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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