Blogs from Blenheim, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

We spent all day Saturday (21st) travelling. We were up at 3.45am to be at the airport by 4.45am, the obligatory three hours before an international flight! Thank you Kerry for dropping us at Tullamarine in the middle of the night. We had to fly via Auckland because Qantas changed the flight to Christchurch so that it wasn’t going to arrive in Christchurch until after the flight to Nelson departs. That was no good for us because we really didn’t want to spend a night in transit - we just wanted to get from Melbourne to Nelson in one day. We had a couple of hours to kill at Auckland Airport and then we were able to complete our journey on a little plane - with propellers! - arriving in Richmond in time for dinner. After ... read more

Our last night on the South Island. We are booked on the 9 am ferry tomorrow. The drive from Greymouth to Blenheim was good. It was amazing you could feel the air change and the heat rise, then the vineyards started, mile after mile. Just before Blenheim we saw a sign, Clifford Bay 6 for $50! Was driving too fast to stop so we had to go back the next morning. Got set up in the Holiday Park, went for a walk and checked out the area. I found a cheap dress, I swear I'm the only woman in the country in shorts. Tuesday we did the laundry and instead of using the dryer, we hung out clothes out on the line, everyone here does it. Was a bit windy so a little challenge but the ... read more

Sitting in the capital of Sav Blanc country, Blenheim; and Aussie wines in the supermarket are cheaper, not sure what is going on! The major supermarket chains of Coundown and New World sell alcohol in Canterbury and Marlborough, oh so handy to pick up your chops and potatoes and a vino to go with it.Today we travelled from Kaikoura to Blenheim, less than 200kms but very scenic. Along the coast initially, turquoise blue waters, with a milky shallow section, stony beaches, seals along the roadside and snow capped mountain.This scenery changed once we left Canterbury to Marlborough's rolling hills full of vineyards and of course sheep and newly born lambs.Lunch today was at The Store which is a restaurant north of Kaikoura, on its on, on the right side of road going north. Perched right on ... read more

Getting up bright and early we kicked off our first day in Blenheim with a Highlights wine tour, a locally owned wine and vineyard tour of the Marlborough wine region. Marlborough is one of the main and better wine regions in New Zealand so it seemed only proper, being the wine fans that we are, that we devoted a good hunk of our time here to see (and drink) as much as possible. Starting off with a scheduled wine tour on our first day seemed the best way to go. The sun was shining, the degrees were high so it was the perfect day to cruise round some vineyards and sip on some cold Sauvignon which is what the region is famous for. The guide Dave was fab, he was so accomodating to our preferences and ... read more

Hello Everyone, We woke up in the Taylor Dam free campervan site, a really quiet place and of course we didn’t have the worries of being fined in the morning. We drove back into Blenheim to go to the I-site to pick up a wine map and to see the best way of doing the open cellar doors with bikes and where to park up. The lady at the I-site was very informative and booked everything up for us. We had a few options but most didn’t cater for the fact that we needed to park up where we could stay for the night, as I wouldn’t be able to drive again after all the wine! So the best, and in fact cheapest option was to book into ‘Watsons Way’ campervan site and backpackers. This was ... read more