Picton to Christchurch
NZDH Picton to Christchurch chapter
From the moment you disembark from the inter-island ferry in Picton after cruising
through breathtaking Queen Charlotte Sound, there’s no doubt in any visitor’s mind
that the South Island is very special. SH1 takes us south to Blenheim, NZ’s premier
wine growing region, then follows a rocky, kelp-strewn shoreline to Kaikoura, where
snowy mountains plunge dramatically into the sea. Amid this stunning coastal alpine
scenery, a wealth of ecotourism oriented activities are on offer, from whale watching
to seal snorkelling and much more! We take three days to travel from Picton to Christchurch.
We sample the award-winning wines of the region, dine with our jolly kiwi-Italian
hosts, join an awe-inspiring whale watch tour, relish the flavour of succulent Kaikoura
crayfish, visit a lavender distillery and swim with dolphins that are so playful
and friendly, Bob can’t believe that they’re wild!
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Day One
Picton to Blenheim
The drive from the Ferry Terminal in Picton to the vineyards of Blenheim takes around
twenty minutes – especially when a keen wine connoisseur, like Bob, is behind the
wheel. “Stay on the LEFT!” I warn (as I always do) whenever we approach a new town.
But to give credit where it’s due, Bob’s taken to right-hand drive like a duck to
water!
In Blenheim we find there’s more than vineyard-hopping to keep us amused. We begin
our exploration at the Millennium Public Art Gallery, then walk through The Forum,
where a lively market atmosphere permeates, and relax in the sun over a reviving
latté before taking a stroll through the immaculately groomed gardens of Seymour
Square.
A short drive leads to the Marlborough Provincial Museum and Beavertown, a replica
village of old Blenheim, and here we soak up local history. It’s part of the Brayshaw
Museum Park complex, which is also home to a vintage farm machinery museum displaying
rows of faithfully restored tractors.
En route to Montana, we visit Prenzel Distillery and Tasting Room where we meet
Chris Steadman, who presses a taster of butterscotch schnapps with a ‘lair’ of butterscotch
cream into our eager hands. It’s delicious and there’s also a variety of brandies,
schnapps, infused olive oils and chocolate liqueurs on offer.
Bob picks up a bottle of butterscotch schnapps while I depart with a bottle of Marlborough
Sauvignon Blanc Vinegar, wood-aged in oak in the traditional Orleans method.
“Perfect with blue cod,” I say to Bob as we drive through the striking entrance
of Montana’s Brancott Winery. Many of Montana’s leading labels are produced at Brancott
Estate including Deutz Marlborough Cuvee, the winery’s specialty, produced in partnership
with the French House of Deutz.
Seated at Brancott’s café-restaurant we peruse the menu. It provides a variety of
fresh, Marlborough-inspired dishes, each teamed with a matching wine. Bob enjoys
a deliciously fresh salad while I (motivated by my earlier vinegar purchase) feast
upon blue cod fillets. After lunch we take a guided tour, which departs from Montana’s
visitor centre every hour from 10 am to 3 pm. It’s an ideal introduction to NZ’s
premier viticultural region and concludes with a tasting in a private room.
Later, armed with a copy of the free local wine map, we drive to Renwick, the hub
of Marlborough’s wine growing country where the region’s high sunshine hours, long
cool nights and low summer rainfall provide near-perfect grape-growing conditions.
“It would take a week to see all the vineyards here,” says Bob, deciding in the
end that we should visit Cloudy Bay, home of the legendary Cloudy Bay Sauvignon
Blanc, and Grove Mill where, as well as wine tastings, there’s a ‘vine library’
and an art gallery.
Our last port of call is the magnificent, Tuscan-inspired Highfield Estate on Brookby
Road. Situated on a crest overlooking the vineyards of the Omaka and Wairau Valleys,
the views from its tower are stunning and this, combined with its small but select
range of fine wines, makes it one of Marlborough’s most popular wineries. In February
wine-lovers gather near here for the annual BMW Wine Marlborough Festival which
celebrates local wine.
