Another early morning start for Andy as he pounded the streets of Blenheim to hit his morning 10k target.

The good news was that the sunshine was back in abundance with temperatures of 26-28c predicted by lunchtime.

We had a leisurely breakfast, alfresco style, in the back garden of the B&B before we set off for a meander along the Wairau Lagoon walkway close to the coast.

The walk followed the lagoon shoreline with good bird watching along to the rusting remains of the Waverley ship.

As the walk progressed, so the heat intensified and by the end it was a welcome relief to get back inside our air conditioned car.

Once we got back into Blenheim centre we headed for lunch and a welcome caffeine fix at a great cafe called Deux.

Early afternoon we had the ‘reunion’ with the arrival of Andy’s parents who are also travelling around NZ after a 2 week cruise from Singapore to Australia and then on to Auckland.

It was so great to see them both after over a year, and felt doubly special to see them so far from home. We have booked the same hotel as them for 2 nights so that we can catch up properly and show them around.

But first with the glow of the sunshine we headed to the hotel pool for some much needed R&R and a dip.

It was such a pleasure to see James and Marian in person and hear all about their own travels over the course of the last few weeks.

What is sure is that they have definitely brought the fine weather with them, after their recent visit to the tropics of Indonesia and North Australia, with the temperatures due to stay up in the high 20’s for the rest of our time together.

After a couple of hours of pool action and general ‘news’ updates from home, we made our way into the town centre for a spot of late lunch and a glass of vino at Scotch Bar, which despite the name was a French/NZ restaurant.

Having enjoyed Scotch mid-afternoon, we returned for Part II/dinner at 7pm to tuck into their fish and lamb offerings. And of course some more NZ vino!

After a lovely evening of great food and chat, we headed back a little earlier so Andy’s parents could catch up on some much needed ‘lost’ sleep, in readiness for another day on the ‘coal face’ tomorrow.

Tuesday will involve a few more cellar door wineries and lunch at Wither Hills, a winery we visited on our last visit a couple of weeks ago where the views are spectacular (as was the food).