shopping. With the car even more loaded (by now everyone had supplies on their laps) we went into an exploration into nowhere land. The landscapes were fabulously articulated with high rolling green hills, pretty valleys, sheep, cows, wierd scarecrows (competition underway) and the sound of dueling banjos starting to resonate in one's head. And so with all comms to the outside world lost we arrived at our absolutely fabulous accommodation in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Surrounded by braying sheep from nearby steep hills, big trees, bright green pastures. Yes there are fences. Give it a year and they'll start to be rustic. It was renovated a month ago so practically brand new. Miles and miles away from the wine festival but an amazing place to land nevertheless.

Hamburgers for dinner and more stories of first world problems with the occasional reference to 3rd as well just to make sure we are grounded. Oh yeah....and more wine in order to make sure the truth is spoken.