New Year's Eve in Blenheim

Update:  Although this is being published on Dec. 31/23, it was written almost 7 years ago.  Why am I bothering to publish it now?  Because it is a memory from the last time I was in New Zealand, and I am getting ready to return there, and don't want to lose a single moment of that time.  Much has changed in 7 years, the vineyard has been sold, our friends now share different parts of our world, and I am no longer single. The journey of life continues....

From January 21, 2017:

Gary and Bridget's smiling faces were waiting for us as we came down the gangplank (ok, stairs) to the luggage pickup area.  It was so great to see them again!  It had only been a couple of months since I had seen Gary as we drove The Strip and had supper in Vegas when I was there back in October.  But I hadn't had one of Bridget's wonderful hugs for a couple of years, and I was overdue.  By this time, it was fully dark, so we couldn't really see much on the drive from Picton to Westview.  BTW, Westview is not the name of a town, it's the name of their vineyard.  Love it.

When we got to their place though, the sky was still completely clear, and with virtually no light pollution, it was blanketed with billions of stars, and the Milky Way was easily visible.  (Think of Carl Sagan as you read that sentence.... especially "billions"....)  We showed Linda the Southern Cross constellation, and Bridget reminded me that Orion there is upside down from what we see and they call it something different there (can't remember what!).  We stared and enjoyed till our necks had kinks and then the fatigue and jet lag kicked in and it was off to bed.

Westview worked it's magic on us, and the morning dawned bright, clear and warm.  While Bridget has to work today, Gary is happy to show us (mostly Linda, I've had the tour once before) the vineyard.  He is, as always a wealth of knowledge about viticulture and wine-making (and wine drinking of course).  We have a chance to see the grapes as they are just finished blooming, and the different types and varieties have different shapes to the bunches, and some are more dense than others.