Holiday: Day 19 – Grape Expectations!

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6.15am: Welcome back loyal Reader! 😉. It’s Sunday, and we’re currently in Picton, our first stop on the SOUTH Island, having arrived early evening yesterday by Ferry from Wellington.

As you might guess from the title, today, we’re on the wine trail (again!) 😉. Yes, I know, it’s a tough life, but we’re happy to take one (or ten) for the team! 🤪. After all, we haven’t tried out a vineyard for five days! 😁😁

North vs South

Some of you have asked about the differences between the two main Islands. In many respects, the South Island is quite different from the North Island, although they do use the same currency and speak the same language! 😉. The South is actually the larger (151,215 km² [58384 sq miles] vs 113,729 km² [43911 sq miles]) and many people think it’s more beautiful, as, like its cousin in the North, it also has a stunning coastline and many mountains. It’s cooler ‘down here’ too, and I was surprised to read that you can actually go skiing in the South Island (in the Southern Alps). On the South Island, the temperature, on average (December to February) is between 7 and 19℃ , whilst in the North it ranges from 10 and 25℃. Remember though, these are averages, and this time of year is their SPRING. 🌼🌻🌷🪻🥀

If the North is about beaches and volcanoes, then the South is memorable for its mountains and fjords. With 4 million people living in the North Island, contrast that with around 1.2 million in the South, the Island feels very sparsely populated (and we thought the North lacked people when outside of the main towns and cities!) – as a result, everything has felt less hurried and less busy. The other important factor – wine – is generally considered to be the domain of the South Island, and where Marlborough, located near the Marlborough Sounds, has almost 70 wineries producing many high-quality Sauvignon Blancs.

Day 19 – Where are we going?
(Sunday, 17th November)

10.42am: After a lazy morning, the first job was to find the local petrol station as we were down to less than a quarter of a tank.

Job done! 95.99NZD (£44.56) later we now had a full tank and range of 650 kilometres. next stop? Blenheim!

The Road to Blenheim

10.50am: We headed south for a major area of NZ wine production – Blenheim. The road taken was the SH1 (State Highway 1) and it was a trouble-free drive! (another one, with not a pothole anywhere! Marlborough (of which Blenheim is part) has earned the title of “Sunniest place in New Zealand 2024” so far, giving 2225 hours of sunshine so far this year.

11.22am: It only took us around 20 minutes to get there by car and with a bit of time to kill before our booked Lunch, we took a look around the town. There’s not an awful lot to see here, but we did stumble upon Seymour Square and its famous Clock-Tower that commemorates the Fallen of WWI and WWII

11.50am: Back to the main mission of today (and on our pist list) we headed to Cloudy Bay Vineyard.

Cloudy Bay Vineyard

They say that the South Island is a serious area for vineyards. Until we arrived here today, I don’t think we fully appreciated the comment! There were vines as far as the eye could (and couldn’t) see – in pretty much every direction. Forget France – I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many vines in one place! Seriously impressive!😲

12.23pm: Having now seen their Vineyards, we were ready for their Lunch!.

Cloudy Bay is a world-famous Vineyard. The business was started as recently as 1985 by David Hohnen and Kevin Judd where their Organic Vineyard currently offers a range of wines based on the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pelorus méthode traditionnelle (It’s OK, I had to look it up). There’s a great list of what they have in their cellars HERE.

We’d booked Lunch there and couldn’t decide whether to enjoy the two-course option or the three-courser. We felt that both options were reasonably priced at 65NZD (c£31) for two courses or 75NZD (£36) for three, per person. In the end, for the purposes of thoroughness and to help YOU make the right decision for your visit, we chose the three-course option 😋. Oh, and they included a glass of their own quality wine as part of the deal! 😉👍

Things began well with the Restaurant offering us a FREE glass of their ‘sparkling wine’ to celebrate our forthcoming Anniversary – and to aid the decision-making process. We’re going in!!!! 👍😁🍾

1.40pm: Well, that was a truly superb experience! Mouth-watering food together with excellent service (where the French Waitress commended Ann on her French accent whilst absolutely no-one commented on my fluent Kiwi!) 😉

Decisions, decisions! Should we now a) Sleep it all off back at the Apartment in a traditional Sunday afternoon fashion or b) Drop by Picton Marina and take some photographs now that the Sun had come out?

Sunday Walk – Picton Marina

2.01pm: The right decision, I think… Sleeping’s for wimps! 😁😉

The fully remodelled marina received finishing touches in 2013 when the expanded inner basin (inland of the Coathanger Bridge) was completed.

TODAY’S TRIVIA: New Zealand only became fully independent in 1947.

2.25pm: Back to base at Anchorage Lodge for our final night here in Picton. Later we pack. For now… very little at all! 👍👍

Driving in New Zealand – The SH1 to Blenheim and back

Road Name: SH1 (about 30 minutes)
Condition: Very smooth. Again, we didn’t experience a single pothole across the whole journey, but some of the tarmac was a bit noisy
Lanes: All single carriageway (but with passing lanes)
Terrain: Long stretches of almost empty roads with a few minor inclines and descents
Scenery: Forests and Trees
Filling Stations: Two
Roadworks: None!
Driver Courtesy: Everyone seemed to obey the speed limit and no-one was in a hurry
Speed Limits: Mostly 80kph all the way up to 100kph
Police/Speed cameras: Two police cars/no speed cameras
Total distance today: 58 kilometres
Total distance driven since we hired the car: 1344 km/835 miles

Tomorrow, we’re leaving early and driving to Christchurch – another 300-or-so kilometres.

Catch you on Monday!! Sleep well 💤💤