All graped out – not for the first time on our circumnavigation of NZ – we retreat
to the mud-brick cottage at Uno Piu and after a refreshing swim in the pool join
Gino Rocco, our kiwi-Italian ex-chef host, at his dinner table.
Our meal begins with tasty blue-cheese fettuccine – made with Gino’s own homemade
pasta – followed by lamb with more than a hint of mint and garlic, and fresh garden
vegies. Local wine is matched to each course, and dessert, a rich amaretto-infused
tiramisu, is followed by Gino’s favourite tipple, Italian limoncino.
After a few rounds of the latter Gino cheerfully tells Bob that he met his wife
Heather on her big OE. “I was her walking, talking souvenir,” laughs Gino. “We met
in a kitchen and luckily I like it because I’ve been there ever since.”
"He’s a man after my own heart," says Bob before we retire, "but he uses a lot more
garlic!"
+more
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Day Two
Blenheim to Kaikoura
After a hearty breakfast of deliciously light crepes served with blueberries, cream
and maple syrup, we somewhat sadly bid Gino farewell and drive south on SH1 through
a thirsty landscape to Seddon, where lush, regimented rows of vines cover its slopes.
We’ve had our fill of wine – and the boot is crammed with bottles – so we continue
on past the salt works at Lake Grassmere to Wharanui, where the road meets the Pacific
Ocean and follows the railway line south to The Store at Kekerengu. It’s midway
between Kaikoura and Blenheim and here we pause for refreshment, sipping flat whites
on the terrace just metres from the shore.
Revived, we continue on the road that hugs the rocky, kelp-lined coastline to the
tiny township of Rakautara, where Nin’s Bin, a caravan embedded in the rocks by
the sea, sells freshly harvested and cooked crayfish to passersby.
Further on at Ohau Point NZ fur seals bask on the rocks. “Look,” says Bob, pointing
to a seal flapping its flipper at a fly, “he’s waving to me!”
“Pace yourself,” I say, as he snaps merrily away, “there’s loads more to see yet...
sperm whales, Dusky dolphins, Royal albatross and even the endangered Hector’s dolphin
if we’re lucky.”
“Why do they congregate here?,” asks Bob as we return to the car, and I explain
about the Hikurangi Trough, a huge, submarine chasm complete with plains, ancient
volcanoes and gorges just off the coast near Kaikoura. Here warm northern waters
mix with a nutrient-rich Antarctic flow and its upwellings provide a rich source
of food, attracting a wealth of marine life.
Arriving in Kaikoura we fortify ourselves with wholesome seafood chowder served
with homebaked bread at Hislops, a popular organic café on SH1, then after confirming
our whale watching cruise with Whale Watch Kaikoura we drive through town to the
information centre.
From the acclaimed whale watching tours, to swimming with Dusky dolphins, albatross
watching, snorkelling, diving, sea kayaking, and rides in glass-bottomed boats,
the town offers a marine-based activity for everyone.
For landlubbers there’s the local arts and crafts trail; the Maori Leap Caves; wine
tasting on the decks of the Kaikoura Wine Company overlooking the ocean; the District
Museum; and horse trekking or golf – just to name a few options!
We sit on Kaikoura’s shingle beach admiring the view of the jagged ranges which
plummet to the sea and watching local fishermen camped on deck chairs pull in sizeable
snapper. Bob walks over for a look-see and then we drive up the rocky Kaikoura peninsula
past historic Fyffe House to the Kaikoura Wildlife Refuge.
It’s a popular place to view seals – and to swim with them, as we discover after
scrambling over twisted limestone rocks to watch a group of snorkellers. “They’re
really playful,” an American backpacker tells Bob as she emerges from the water,
“curious and friendly.”
It’s late afternoon when we check into a B&B on the outskirts of town, before
joining our whale watch tour and travelling out to sea aboard Aoraki, an 18-metre
catamaran. A large screen shows our depth and we watch in awe as we pass over the
continental shelf and the depth changes from 60 metres to a radical 1236!
Captain Hama locates a whale’s position on the GPS, then turns off the engines and
listens on the hydrophone for its rhythmic, clicking sonar. We stand on the viewing
decks scouring the water.
