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Published: April 8th 2016
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We have spent the last couple of days in Blenheim sheltering from the heavy rain forecasted. It didn’t get anywhere as bad as predicted so we managed to get out and about on our bikes. Town here is rather pretty with the Taylor River running through it. There is an awesome walking/biking track that runs both sides of the river all the way out to Taylor Dam. One afternoon we biked down to the Marlborough Museum which has a Wine Exhibition running at the moment. I suspect without this Exhibition it would a fairly average Museum. The Wine Exhibition was interesting but it appeared a little commercial. Fact of the day…………..How many bottles of wine do you get out of a 10 litre bucket of grapes…………approx 4.
Sunday and off to the local Marlborough Farmers Market. Lots of goodies here, we stock up with Wild Venison, Pork, Rabbit, fresh fruit and veges, and craft beer😊. Pretty dangerous for the budget are these markets, with way too many yummy things to entice us. Back on the road and heading South we travel through the pretty Awatere Valley. Grape Vines as far as the eye can see make for a pretty scene
with the imposing dry hills in the background. The wind is getting up and we stop for a quick look at the Historical Awatere Bridge. Then off to Lake Grassmere and the Solar Salt Works. Unfortunately they do not do tours here but driving along the road you get a clear view of the pink Evaporation Ponds, and the general set up. Next stop is Marfells DOC camp in Clifford Bay. What a great campsite with beautiful views of the Bay. However be warned when the wind blows here be prepared to batten down the hatches. We managed a very invigorating late afternoon walk along the beach to help blow the cobwebs away. Then back to the Motorhome to taste test a selection of Renaissance Brewing Company Beer. All the beers we treid were aged in Wine barrels. The winner is………Black The Ripa, a nice dark beer with no bitter aftertaste. 2
nd place goes to The Woods Man, a Belgian Milk Stout with very distinctive Cacao & Coffee flavour. You could actually swap the afternoon coffee and chocolate muffin and replace with one of these😊. Last place goes to……….French Style Biere de Garde, frankly just bloody awful. What a very
confusing beer that doesn’t really taste like beer. It was like a mix between a beer, wine, cider, and liqueur. Basically something you would expect your teenagers to have concocted and called a cocktail, high in alcohol and taste like S#!*. So I have a theory that they market this beer alongside their good beer to make the others seem spectacular.
Monday and what a long windy night we had. I half expected to find the backpackers and their little tents blown away through the night. They certainly didn’t get much sleep that was for sure. The rain is still hanging around and it’s still windy so raincoats on we walk out to Mussel Pt then back down the beach to the Wharf by the Salt Works. It’s one very solid concrete wharf in the middle of nowhere and we are not really sure what it is used for. The water is deep below and there are danger signs about very large rouge waves that obviously roll in without warning. The birds were out in force today obviously enjoying the wind. The Shags are hilarious waddling along the beach in the wind and there were lots of Terns clinging
to rocks and ensuring no seagulls pushed in on their patch.
Tuesday and we are up early to walk to Cape Campbell. The access is around the beach and you do need to be aware of the tides as it’s not somewhere you can climb the cliffs to escape the rising tide. We had so many varying reports on how long this would take us…… 4 hours to all day! So we left about 2 hours before low tide. The walk is easy when the tide is out and you have a hard surface to walk on. A couple of people in Quad bikes passed us on the way. We worked out later on that they were heading to Cape Campbell to put their craypots out. What a wonderful spot out at the Cape, with the beautiful lighthouse and the large group of seals including one enormous Sea Elephant. The Sea Elephant was about 4 metres long and his girth was like a whale. The photo I took really didn’t do it justice. He did have a yucky runny nose which I would have liked to wipe! (Must be a mother thing). We had been warned not to venture
to close but it would have been nice to see him actually move. The Original Lighthouse shone for the first time on the 1
st August 1870. The original Tower was replaced in 1905. The Cast Iron Tower stands 22 metres high and 47 metres above sea level. The light flashes once every 15 seconds and can be seen for 19 nautical miles (35 kms). This walk is well worth doing and it actually only took us just under 3 ½ hours return. Fact of the day……….Cape Campbell Lighthouse has black stripes instead of the normal red, why?..........Because the black shows up against the white cliffs.
Wednesday we are on the road North and make our way through the very narrow and windy Taylor Pass Rd. We were surprised to see more Vineyards through this remote area. 1
st stop the picturesque Taylor Dam Reserve. This is a nice place for a short stroll around the dam. The tree colours are starting to change and the reflections on the water are an awesome photo opportunity.Next stop is the Wither Hills Farm Park. If you want exercise and some decent hills to climb this is the place. This is also a great
place for the Mountain Bikers. We still can’t believe how brown the surrounding hills are here. The locals say they are better than normal! 1
st stop to catch my breath and savour the views is the Rotary Hill Lookout. Then further onto the Taylor Dam Lookout which gives you glimpses down on to the dam and over the rugged Ranges to the West. Back up the hill slightly and on to Quails Junction Lookout. Spectacular views from here over Blenheim, Wairau River, Cloudy Bay, Cook Strait and the surrounding Ranges. There is a steep track from this point that leads down to the bottom of the hills. Yes we took it and our knees did not thank us. Perhaps the better route was the way we came up. But we made it safely and the new Trail shoes probably saved the day. A good workout with an awesome view as a reward made for another great day of getting out there and doing it.
The next couple of days have been spent biking around Blenheim, catching up with old neighbours and friends. It’s been another great week and thankfully the weather hasn’t really halted our adventures😊.
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