Vineyard camping

Spot Frieda

On Monday we travelled on to Torlesse in Waipara. I drove along the inland scenic route, which I thought would be quiet. Instead, we encountered huge tractors, cyclists, road works and lots of traffic. Then I turned too early for the heavy traffic bypass and ended up doing a scenic tour of one of the new suburbs in Rangiora. Lots of practice at going around roundabouts though.

Kym, the owner of Torlesse, remembered us from previous stays. He said “Didn’t we sit out the front and drink and talk shit one night?”

There was hail forecast, but it didn’t get as far north as us, so we had a pleasant, sunny afternoon. We did some wine tasting later and confirmed our view that Torlesse offers good wine for reasonable prices.

Just after we set up back near Frieda in the last of the sunshine, a small home built camper arrived. The couple were wandering around, drinks in hand, so we invited them to join us. They turned out to be very interesting, a kiwi and an Aussie who met working in Antarctica. They entertained us with stories of a group of them making their own still and brewing spirits, with the only available mixer powdered orange juice - what used to be called Tang!