A wine country safari

    When you think of wine you usually don't think of New Zealand but as we discovered Sunday when we headed out over the Rimutaka Range from Porirua to Martinborough maybe you should.
    Getting to Martinborough is an experience in and of itself. I'd love to show you some pictures of the twisted tarmac that takes you up and then down the sides of assorted mountains but I was too busy trying not to panic as Elena negotiated the curves, S-turns and hairpins that make up what Kiwis fondly refer to as a road to shoot any photos. Martinborough, as it turns out, is a not-so-big place with about a dozen boutique wineries scattered around it. It's also a favorite hangout for folks who ride motorcycles. As we walked through town I could hear them talking about what a joy the road through the mountains is to ride on... back in the days when I rode I might have agreed with them but these days not so much.
    Elena, who must have been an infantryman in a previous life, thought we should walk to the wineries rather than drive. I was of two minds regarding that: On the one hand, walking is difficult for me these days so I wasn't sure this was such a good idea. On the other hand, my heart was still in my throat after the ride to Martinborough so maybe a walk wasn't so bad.
    In the end, we walked.
    Because it was Sunday afternoon when we arrived some of the wineries were closed but we found one that was open and hiked up a long dirt road lined with lavender bushes to a tasting shed. There, the owner poured several varieties of his wine for us and explained the whys and wherefores of winemaking in New Zealand. It was pretty fascinating, even for someone like me who is not much of a wine drinker. I wound up buying a bottle containing a very nice 2010 pinot noir that won some prizes for the winery. I didn't care about the prizes, I did, however, care about the taste, which was excellent.
    We walked another mile or so after that to a small restaurant called Poppy's where the only thing on the menu is a seasonal platter for two. There were fried pork bellies, roasted peppers, fried zucchini, mushrooms marinated in balsamic vinegar, a Greek thing consisting of grape leaves wrapped around rice, homemade hummus, homemade pate and a few more things that filled up a large wooden platter. Elena had a glass of wine but I opted for some New Zealand-brewed ginger beer that, in fact, had chunks of ginger floating in it. (After a few small glasses of wine earlier I was feeling pretty darn mellow and figured ginger beer was a better option at that point, especially since we had to walk back to Martinborough.)
    Lunch over, we hiked back into Martinborough, had a coffee and then wound our way back home back over the mountains. On the way back we saw one snow-covered peak way off in the distance. Elena, of course, wants to go there next weekend. If we go, I think I'll crack open that bottle of pinot noir and start drinking it through a straw as soon as I buckle my seat belt... that way I might just survive another mountain journey without having a stroke...

Martinborough is a haven for bikers who, apparently, think racing around mountain curves is a good thing...

After racing around those curves, bikers stop in Martinborough for coffee, beer, wine or whatever...

We met this couple at one of the wineries... of course, after sipping a half-dozen varieties, I forgot to ask their names... duh...

Elena on the road to one of the wineries... business must be pretty good because the winemaker lives in that palace behind her.