Controversial views

Day 33. Hedgehogs and bird watching in vineyards. 

Eketahuna to Martinborough
Daily total: 88km Running total: 2106.97km

I couldn't decide...they all look so tempting...

Made really good time on the road. The heavy vehicles that plague the roads, turn off at Woodville to head down Statehighway 1. Had a bit of a tailwind and flat roads, so stopped in Masterton for a ganders. I pottered around town and went to an Art Exhibition by Ben Buchanan. A lot of cool geometric paintings but I had to leave my camera at the desk. Boo! Hiss! For some reason I was a bit creeped out by the desk guys ear rings. 

Pictured: Pottering

More pottering.

No Gav, awards is not a taste! Dickhead.

In the blazing heat, the Ice Cream van in Canterton appeared as a beacon of cooling joy! And it served Mr. Whippy Ice Cream! Also the lady dipped the whole lot in chocolate! I was just overwhelmed with excitement. If only it tasted as exciting as it looked. If the colour gray had a taste, this ice cream nailed it. Sorry New Zealand, but your Mr. Whippy ain't nothing compared to the UK Mr. Whippy! Whilst on the subject of controversial views, Raspberry Jam is infinitely better than Strawberry jam! Yep. I just aired that in public. I am a proper controversial fellow today!  

Roadside pottering

I also stopped off in Greyton. A picturesque, up market town with old buildings and well dressed, wealthy looking people. Then there was me, pottering about the town looking a bit like a vagrant. Temperatures that day were hitting the 32C mark.

Greyton, a distant lack of pottering, sun scorched, sweaty cyclists...

Then Martinborough, a town built on wine, to stay with a lovely couple called Bruce and Jude from Warmshowers. I was asked if I wanted to go bird watching...and why not? I went birdwatching. In a vineyard. At sunset and got a freaked out by a hedgehog scurrying past my foot. Bruce and Jude had purchased some NZ Falcons as part of a project to reintroduce the birds to the area. The aim of the trip was to document the numbers of different bird species in the area during a given period of time. I was good at spotting the birds but had no idea of what make of bird I was looking at!  


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