We decided not to stop in Christchurch, as we were told it was just another big city, instead choosing to head north towards the wine region of Marlborough.
We stopped at a few wineries in the Canterbury region, but they were not of the quality of wines we experienced during our first few days in New Zealand. Given this region is known more for it's Rieslings [not our favorite varietal], it wouldn't be fair of anyone to make any conclusions based on our evaluations.
Still, as has been the case everywhere in New Zealand so far, everyone has been extremely friendly, informative and helpful, and additionally, in the case of the winery personnel, very passionate about their wines. [I'll give them a few more years in the wine making category.]
By this time it was starting to get late, and we ended up traveling a little further than anticipated, since nothing seemed too appealing until we reach the little town of Kaikura.
Kaikura is a little town on the coast, with a rocky coastline similar to that along parts of Malibu, where we discovered a little lodge, set in a beautiful country setting, and with it own restaurant, reminiscent of the chateaus we stayed in during our trip to France (one of our more memorable vacations) several years ago.
Fortunately they had one room left.
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