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Published: December 7th 2005
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Blasden Vineyard
The friendly proprietor agreed to pose for the photo with an idiot In a burst of activity quite uncharacteristic for myself in the last few days, I managed to cover off all of the remaining highlights of Northern South Island. These included the Marlborough Wine District, the Abel Tasman National Park and Nelson and finally the Marlborough Sounds through which I would make an emotional ferry trip on my way across the Cook Straits to North Island and Wellington. All of this in a few days. Let's cover it and cover it quickly!
I left Christchurch on a 7am bus bound for Blenheim, a place the Lonely Planet describes as a "Classic New Zealand country town", conjuring up thoughts of some kind of gentle rural charm. Who'd have thought it as I rolled into Bleinheim and was met with a fairly unttractive mini-sprawl. My bad impression was heightened as I strolled from one end of town to another in search of accommodation (NB: this was yet another instance when I wish I'd brought a mobile phone with me on my travels), stopping at three scattered establishments before eventually ending up at the strangely unadverstised Lemon Tree. I thought that this didn't bode well for the place but it actually turned out OK.
Me, Mosquito Beach
This was a self potrait... The people were pretty great once I evetually managed to get a foot-hold amongst the existing group and I met some interesting people including two members of an amateur Swedish rock band and a few North Islanders exploring their own country. At one point, I was accosted by a Dutch woman. The exhchange proceed thusly: "Excuse me, may I ask you a question" "But of course" "We have a bet going and..." "Erm... yes" "Are you Israeli?". Cue brief silent interlude and confused blinking. "Erm not even slightly". Apparently even the Israeli guy at the table thought I was. That wins most bizarre question yet, for sure. I still just don't get it!
I headed out the next day on a full-day tour of the wine region. I decided on Marlborough Wine Tours who offered small groups, personalised service and a reasonable price (NZ$69 for the day). Our guide, Brian, was extremely pleasant and wasted no time in poking fun at England's rugby team. I've learned to reply with some dignity that at least we've won World Cups in at least two different sports. In the course of our 7 hour tour, we managed to cover 8 different places,
Sea Kayak Team!
Me and Wendy my friendly co-pilot with a stop for lunch. The best thing was, we never stopped at one of the big places like Montana or Villa Maria but instead squeezed in some smaller places, which were much more interesting. I knew nothing about wine before and though I pretend otherwise, still know not much about wine but I enjoyed taking in what tips I did and was certainly fascinated to be able to compare say the same wine across different vintages, or the difference between Oaked and Unoaked Chardonnay (for the record, I prefer the latter). Much to my suprise, I discovered that there are actually wines that I could enjoy, even red ones! Highlights included the Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc at Mount Riley, the Pinot Noir at Wither Hill and the Pinot Gris at Bladen. I shall hopefully order some in the future for expectant friends and relatives reading this.... vultures.
Returning from my wine tour, I high-tailed it to the bus station and boarded the bus to Nelson. I had already made one of the best decisions of my travels so far that morning and booked into the Palace Hostel, near the centre of town. I can't say enough that I loved
Beautiful Stillwell Beach
Here the water was relatively warm, though small transparent insects would nibble at me... you cn't have it both ways this place. OK it's not necessarily the tidiest or even the cleanest, but it is set in a couple of crazy wooden houses on a hill and was also home to a fantastic piano room and a couple of classical guitars. Waking the next day, I intended to at least do some sight-seeing but instead wound up spending almost the entire day playing music with a guy I'd met. He was 17 but looked 25 and played guitar like a hero. We passed the entire afternoon playing in the sun on the deck area, with a couple of hungover girls from Belfast who counldn't be bothered to do anything else and also a borderline weird Dutch-Kiwi of about 50+ who just seemed to appear and disappear as he liked. It was inexplicably one of the best days so far and I managed to get no photos of anyone. Typical!
The next morning, I awoke at 5:45am to pack up and head off on my kayaking trip on the seas of Abel Tasman national park. I had chosen a one day overnight trip with Kiwi Kayaks. They picked us up, equipped us and took us by water taxi up to
Abel Tasman Walking Buddies
(L to R): Heinke (German), Cybil (German Swiss), Mark (South African) the bay by Tonga Island. From here kayaked casually down the coast, admiring the various golden beaches as they appeared under the receeding tide. We stopped for morning tea and lunch (all delicious and included in the NZ$160 price) and then spent an afternoon lazing on another beautiful beach called Mosquito Bay. Thankfully no mosquitos but a memorable stop nonetheless. We then drifted on down to Anchorage Bay where some of us would spend the night - some on a boat hostel, myself in a borrowed tent on the campsite (my option was $50 cheaper, say no more). This proved a memorable stop, particularly the walk up to Cleopatra's Pools in the hills, with a stunning overlook of the turquiose seas and golden sand below. A slight drawback was the group of about 30 14 year old school girls situated on part of the campsite but fortunately their teachers proved more effective in silencing them than ours ever did on school trips and a good nights sleep was passed. Awaking refreshed, I met some people from my group to undertake the easy walk back down the coast to our collection point. We stopped off for a good few hours on
Resolution Bay, Marlborough Sounds
It was really was pretty damn nice, come to think of it... fantastic Stillwell Beach, where I managed to top up a little of the tan that had been lost since leaving Australia.
I left early the next morning (almost missing my bus, having woken up a mere 30 minutes before it left) for Picton, where I scored a bed in the excellent Villa hostel. This place is well positioned for everything in Picton and has a fantastic kitchen, a hot spa and (but of course) a guitar. What's not to like? Oh and the staff were friendly and they had a couple of awesome dogs. In the hostel I also met a friendly young Irish couple who would be on the same flight as me when I go to the Cook Islands, a pleasant suprise. I spent the day relaxing, reading and chatting, also booking myself onto a water taxi to take me up to Ship Cove on the Queen Charlotte Sound track in the Marlborough Sounds, which was a little expensive ($60 for the trip out and back). I undertook the walk with a few random people I'd met in the hostel and we all had a jolly time in the sun, admiring the great views across the green
Posers, Unknown Beach, Marlborough Sounds
(L to R): Scott (Oz), Charlotte (German Swiss), Paul (Northern Ireland) hills to the beautiful blue water. By the time we reached our pick up point at Furneaux Lodge, I was sufficiently relaxed to doze off in the sun, only to wake to the sound of my friends laughing and my own snoring. On the trip back, they took us in and out of just a few of the sounds numerous bays and coves and gave us free tea and a running commentary. I returned to another hot spa (well deserved) and spent the rest of the day unwinding. I enjoyed my time in the sounds immensly but it must be said that after all I've seen in the South Island, it doesn't quite compare in terms of beauty. It is nice (though I want to avoid damning with faint praise) and definately worth a look but certainly put other things before it.
The next day, I hopped on the cheapest ferry to the North Island, run by Bluebridge. To my suprise the thing was very well equipped, with comfortable chairs and movie screens, though the choice of film left a little to be desired (Shanghai Noon and The Santa Clause II. Quite). I was certainly sad to be leaving
Picton Harbour says goodbye
Any photgraphic detail is probably obscured by manly tears... the South, good as it and its people have been to me but I was equally excited to get to Wellington which sounded like my kind of town. I'm in Wellington now and it is indeed my kind of town. Hold that thought. More later.
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Jonts
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Very jealous mon amis- sat in not-so-sunny Reading trying in vain to size a three-phase separator, ugh!