Wet Weather & Wine Weekend

As probably mentioned several times in previous posts, the weather here is quite crazy. Kiwis always talk about how you can experience 4 seasons in a day in Auckland and it's really not too far from the truth! It was absolutely gorgeous on Friday, then pouring down rain, sideways wind, and about 50 degrees on Saturday...just in time for our wine tasting! Oh well, we still had fun!

I bought a Groupon deal a few weeks back that was $29 for a wine tasting for four people and 2 bottles of wine to take home...sold! Erin and Scott joined us and we ventured out into Auckland wine country for the tasting. Granted, the winery wasn't what we were expecting because it was just a winemaking facility and not an actual vineyard.

Afterwards, we just drove around the area and stumbled across another winery that was an actual vineyard and had a cute little restaurant. So we braved the rain, grabbed a table and indulged in another wine tasting (where everyone got to pick the 4 wines they wanted to taste) and a delectable cheese/fruit/nut platter.

After a wet afternoon of wine tasting, we drove back into the city to grab dinner and meet up with some friends at a local bar to watch the All Blacks take on South Africa. Drew & Scott found a bar game that captured their attention for a while--apparently there was some sort of lemon in a beer mug and you had to balance a 50 cent piece on top...if you did, you get a free beer. Scott was finally able to defeat the lemon and enjoyed his free beer. Drew & Scott have decided they want to buy the necessary materials and practice at home.

Sunday, we slept in and then headed to the 11:00 service with Will & Tally. Then we added some people PwC folks to the mix and headed out for Yum Char (which is the same thing as Dim Sum, although I'd never heard the term 'Yum Char' before.) It's pretty much just the Chinese version of tapas where everyone sits at a table and the waitresses bring around trays of different foods that you can select and share with the table. And, yes, Drew tried almost everything and like most of it--he even ate sashimi salmon!! I was so proud :)

 In case you're wondering, the picture above are chicken feet. Yep--whole chicken feet...just eat 'em and spit out the bones. Just like chicken wings, right?? We did not partake in these, FYI.

We finished off the weekend by venturing out south of town so Will & Drew could have their first practice as part of the American Eagles softball team (part of the American Club.) It turned out to be a gorgeous day, but I think Drew was a little sore from all the physical activity.

Good weekend--already looking forward to the next one :)

Cheers!