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Published: December 13th 2006
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Day 14 - Marlborough (30km)
Today we set off to explore the Marlborough wineries starting with visits to a few of our favourites - first stop is Montana (wine we had at our wedding) at about 11am and even at this time in the morning they offer us tasters - who are we to decline!! We sit down in their wine garden (which we have all to ourselves) with 3 very yummy Sauv Blancs and a Pinot Gris (Grigio to us). Our favourite is the Sauv Blanc from the Condors Forest vineyard - mmmmm - but unfortunately there’s not enough made for them to export it to the UK - boo!!! After that it’s a visit to Nobilo / Drylands Estate who do some v tasty wines (some of which are available in Tesco!) then decide it’s best to abandon the van (at the nearest campsite) before going for more tasters and lunch at Wairau River Family Estate.
We have a lovely lunch in their restaurant (shortlisted in the top 25 in NZ) accompanied by their excellent wines and afterwards set off to another few wineries on foot before arriving at The Village Cellar Door - a nice little
place that only stocked boutique wines from small privately owned vineyards in the area. After learning about the local wines (and many tastings) we relax with a lovely glass of vino (Staete Landt Sauv Blanc - £45 in Harvey Nichols apparently) and excellent cheese board - this is the life! We taxi back to our campsite (bleary eyed) but only after purchasing a few bottles of vino (Ra Nui, Un-oaked Chardonnay and Clayridge Pinot Rose) and a takeaway cheeseboard to keep us going!!
Day 15 - Marlborough - Picton (350km)
We take the (very) scenic route to Picton heading west through the windy hills to the Abel Tasman National Park. Although quite a bit out of the way this was definitely well worth the trouble because it was one of the most beautiful places we’d been in NZ - dense rain forest, secluded picture postcard beaches and crystal clear blue-green water gives it the feel and look of a small tropical island. The National Park has a coastal walk covering 51km but we weren’t quite up to that so we cheated and chose the most scenic part - an 8km stretch between Bark Bay and Torrent Beach.
In order to cheat we had to get a water taxi from Marahau to Bark Bay to start our walk and it was the best taxi ride ever - not only was the scenery beautiful but our driver took us to see the famous split apple rock, a huge boulder (part of a rock reef) that accordingly to Maori legend was split in two by 2 feuding Gods (the gods of the sea and land who were fighting for ownership of the rocks!). After that on the way to our drop off at Bark Bay, we are joined by a huge pod of dolphins (they were everywhere) leaping and performing, and one jumped out of the water so close to us we could have reached out to touch it - see pics for proof! After a great day which was a fitting end to our time on the South it’s off to Picton for the night in preparation for our ferry the following morning across to the North Island.
Day 16 - Picton - Wellington (30km)
We take the 3 hour ferry to Wellington on a lovely bright morning across the Cook Strait and bid farewell to the
South Island. Wellington is overcast (and very windy) but undeterred we head to the Mt Victoria Lookout for lunch and views of the city. After lunch we explore Wellington on foot after booking into our campsite (which is more like a carpark - the price you pay for the luxury of being close to the city!). After wandering around for the afternoon, and for lack of anything better to do (and desire not to return to our carpark too early), we go on a self guided (or should that be misguided?) pub tour followed by dinner at Molly Malone’s ‘Irish’ pub - lovely lamb stew!
Day 17 - Wellington to Rotourua (550km - The longest day!)
It’s foul weather so we set off driving north but it turns out that the weather’s the same all over the North Island and there’s nothing of note to report until 60km short of Rotourua when, determined to take in some tourist attractions, we stop to see the ‘craters of the moon’ geothermal park. This is an area of steaming vents and mud pools but as we walk round the track the rain turns out to be heavier than we thought and
we get soaked to the skin! Still it was really interesting to see despite the rain.
Day 18 - Rotourua (80km)
Rotourua is the most geothermically active area in NZ and this is clear with steaming vents everywhere (even in local parks!) and strong smell of sulphur (rotten eggs - which even now we can’t get out of our clothes!) in the air. We spend the morning at Hells Gate where after a walk around their grounds seeing the various bubbling/boiling mud pools, sulphur lakes, mud volcano etc we treat ourselves to the therapeutic mud bath and sulphur spa package. This was lots of fun and we emerge feeling very relaxed and silky smooth (but more than a bit stinky!)
On the way back to Rotourua we go via the buried village which is billed as he Pompeii of the South, however after 10 minutes and $50 later it becomes apparent this is just clever marketing! However we do take in the nice Te Wairoa waterfall and views of scenic Mt Tarawera (which erupted in 1886 to bury the village!). Back in Rotourua we enjoy a bit of retail therapy shopping for some local carved Jade before
being whisked off to attend a “traditional” Maori Hangi feast and Haka show in the evening. Although a tad contrived for the tourists it was quite interesting and the mountain of lamb and chicken cooked in the ground sent us home with aching bellies and no need for breakfast the following day!!
Day 19 - Rotorua - Auckland (370km)
The only stop of note today is to the Waitomo area on the west coast which has over 300 hundred limestone caves which are millions of years old. Firstly we visit the glowworm caves which as the name suggests is home to millions of glowworms which carpet the ceiling of a pitch black cave with thousands of star-like lights. We do a walking tour through the caves in the dark(!) before ending on a little boat in the depths of the caves carpeted with glowworms - it was breathtaking and could easily have been mistaken for a beautiful night sky! After this we visit the Aranui cave which is a limestone cave about 600m long and 60m deep with strangely beautiful stalagmites and stalagtites and other formations of pure crystal formed over millions of years by water dripping through
the caves - v cool.
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Lyn Fraser
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Wot!? No Comment??!!
Can't have a blog with no comment; that would never do. Yet another very varied few days of enjoying the culture/wine of NZ. The weather doesn't seem to be spoiling your enjoyment of this wonderful country. What a stuff you pack in over several days. You are going to soooo enjoy reliving your trip over and over again over the years thanks to these blogs. An awesome tale of life with the Frasers on vacation. Must dash-I'm off to Tesco to get your Christmas pressie off the wine shelf. Thanks for that! All my love, Mum xxx