“Thaaarrrr she blows,” cries Bob suddenly, pointing to a whale that surfaces with
a spurt of misty vapour.
Silently we watch this great mammal re-oxygenate against a dramatic mountain backdrop
as the sun begins to set. Our guide, Gemma, tells us he’s a young sperm whale. They
often frequent this coast and feast upon its abundant food supply.
Suddenly to our right another huge column of spray is blown skyhigh as a second
whale empties its lungs. Captain Hama monitors its breathing to make sure he’s relaxed
and happy with our presence. “It’s Te Ake,” says Gemma, recognising his prominent
dorsal fin, “he likes the boats.”
Our first whale slowly lowers its blowhole into the water, flicks its graceful tail,
and departs. We watch Te Ake until he finally does the same, flicking his tail with
a flourish as if to bid us farewell before disappearing with the sun. Our boat returns
to base and after a delicious meal of succulent Kaikoura crayfish at The Craypot,
we return to our B&B and with Te Ake’s plume-blowing firmly etched in our memories
fall into a peaceful slumber.
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Day Three
Kaikoura to Christchurch
At breakfast Bob asks if I fancy a swim with the Dusky dolphins. “You never know,
we might see another whale too,” he says enthusiastically. At Dolphin Encounter’s
base we don wetsuits and, after a bus ride to South Bay, board a boat and travel
along the shore. Before long we see our first pod of Dusky dolphins, but since they
are resting near the shore, we continue to deeper waters where another group dances
upon the ocean.
“Play with them,” instructs our guide, Mark, as we dive off the stern one-by-one.
“They’ll go away if they get bored so I want to see lots of ducking and diving,”
he says.
As Bob and I swim away from the boat I’m thankful for my wetsuit. Suddenly, from
somewhere in the green murky depths comes a call. “Eeeeeeeeeeee.” It sends waves
of shivers up my spine and Bob gives me a startled look as seawater fills my snorkel
and I blow it out like a submerging orca.
In no time at all there’s company - a fast moving shape slides beneath. Panic is
rapidly replaced with excitement as two Dusky dolphins come into view. They swim
in unison and scrutinise Bob and I in our strange rubbery suits.
One dolphin leaves, obviously concluding that we’re no fun, but the other stays,
peering at us playfully. We both roll and he immediately copies, and so we do it
again. For a few minutes we twist around and around in the water until it’s hard
to say who’s copying whom! In a final farewell he leaps up out of the water into
a perfect arc and back down with a sleek splash. Bob gives it a go but fails dismally;
the result is a resounding belly flop and laughter from the boat.
It’s super-exciting but we sit out the next round and instead watch these acrobatic
dolphins from the boat. Bob’s got his camera ready and within moments they’re leaping
out of the water and showing off their beautiful luminous white bellies. As they
become more excited their tricks increase; before long they’re spinning, side-slapping
and somersaulting both forwards and back.
It’s hard to leave, but a hot shower at the base is in order, as is a late lunch.
We eat chilli mussels at Mussel Boys, then follow this up with a little retail therapy
at Lavendyl Lavender Farm before leaving town.
There are five and a half acres of lavender and after we’ve explored the gardens
Gary Morris kindly demonstrates how the oil is extracted using steam. Their small
store provides a variety of handcrafted lavender products for sale, from lavender-infused
olive oil, to soaps, and lavender and rosemary massage cream. I buy a couple of
treats and we head south towards the garden city of Christchurch, following the
coast then travelling inland to Cheviot and on through the wine-growing region of
Waipara to Amberley.
Bob’s editing his photos (apparently the waving seal turned out well) and as we
cross a long bridge over the braided Waimakariri River he suddenly starts waving
his camera in front of my face and hopping with excitement. “Wow, this one’s right
out of the water!” he shouts, as I crane my neck to keep my eyes on the road.
Bob shakes his head. “Those Dusky dolphins are just amazing,” he says, clicking
rapidly through his photos, “I wouldn’t believe they’re wild if I hadn’t seen it
for myself!”
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