Saturday, February 22, 2025

Down Under 2025 - Wellington / Martinborough

Wellington / Martinborough, 19/23-February-2025.

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Wednesday 19: A bonus to spending night in Wellington was that we could plan to meet up with Zoë, the daughter of friends Tim & Sarah, who is here for two years on a working visa. She was busy that night but on her recommendation we dined in the excellent Charley Noble where her partner works (but he was off that night).

Thursday 20. After picking up the car next morning we met Zoë for brunch and catch up before heading off to Martinborough.

Ri

We stayed in the historic Martinborough Hotel. According to an advert placed in the local newspaper by the owner in 1882, it "has been built without regard to expense", "possesses every modern improvement, and is, without exception, one of the finest hostelries that has over been erected in any inland country town in New Zealand". It is indeed very fine! This photo is from the hotel website as we forgot to take one.

The first night we ate in the hotel restaurant, lovely food (lamb for Mary, salmon for me) with two different wine flights.

Friday 21. Years ago Mary was told that the best NZ Pinot Noirs come from Martinborough and it has been on her wish list ever since. We originally planned three nights in Wellington and only one night in Martinborough but we decided to reverse the durations and so glad we did, it did not disappoint! 

In Martinborough there are a large number of wineries within walking or cycling distance. We rented a couple of bikes for the day and cycled the wine trail, visiting five different places. We had two hugely informative tutored tastings: one pre-booked at Ata Rangi and the other at Poppies where we were incredibly lucky to have one of the owners, Shayne, as our host for a walk-in tasting. 

We learned so much about the area, vines and vintages from both which helped us appreciate the wines even more. The Pinot Noirs were wonderful and in a wide variety of styles. Pinot Gris was a real revelation - it works really well here giving a wine that is much richer and tastier than its Italian counterpart but much fresher than those from Alsace.

The ominous clouds did turn to rain but only after we had finished tasting. We were completely sodden by the time we got back to the bike hire shop but anyway skin is waterproof! 

Saturday 22. Saturday is of course #parkrunday. We had to stop and take a picture of the mists over the plains on our way to Greytown Woodside Trail parkrun

It is a custom, if the Saturday falls on the 22nd of the month, to celebrate Tutu day (two-two). Mary had packed her tartan tutu but I had decided not to pack mine in the interests of space in the case.  Unfortunately for me they had a bag full of spare tutus so I ended up with a fetching green number!

On the drive to and from parkrun we saw some very colourful post boxes. Somewhat like I am used to seeing in American films but much jollier.

A feature of New Zealand wineries is netting the vines to protect the grapes from the birds. As soon as the grapes start to ripen the birds swoop in and decimate the crop. The growers monitor the sugar levels and net the vines as soon as the fruits becomes attractive to the birds.

Both on the train journeys and here in Martinborough we saw massive windbreak hedges intended to protect the land from being dried out by the winds. They are enormous and an impressive sight as they march across the landscape, mile after mile.

We enjoyed the wine tasting at Poppies so much that on Saturday we walked back there for a late lunch of their wonderful seasonal platter (with wine of course).

Early evening we went for a gin tasting (well me actually as Mary doesn’t like gin). As in the UK, there has been an explosion of boutique distilleries in New Zealand. The Tōhi Gin Room had an extensive list and I was able to try three local Martinborough gins.

As previously this trip, occasionally supper was a picnic in our room as eating out every single night for a whole month can get too much.

Sunday 23. A four hour drive to Napier through some stunning scenery to us to our next destination. 

Next: Napier, 23/26-February-2025.

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Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Down Under 2025 - Blenheim

Blenheim, New Zealand. 16/19-February-2025.

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Starting with a scenic train journey, The Coastal Pacific Train, on Sunday, we spent a few days in Blenheim and the Marlborough wine region.

Sunday 16. We had an early start at 07:00 to catch the Coastal Pacific Train up the West coast with views of the Pacific Ocean.

We saw dolphins and seals but did not manage to capture any decent photos from the train. We passed Lake Grasmere where an extensive area of salt pans have been created to produce large amounts of salt mainly for industrial use. The salt is naturally pink due to algae.

