The sun is shining, it’s going to be another belter and it’s my birthday. Coleen has brought birthday cards with her. I open them and then we join Pat and Chris for breakfast. The dining room looks onto Marine Parade. A feast fit for a king, it is a continental breakfast with attitude. Cereal, fruit, juices, breads, pastries in a beautiful, airy Edwardian style. We eat or fill and plan the day. We have booked a wine tour with Vince’s World of Wine at 12.45, so plenty of time to kill.
Back at the room. Coleen calls Emma then Maria on the mobile. Amazingly it is only NZ$2 per hour, cheaper than calling them at home on a mobile. From our zero rated balcony view I have spotted a sports stadium so I head off with video camera to see what it’s all about.
McLean Park Cricket Ground
It’s a short walk along mainly deserted streets, over the railway line and through pleasant suburbs to find a dribble of people heading towards the stadium. New Zealand Black Caps are playing the Windies in the final day of the final test of the series. I have never been to a test match and there is one here on our doorstep. I managed to get in through a service door where trucks are unloading beer and other less vital supplies. The match is due to start soon, but there is only a smattering of spectators. It is an ideal place and day for watching cricket. BBQ on the grass, with a few cold beers and hopefully some good cricket. I film various activities, aware that I have to be back at base to get ready for the wine trip. Enough time to see start of play and few overs before strolling back through the suburbs to the beach front. Back at Manor on Parade, Coleen is still on the phone, so I get ready for the tour.
Vince's World of Wine Tour
We meet Pat and Chris at the information bureau where tame Maoris are doing a local dance and playing music. Others mill around, waiting for tour buses and guides like passengers in an open air bus terminal. Vince Picone and his wife arrive in the “safari” buses and we pile in. There are about 12 people on the tour. I have to sit in the front like some sort of dumb courier. Vince is a joke-a-minute guide to the area. Beneath the funny exterior is a guy who knows his wines and and is proud of the local achievements. I enjoy wines and don’t much take an interest in the history and chemical hype of wine making. Our whistle-stop tour takes in vineyards with young men and women giving us the quality stuff about their own places of work and proud they all are, followed by a quick taste and spit before moving on. One particular place I liked was a modern, shed-like building fronting a vineyard that sold pottery, olive oil, etc, oh, and some wine. Coleen bought olive oils for her and girls, Pat and Chris bought some wine. Cricketers Inn Longparish Hampshire
The tour finished by visiting a vineyard where the salesman , “expert” was born and raised a few miles from our home back in the UK in Longparish near the small Hampshire town of Whitchurch. 
Coleen befreiends a dog - nothing new here. On the way back Vince sells us a restaurant called Charlie Chaplin’s. Odd place run by a Chinese couple. They did not understand Gruten Flee food, but allowed Coleen to inspect the freezer to see what the contents of the frozen chip bags said. I enjoyed the steak which was one of the best I have tasted. Coleen was not impressed. We left early and went to bed at about 10.00. pretty early for a birthday bash, but we did have a long drive ahead.
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