Our first week in Blenheim, New Zealand
We enjoyed the free wine and food complements of Air New Zealand tremendously—with a 21 hour flight ahead of us, we truly enjoyed the amenities! Mark and I watched at least four movies each, and we both highly recommend “Slumdog Millionaire” if you haven’t yet seen it!

Our final flight into Blenheim landed in the midst of a torrential downpour—much to our chagrin, but it didn’t dampen our spirits a bit—WE ARE IN NEW ZEALAND! Yahoo! Bridget, an admin assistant for Delegat’s met us at the airport and took us to our home for the next 3 months.

We were among the last to arrive, and have learned that we have 11 people living in the house! I think this is what I worried about the most—what it’d be like to live with 10 other people, but so far it’s been great. There are 9 guys and 2 girls. There are 4 Americans, 2 Bulgarians, 1 guy from Scotland and 1 from Austria, a couple from France and our last housemate is from India. Great group. We get along well, share well and so far all seem to truly love cooking good food and the exploration for good wine.

Sunday we discovered that Blenheim has a Farmer’s Market—it’s awesome and we will go there every Sunday we can until it stops in winter. The artisan cheeses, fresh fruits and vegetables, meats and herbs are like nothing we’ve experienced, even on the central coast—the food is remarkable. In addition, you can have a fruit crepe for breakfast or a farm-fresh egg omelet with Swiss chard and tomatoes. Mark and I both preferred the crepes—although you should see the color of the eggs here!

On Monday, we started work—an informational workshop held at the convention center. We got information on the winery, the wines, our training, and how to set up bank accounts in town. In the afternoon we were ‘fitted’ for our work uniforms and boots, and then enjoyed a tasting of the Oyster Bay wines we’ll be making for harvest.

Tuesday through Thursday were incredibly busy days spent in the winery. Mark headed for the lab, where he’ll be working, and I worked with a small group all week, training in the cellar. It was a busy week, and we all came home tired and anxious to learn what our final assignments for harvest will be. As it turned out, Mark and I were assigned the night shift—he’s working with a small team in the lab, and I’m working on the white cellar crew. From everything we’ve heard, it’s a lot of work, weird working at night, but with the right team, can be a lot of fun. We’ll be enjoying our ‘end of shift’ drinks at breakfast, and sleeping during the day, but I’m sure it will be great.

Other days of note this week:
Wednesday was Bulgaria night—a celebration of food and Brandy from Bulgaria to celebrate their independence from the Turks. Turned out to be a week-long celebration, but hey, who’s counting?

On Friday, we started later in the day for a tour of Delegat’s vineyards, followed by a White’s Bay BBQ, sponsored by our bosses. It was a great afternoon of the sun and sand. We played Rugby, Frisbee and Cricket. We ate a lot of BBQ, cooked by Barry and Ron. A great day indeed. Afterwards, the interns all met for drinks in Blenheim. We were an impressive mob, and while Mark and I turned in fairly early, we heard the celebration went into the wee hours.

Over the weekend, Mark and I worked to finalize our vacation plans for next week and spent time in downtown Blenheim. Scotch is a great place to find a mohito and Hogaarden Forbidden Fruit.

On Sunday, we joined Emmanuel and Marie, our French house-mates on a trip to Picton, near the Marlborough Sounds. It was an absolutely beautiful day. We hiked a bit, ate a bit and generally enjoyed ourselves. We also bought a BBQ—an elusive thing this time of year in NZ.