We stayed in a lovely house on the outskirts of Blenheim, courtesy of Home Exchange. As we too early to check in we had lunch and a wine flight each in Fidelio, the wine bar in the railway station.


Blenheim as the sun is setting, low rise and spacious. The streets are wide and houses almost all single story bungalows. Mostly looking Victorian / Edwardian in style with corrugated iron roofs. 

Monday 17. A full day wine tasting with Doug of Hop’n’Grape Tours was fascinating - both in learning why Sauvignon Blanc is so widely grown here and tasting the widely different styles that are made. 

The first stop on our wine tasting tour, Clos Henri. Winemakers from Sancerre who also established themselves in Marlborough about 16 years ago.

Real flying winemakers - they look after two vintages each year, one in each hemisphere. 


We also visited Allan Scott, Gibson Bridge…

… and Rimapere.


Wines here are planted in the valley and often on clay. Obviously different from the northern hemisphere where they plant on slopes and definitely not on clay.

Tuesday 18. Tuesday was a healthier day starting in the morning with a run for me and a walk to the supermarket for Mary (25 mins each way). In the afternoon we went for a climb up the local Mount Vernon (422m) for stupendous views over Blenheim and the vineyards all the way to the Cook Strait.. Mount Vernon.

View of Blenheim as we started to climb up.

A panoramic view from Mount Vernon of Blenheim and the Cook Strait.

After an exhausting day we had quiet supper at home in our accommodation.

Wednesday 19. Transfer day taking the ferry to Wellington on the North Island. 

The original plan was to stay in a home exchange property outside Wellington but timing of the bus from Blenheim to Picton meant that we could only catch the 14:30 ferry. That got in to Wellington after the car hire office closed so we could not pick up the car until the next morning! 

Plan B was one night in Wellington, cancel the home exchange, extend our one night booking in Martinborough to three nights and head straight off there the following morning. And that is what we did.

The crossing was smooth and uneventful.

Next: Wellington / Martinborough, 19/23-February-2025.

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Saturday, February 15, 2025

Down Under 2025 - Christchurch

Christchurch, New Zealand. 14/16-February-2025.

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Arriving on Friday evening and leaving early on Sunday morning essentially meant only one day in Christchurch. In typical M&M style we packed a lot in.

Friday 14. While on the train our Booking.com host sent a message claiming maintenance issues at our apartment and switched us to a different apartment further from the centre of Christchurch. The new accommodation was a very smart two bed apartment but not within easy walking distance of anywhere. A lesson learned for us this weekend; there are dodgy owners even on the main accommodation booking sites. Our advice is: 

  • read down through the reviews, not just the few at the top 
  • do not trust a high overall score without looking at all the reviews, watch out for lots of suspicious-looking one-word reviews with high scores 

We had planned to eat out for a Valentine’s meal but because of the change in location we ended up dining in with a meal of penne and a jar of sauce purchased from a local convenience store that was just managed to get in to as the owner was pulling down its shutters at 8:30. Still we washed it down with a pricy bottle of delicious Pinot Noir purchased in Cromwell.

Saturday 15. Saturday is, of course, parkrun day and an opportunity to add New Zealand to our list of country flags at Hagley Park.

A humorous sign: ”It’s just a walk in a park”.

Some years ago I made cyber-friends with a fellow blogger, Lynette Lusk, who happened to live close to Mary’s mum. We subsequently met in real life several times. She sadly passed away but we knew that her daughter lived in Christchurch. Widower Tommy put us in touch with and we were able to meet up her and husband Antz. They drove us up Coronation Hill, for a coffee with a fantastic view of an old volcanic crater!

Back in Christchurch we visited the Quake City museum to learn all about the devastation and rebuilding following the 2010 / 2011 catastrophic earthquakes. 

Next we took a city tour on one of their historic trams. A great way to travel round the centre and see the rebuilding and restoration works.

Christchurch Cathedral under wraps. Apparently they have run out of money to complete all the repairs required after the earthquakes.

