Gisborne Wine & Food Festival, New Zealand

As visitors who came to New Zealand to learn more about the wine and food of the region we thought it would be great to attend the Gisborne Wine & Food Festival. It fell on New Zealand’s “labour” weekend - the equivalent of Labor Day in the US.

In our minds we pictured tasting through the wines of the 10 or so wineries featured and taking the shuttle bus between the 5 venues without a care in the world. In reality what we experienced surprised us (which is saying a lot because it’s not like either of us are exactly innocent). The people of New Zealand do like their wine. Picture Roman times, vomit troughs, public urination etc... although the scenery was stunning - especially at Amor-Bendall on the beach.