Melbourne's Jess Davis and Lucien Hoare didn't mind a late afternoon rain shower as they completed their bike tour of the Wineries Ride through Hawke's Bay's western wine growing area recently.
The couple said it was a fitting way to end their three-day visit to the Bay before heading on to meet friends in Wellington for New Year's Eve.
"We heard about Hawke's Bay through friends and knew it was quite a famous area in the North Island," Ms Davis said.
"We were keen to do a bike tour," she said. "It's the sort of thing we'd like to do at home but because we don't have bikes with us we looked to hire them." They had their tour organised through Good Fun Bikes, starting at 11.30am from Triangle Cellars on Ngatarawa Rd, Bridge Pa, on a return route which takes in 11 wineries.
"I thought the tour was perfect because of all the food and wine," Ms Davis said. "The wineries were so close together it was better to do it by bike than in a car, and you get to feel like you're doing something healthy."
A couple of their favourite stops included Salvare Estate and Triangle Cellars.
"At Salvare we appreciated their plain English description of the wine and the sit down wine tasting option at Triangle was good too," Mr Hoare said.
"My parents are looking to come over to New Zealand in two weeks and they are asking for recommendations so I will be recommending the bike tours."