Finally we went for a lovely walk in the botanical gardens for a couple of hours. This is striking Haemanthus coccineus, the blood flower, blood lily or paintbrush lily.

In the gardens we saw a family of California Quail: dad, mum and some of their fast moving chicks.

That evening we had a lovely meal and and opportunity to taste Waipara wines meal at Downstairs, the sister company to Twenty Seven Steps which was recommended but fully booked.

Sunday 16. An early start to catch the Coastal Pacific Train to Blenheim.

Next: Blenheim, 16/19-February-2025.

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Thursday, February 13, 2025

Down Under 2025 - Fox Glacier

Fox Glacier, New Zealand. 12/14-February-2025.

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Wednesday 12. Today saw us leaving the lovely town of Cromwell and driving 4 hours via the Haast Pass through mountains and forest to Fox Glacier on the west coast where we would stay for a couple of days. Fascinating to see the changes in farming and vegetation throughout the journey: from vines and fruit trees in the Cromwell basin to cattle and wheat as we climbed up and then to national parks of trees, palms and ferns on the western side.

There were lots of photo opportunities on the route. First stop Lake Hawea, about an hour from Cromwell.

Second stop shortly after was Lake Wanake. Text from an explanatory plaque: 

  • Several times during the past million years this area has been covered by glaciers which carved out the surrounding valleys and scooped out the basin of Lake Wanaka.
  • The highest level reached by the ice was about 3000ft above lake level. 
  • Several rounded rocky hills in view are ice-sculptured and Pigeon and Ram Islands were part of a partly submerged ridge dividing the loe stream A small branch of the Hawea glacier Joinep the Wanaka glacier by way of the Neck the narrow strip of land separating Lakes Wanaka and Hawea. 
  • Glacial action and down-cutting of the Cluthe River dropped the lake level thus forming a series of beaches clearly visible at several points around the lake. 
  • As the 30 mile long lake is 1000ft deep its bottom is below sea level. 
  • In early days a Maori camp was situated nearby but was abandoned after raids in 1836. 
  • Minaret Station is in Minaret Bay behind the low rocky hill across the lake. 
  • Until 1860 beech forest covered the lower slopes.

Third stop after about two hours from Cromwell was Fantail Falls. Starting to see real differences in the vegetation. The short path that leads to the falls is bordered by trees covered in lichen.

Thursday 13. Our first full day in Fox Glacier did not go according to plan. The booked e-bike & hike to the Fox Glacier was cancelled, due to lack of numbers. When we woke up we understood why - low cloud / mist meant there was nothing to see. 

Instead we did two walks: first a circuit of Lake Matheson and then a Glacier View Walk (without the view).

The paths around Lake were broad, gentle and well maintained taking us through temperate rain forest with regular little plaques telling us what trees and plants we were looking at.

This was a scary suspension bridge that bounced and swung from side to side. It was an opportunity to channel your inner Indiana Jones!

The paths were lined with lush vegetation. Not sure if this was lichen or moss.

On first landing in Queenstown we described New Zealand a like the Lake District on steroids. These were ferns on steroids. I can see why the fern is the symbol of New Zealand. 

We had seen these plants on the roadsides on our drive here and thought they were papery flowers but closer look shows they are cobwebs.

Matheson Lake is normally noted for its reflections of the mountains but this was as good as we got due to the mists.

“There is a way that nature speaks, that the land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.” Linda Hogan. 

In the afternoon we did the Glacier View Walk. It was very similar to the Lake Matheson walk well laid out but steeper.

We were hoping the mist might have burned off but when we got to the viewpoint the glacier was still shrouded in cloud. There is a glacier up there somewhere!

Friday 14. Woke up to lovely weather so managed to grab a couple of views before setting off up the west coast. This shows the contrast between yesterday and today at Lake Matheson: views of Mount Tasman and Mount Cook.

We then drove from Fox Glacier to Greymouth to pick up the Tranzalpine (sic) Express over the alps to Christchurch.

