Vines, wines and electric blankets on the South Island!

Saturday, 9th October 2010

My friend Duncan was wating to pick me up at Picton after the 3 hour ferry trip from Wellington.  I was to stay with him and his family at their home in Blenheim.


Duncan was a house officer at Haslar when I worked  there as a temp in 1997, he introduced me at that time to his girlfriend Jan, who, as I had predicted, soon became his wife, and we have kept in touch loosely ever since.  Now with two delightful children, Rosie and Angus, they are both living and working as GPs in Blenheim.  I was lucky to catch up with them all last year in the UK and heard more about their life in New Zealand so it was great to have the chance to see for myself how they were doing.

The house wasn't actually in Blenheim but outside the town and as we approached, I noted we had already passed some of the winerys with names which had become familiar in the time I had been in NZ, Wither Hills and Villa Maria.  The house itself was surrounded by fields of vines for miles and miles until the valley bottom became hills then mountains with snow still dusting the tops, in fact it's located slap bang in the middle of the Marlborough Wine region.  And Duncan was quick to tell me that I could borrow a bike and do a tour of the cellar doors.  Something to add to the plan!


Duncan and I had picked up a leg of lamb from the butchers on the way home and as Jan, Rosie and Angus were not back from swimming by the time we got to the house, we got started with a Jamie Oliver recipe they had tasted with friends and which I had cooked before....but this time we didn't have a recipe so we improvised with a whole bottle of white wine and some rosemary from the garden and had it in the oven to cook for 5 hours before Jan made it home.  And I have to say it turned out quite well considering!!  Well it was New Zealand Lamb! 

It was a bit of a shock to the system when I got ready for bed on the first evening with Dunc and Jan, there was an electric blanket on the bed and I really needed it.  Although it had been sunny, there was still a definite chill in the air and by bed time, a fire had been lit in the wood burner and the electric blanket went on before I got into bed so the bed would be nice and warm. 


Sunday morning with the family was a trip to the farmers market which was a good opportunity to sample local produce, olive oil, strawberries, fresh cheeses, preserves, pine nuts and baked goods; and what was really great was that there was entertainment for the children in the form of story telling, while musicians entertained the adults and we spent time over coffee watching a band from Vanuatu.


In the afternoon I was taken to my first ever live rugby match, the Tasman Makos playing the Bay of Plenty Steamers at home in Blenheim.  It was great, the stadium was really compact considering this was the premier league but it meant we were really close to the action, a great game and the home team won!  Solme of the home team (Tasman Makos) players were All Blacks too so I managed to get some really great photos, the action shots came out quite well.


In the week I did manage a trip around the cellar doors one long afternoon when Jan and Dunc had to work.  I took the bike and for once, it was actually quite warm although throughout the afternoon the wind did pick up which made it that much harder to peddal but after several wineries including Cloudy Bay, Oyster Bay, Montana, Wither Hills, Villa Maria, Huia and Wairau I did make it home unscathed and without having fallen off at all.


On the Wednesday, I took myself off on the bus to Nelson for a few days in the middle of my visit, having booked a B&B and a day trip to the Abel Tasman National Park.  Nelson is a pretty place, the second oldest town in New Zealand after Christchurch and apparently very close to the geographic centre of New Zealand located on a hill just outside the town.  Its a pretty steep walk up but once you reach the top, there is a viewing point which has the most stunning views over the bay, the Abel Tasman National Park to the mountains which still had snow on them.  Definitely worth the walk.


The trip to the Abel Tasman park was also well worth the early start, I was picked up outside my B&B and taken to Motueka where I was transferred by separate bus to Kaiteriteri which seems to be the gateway to the national parklands, or in other words, the last town and amenities for quite some miles.  I boarded a boat which took me all the way up the  beautiful coastline of the park, past Split Apple Rock, colonies of fur seals, rock formations, caves and glorious bushland.   On the way back south we were dropped at Bark Bay for a two hour 'tramp' through the bush to Torrent Bay which was absolutely beautiful, lush and green, to then spend a couple of hours on the beach before being picked up to return to Kaiteriteri.  Fortunately it was a lovely warm day so it was really pleasant to sit on the beach, although in the short time I was there I think I would have won the prize for being the person who could get the most sand on and in her clothing in a short space of time!!!!


