Folk in Ballarat, Australia, use the phrase “save water, drink wine” rather a lot. Perhaps they should bung the south island of New Zealand a bunch of money to pipe them some of the rain that we’ve experienced whilst here. Problem solved. We’ve now in Blenheim in the Marlborough region, one of the finest wine producing regions in the New World. Except this year’s harvest will likely be a washout.

Our plan was to hire bikes and ride between the various cellar doors, supping their wares as we go. However, it’s raining again. Quite heavy too. So instead, as designated driver it was my job to drive Miss Daisy around the vineyards. Good job too: Marlborough’s predominantly a white wine region, and that’s really not my thing so I was quite happy to stay sober. Save for the poor visibility over the vineyards towards the mountains (which I imagine would have granted lovely views on a good day) and the wet dashes between the car and the cellars, we had a nice day chatting to the local producers and I took particular pleasure in observing Squiffy’s increasingly overcompensated sobriety-act. Squiffy by name, squiffy by nature!

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