Cider Tasting & Hilarious Mini Golf in Gisborne – Day 273, Part 1

Today we’re getting giddy in Gisborne by having some cider tasting, some wine tastings and then splitting up the day with some mini golf.

This morning we are heading to the Harvest Cidery to do some cider tasting but don’t judge us for drinking cider in the morning.

Harvest Cidery is super famous in New Zealand. it actually produces most of the famous cider brands in the whole country. you can find them in supermarkets all over New Zealand. There is brands like Scrumpy and even Harvest and Thomas and Rose.

What’s more, the Harvest Cidery is situated right right in the heart of Gisborne city. So we meet the cellar door manager Teresa and she’s giving us heaps of different ciders to taste.

First up we are tasting probably the most famous cider that Harvest does which is the Scrumpy apple, not only is it super affordable in New Zealand supermarkets but it’s also won gold in New Zealand and international cider awards and we can definitely taste why.

After that we’re tasting the luxurious Thomas & Rose.

The normal Scrumpy has up to 95% apple juice Scrumpy with raspberry has about 75 to 80% apple juice and the rest is topped up with the raspberry. And the New Zealand law is that to sell fruit flavoured ciders in supermarkets you have to have natural origins so no artificial colourings or juices.

The regulation around cider here in New Zealand is the reason why they taste so amazingly good. I’ve tries cider in so many different countries and I have to admit New Zealand ciders are the one that taste the best. It’s incredible how the ciders taste like the actual fruit and apply cider tastes like cider and raspberry cider tastes like cider and there is a lot of different really weird flavours that we’re trying there is mixed fruit, lemon, ginger, ginger beer, we even try a cucumber and strawberry.

Upstairs in Harvest is a window into the working cidery which is an awesome way to check out how the cider is made there’s also lots of information panels talking about the humble beginnings of the cider as well as how they achieve their amazing unique flavours.

Before we leave we try some honey liqueur with gold flakes which you have to try when you’re in Gisborne it’s such a unique flavour. But after that we decide that we really need to split up this day of drinking because this afternoon we are planning to go to the Milton Winery so we go for a little game of mini golf.

The Gisborne Mini Golf is located right behind the Gisborne i-SITE it’s super easy to find and it’s a hilarious example of the great Kiwi sense of humour. Every single one of the hole is something really peculiar about the East Cape.

Because Gisborne is the hub of the east cape region they use their mini golf to kind of promote all the hot spots of Eastland to get tourists to want to go visit them and actually quite a lot of the spots which are highlighted here are on our itinerary.

There is surfing that we did right here in Gisborne with Frank yesterday. There is feeding the stingrays that we are doing tomorrow so don’t miss it. There is also 4×4 trekking which we’re not going to be dong because well our car is not 4×4 and there is even as a last stop the East Cape Lighthouse that we are definitely planning on checking out. Aside from highlighting all the hotspots to visit around the East Cape this mini golf is a lot of fun plus it’s super cheap it’s around six bucks per person and it really gets the competitiveness out of Laura and I.

Mini golf is actually one of the more underestimated things to do in New Zealand. It’s actually a really great way to break up the day between the major activities for instance for we were doing the harvest Cidery this morning and then we’re going to the Milton Vineyard this afternoon, and this is just a really great way to socialise get competative and relax cos actually travelling New Zealand can get pretty hectic sometimes.

By the time we get to the 12, the 13th and the 14th hole things have really become a real nailbiter in this game, but we do get distracted by our favourite themed hole of the game.

So Laura and I have found our favourite hole, eh?

Freedom camping forever.

I like it.

yes, Gisborne is one of those New Zealand regions which is extremely campervan friendly in fact there’s even some spots in the Gisborne region where you can freedom camp without a self-contained vehicle but for more information on freedom camping make sure you check out NZPocketGuide.com on the articles that we link up in the description as well as videos to the card up in the corner.

All and all this morning was super busy it’s absolutely incredible to see how much Gisborne has to offer we spend about a week here and still there is a lot of things we wish we had the time to do. This afternoon though we have more plans of more drinking and after that we’re gonna be leaving gisborne and heading to discover what the East Cape has to offer to travellers like us.

Next time on day 273, part 2 we are heading to the Milton Vineyard which is famous for being one of the only organic and biodynamic vineyards in New Zealand. We’re in for a full afternoon of tasting awesome wine and eating some delicious food so foodies don’t miss it!