Of stone-fruit and weeds

Oooh yes, cherry picking in Cromwell - ticked that one off our list too! Took a bit of driving around to find a PYO orchard, and although it's no more economical to buy ready-picked cherries than it is to pick your own (we thought they should pay us to pick their cherries?!), it was definitely worth the effort.  None of us really had any idea what to expect...Dad thought cherries grew on the ground like strawberries, but no, they are on trees like apricots, and sprout forth from the branches from ground level to the topmost branches. 

This orchard boasts several varieties of cherries but to our untrained eye we could see two - dark cherries and 'white' cherries, which are a pale yellowish colour and slightly less sweet than the traditional dark maroon ones.  We picked 3.2 kgs between the five of us, along with the free sampling allowed along the way. 

We'd been super impressed by the bounteous display of lupins growing along the highways.  We wanted to stop and photograph them on Friday but it rained most of the way to Wanaka, so we determined to find a good place to stop on the way home.  Apparently they are actually quite an aggressive weed, impacting on the ecosystems along Canterbury's many river systems.