On the Saturday, Duncan and Jan brought the children to Nelson for a day out so were able to pick me up to take me back to their house with them.  We had a great day perusing the crafts at the Nelson Market, for lunch we had gourmet falafel at a well recommended cafe in the town and in the afternoon, we went to the beach and to the play parks.  On the way home, we picked up fish and chips and had an early tea to end an exhautingly fun day.


Once back in Blenheim, there were only a couple of days left before it would be time to hop on the train to head south, but we did make another damp visit to the farmers market in the rain and to take a hike up the hill to the Witches Hat for panoramic views over the town of Blenheim, Cloudy Bay and the valley.

On Tuesday 19th October, I said my goodbyes to the family as they set off for school and work and at lunchtime, Jan came home to take me to the station to put me on the train south towards Christchurch.  The funny thing was that when booking my trip to Nelson, I was using a website called Naked Bus which was very reasonable in price and when I  noticed I could make multiple bookings, I went ahead and booked my transport south.  When the confirmation came through, I noticed that the Naked Bus had actually booked me onto the train.  This was not a problem at all as I had been very impressed with the train, the quality of travel and overall the low cost compared to Network Southeast or whatever its called these days.


Anyway, it was only 2 hours to my first stop, Kaikoura which is a seaside town surrounded by snow capped mountains which on a good day can be seen from as far away as Wellington.  It is famous for sea canyons which transport cold water from the south and which attract Sperm Whales and Dusky dolphins in their hundreds.  I had been told that Kaikoura was a place for whale watching but a couple of people had also mentioned the chance to swim with the dolphins.   The last time I had been in Kaikoura in 1998 it was a greay miserable and damp place with low cloud and any trips I had hoped to enjoy were called off due to the weather, so when I arrived in glorious sunshine, I had a better view than I might have expected based on past experience.  But sadly that wasn't to last.  I did get a couple of good photos, but the following morning when I got up at 6am to head out on the 7am whale watching trip, there was fresh snow on the mountains and the sea conditions were far from ideal.  The trip was cancelled.  


Instead I wandered back towards my accommodation as nothing was open yet in town and found a cafe open to grab a coffee.  What I didn't realise until the doors opened was that the cafe was attached to the company which ran the dolphin trips.  The price was extremely reasonable for being kitted out head to foot in neoprene, shipped out on a boat and being dropped in the water in among a pod of wild dolphins who will come and check you out if you make interesting noises through your snorkel.  And you don't always get the opportunity to do these things so I decided to go for it.


So by 1pm, I was decked out in black rubber, snorkel in hand and waiting to get on the boat.  It was an amazing experience,the dolphins come and see you, you don't touch them, they just swim around you at speed with the occasional leap out of the water and a big splash, it was fabulous.  They seemed to be quite interested which I thought to be bizarre since they must get used to humans.  I did get some video with a digital underwater camera I hired and when they made up my DVD, they added some extra photos for me so I can't take credit for all of them, but just being there was enough for me.


Sadly the following day's weather was worse still so it rained and rained, more fresh snow on the mountains and even on the lowlands.  My second chance at whale watching also fell through as a result but I didn't feel too bad about it as it didn't cost me anything, the dolphin experience had been magical and I had after all seen Orca in the bay of islands......and you have to have something to go back for, don't you?


The train journey took 3 hours to Christchurch where I only had one overnight stop before my flight to Sydney on the friday.  The city was still being affected by aftershocks following Septembers earthquake and on the Tuesday had had a magnitude 5 quake so I was pleased not to have to hang around.,  I didn't experience even a small aftershock in the time I was there but in a way, I'm thinking that may not be a bad thing!