This was planned as one of the highlights of the trip through some stunning scenery with spectacular views on mountains, ravines and rivers! The train company have an app which tracks your journey and provides regular, informative snippets like mini-podcasts on points of interest: towns we passed through, history of the area, geology, building of the railway itself, etc.

View of Lake Moana from the train. 


Hills, gorges and viaducts on the train journey.

En-route to Christchurch we were subjected to a classic bait-and-switch by our host…

Next: Christchurch, 14/16-February-2025

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Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Down Under 2025 - Cromwell

Cromwell, New Zealand. 09/12-February-2025.

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Sunday 09: Now in Cromwell, our first stop in New Zealand. Thanks to the time zone shift our bodies were in NZ, but no idea where our time clocks were! Rather than eat out we bought some comfort food (spicy lamb sausages and potatoes) and drank some local wine.

Monday 10.

Today was all about wine tasting with Roaring Wine Tours and the very knowledgeable Natalie. We visited four different wineries, had a delicious food and wine pairing lunch and in total tasted over 30 wines including an interesting Pinot Noir white, a number of delicious Pinot Noir Roses plus Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Cabernet Franc and, of course, Pinot Noir. 

We learned interesting new facts: they are the most southerly vineyards in the world, their specific climate means a few problems with pests, and they have to net the vines when the grapes start to form to stop the birds getting them all. We also learned that the Māori were only here for about 600 years before European settlers arrived. 

Starting at the stunning setting of Te Kano where we must have seemed especially interested as we got to taste 9 wines instead of the promised 4! The last 3, single vineyard Pinot Noirs, were a fascinating demonstration of what could be done with the same grape in slightly different locations.

We then moved on to Terra Sancta, again showing what can be done with a variety of wines and wine plots. A smallish vineyard where they were proud of the fact that they do everything themselves - from vine to bottle - meaning they have control over every part of the process.

Lunch was at Stoakers where old wine barrels come to die but only after being used to BBQ delicious meats and vegetables. The pork in the barrel on the left is being slow roasted for about 4 hours over wood chips. Lunch was a huge platter of delicious food with 5 matching wines.

Next was Ruru where you could select any 5 wines to taste. We decided to share and so were able to taste all their wines. As we were tasting on the porch, we could see them netting the wines in the distance.

Last was Dunstan Road and the indomitable Marc who created a small vineyard from scratch and runs it single-handedly, a real labour of love. After tasting 5 of his bottled wines he showed us around his production facility (about the size of a double garage) and let us taste some of his Rose left in a barrel which he has to top up regularly to replace the "Angel's Share". It was fascinating to compare against the bottled version with the barrel wine being distinctly richer and fruitier!.

Of course we had to buy some of his wines! Looking forward to the Gewürztraminer with Thai food tonight.

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Tuesday 11.

A relaxing day with a gentle stroll to the Cromwell Heritage Precinct and then along the Clutha river to Misha's vineyard as recommended by our tour guide yesterday. By sharing glasses we managed to taste all 10 of their wines.

Too good to resist. 

Lunch was back at The Stoaker Room next door but not the huge platter of yesterday. Roast pork anyone? Smell was gorgeous!

After lunch our way back took us to the fascinating Cromwell Museum. There we learned about the formation of the town in the Otago gold rush in the 1860's and it's development through to it's partial submerging as a result of damming the river for hydroelectric power in the 1980's.

Cromwell Historic Precinct, some buildings are now museums, some are shops or cafés.

Enjoying a coffee in the precinct...

... on the edge of Lake Dunstan, formed as a result of the dam.

Assuming that this is named after Kilwinning Lodge No 0 (in Ayrshire).

Anthenum Hall, once on hill high above the river.

Likewise Renshaw's cottage.

That evening we stayed in for a relaxing evening with a light supper of a Thai-style prawn salad accompanied by one of yesterday's purchases, the Dunstan Road Gewürztraminer.

We loved Cromwell for its pride in its fruits, wines and heritage and its character - gnomes bungy and homekill butchers are available!

Next: Fox Glacier, 12/14-February-2025 

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