New Zealand Part 9
Wednesday January 24th
We got up early, for a change, and hit the road north for Picton by way of Kaikoura . Kaikoura is a place that would have been fun to explore had we had one more day. It isn’t the town so much that is exciting, although its location on a rugged coastal peninsula surrounded by dramatic snow-capped mountains adds a certain magical something, but the coastal waters around it that is the draw! The town is an old whaling village that now draws its income from a huge ocean tour industry. The whale watching here is allegedly out of this world, offering people the chance to see a huge variety of cetaceans, the centerpiece of which is the Sperm Whale! Yep, that’s a real life Moby Dick in the house people! Alas, two weeks just wasn’t enough!! We hoped we’d get lucky enough to see something from the coast as we chugged along the Kaikoura coastal drive, but alas, it was not meant to be. Fear not though, we did not leave “empty handed” as there is a huge fur seal colony at the tip of the peninsula that more than made up for things! In fact, as we pulled into the lot, we were greeted by a large male fur seal who decided to lounge on shore right next to the car park. The fur seals are adorable, and are just big lumbering lazy looking critters on land. The one next to the car was just sitting there with eyes half-mast completely un-phased by our presence. Of course, as docile as they seem in repose, they sure as hell come to life if you cross them! Our furry little friend became one nasty Mo Fo when I tried to take a picture from his other side! I guess he’s like Barbara and prefers his left side for pictures! Oy!! All I know is the beast sat up more quickly than I ever expected and showed me a mouth full of teeth that would make a lion envious! Yeah, I was scared, and for one brief moment I was overcome with that pre-diarrhea sensation as I ran as quickly as I could back to his good side! Wow… the term wild animal quickly came back to mind as I noticed a warning across the lot with a cut-out of a person holding a camera and a seal with a line between them measuring 10m… ha ha ha… ha… oops. My bad!
After spending some time with Mr. Angry the seal, we hit the road and continued the drive north. The stretch of coast you enjoy as you head north of Kaikoura is pretty spectacular. A branch of the Southern Alps kisses the coast at this point creating dramatic views, with gorgeous shear rock bluffs, rocky coastal stretches, and secluded beaches. We also learned in short order that almost everywhere that there were rocks on the coast, there were seals! It was amazing! At various points along the road the mountains come down so sharply that tunnels have been cut into the rock to keep the road out of the ocean! As we rounded one particular bend and head into a tunnel, we passed one proud seal sitting on a rock higher than the guard rail on the road watching the traffic go by! So funny!! About halfway along this stretch of road we happened upon a small white trailer that at first glance looked abandoned. As we got closer though, we realized that it was a little seafood shack called Nin’s Bin. Apparently it’s a little treasure that both tourists and locals alike have enjoyed for several decades now! Lucky us! It sits on a flat stretch of rocky coast absolutely off the beaten path with no signs of civilization anywhere near it. We went in and ordered some garlic and herb butter steamed mussels and a crayfish (New Zealand lobster) for the drive later. We took the plate of mussels out to a picnic table outback right on the ocean. There were seals on the distant rocks and a couple of interesting shore birds exploring the beach along the breakers as we ate. A black variable oystercatcher and some pied shags picking at something in the sand. Further along, just before the road leaves the coast, we passed a stretch of beautiful gray sand beaches with sun soaked turquoise ocean waters. I was a striking contrast, so of course we stopped. We walked out along the soft gray sands and enjoyed the warm ocean breezes on what would turn out to be our last beach moment of the trip! It was hard to leave, but the ferry was a-calling, and we had a little ways to go to get back, and we wanted to try and see a few of the famous Marlborough Wineries. On the way, we decided not to wait until the ferry, and cracked open our crawfish prematurely and enjoyed the succulent bounty within its orange shell! Okay, it wasn’t as rich and sweet as a Maine Lobster, but it was damn good!
We made it to the town of Blenheim with time to spare, and after getting lost in the town center for a spell, managed to get ourselves on track to see a few of the local wineries. Blenheim is considered the center of the wine region, and given its close proximity to Picton ( less than 30 minutes) it’s a great first place to stop when you get to the South Island, or certainly before you’re leaving! Our day in the region could not have been better if we tried. The weather was flawless with temperatures near 80 and not a cloud in the sky. For those of you who have been to Northern California, the Marlborough Region has the flavor and beauty of Napa, without the commercialism. The grounds are all well landscaped and the tasting rooms are beautiful and intimate! What is more, the tastings are usually free or cheap cheap cheap! I don’t think we paid more than $2 NZ for any of them! Truly remarkable and not to be missed for the wine lovers among you!! And oh did we enjoy ourselves this fine day!! In fact, if we had a flexible ferry pass, we would have needed a driver to get us back to Picton, because we were well on our way to getting comfortably numb enjoying all of the sumptuous flavors that afternoon in the valley! We only had time for 3 wineries, but they were all great! Our first stop on the loop was Cloudy Bay . Across the street was Allan Scott , and on the home stretch towards the ferry was Hunter’s Wines !! Yummylicious! We managed to leave with a bottle from each of them! Of course, our collection was growing, and we had recently learned that you were only allowed to take back 2 liters back per person… so we had a bit of problem, as we probably had about 7 bottles now. Shit! I guess we were going to be drinking before we left! Again!
After our last tasting we hit the final stretch of South Island road back to Picton. The weather was even better than when we arrived, and we were psyched for what we knew would be a gorgeous journey back to Wellington. We pulled the car back in front of the terminal in a screech, as we had carelessly lost track of time and had only 10 minutes or so to get unpacked, checked in, and up the ramp! Oops! As we were unloading, we started smelling wine, and knowing that we were not that sloppy at the wineries, realized that one of the bottles must have offed itself on the last leg of the trip! D’oh. As we pulled the big army green bag out of the back seat, we noticed it appeared to be bleeding along the bottom edges. We tore through the bag and found the bottle of Waiheke Weeping Sands White Merlot in pieces in the bottom corner! So sad! ( Sorry Heather - Our proof that a decent white merlot actually exists outside of the U.S. was lost in a heap of stinking glass!) We didn’t have time to mourn the loss though, as we were late! We just prayed that in dying it did not ruin all of our clothes in the process… and then there were 6!. We checked the wine soaked mess into the baggage hold to put the tragedy behind us, and ran up the boarding ramp in time for the final boarding call. We apparently like to give ourselves ulcers, because it seems like we were on the verge of missing every major scheduled event we made on this trip!
We set up camp on the top deck at the rear of the ship in the glorious summer sun, hit up the concession stand for comfort food in the form of meat pies and fish and chips, and sat back and enjoyed the ride... and boy did it deliver! The trip was out of the park amazing! The water color was insane, changing in intensity with the depth of the water and the angle of the sun, with light Caribbean blue eventually darkening to a deep royal blue as we entered the deeper waters of Cook Straight! Clouds hugged the peaks of the northern coastal mountains and we watched as the waves crashed powerfully against the dramatic rock formations at their feet on our way out into the open waters. The power of the sea was apparent as several of the larger rocky crags along the way had tunnels worn right through their centers! Circling sea gulls serenaded us as we pulled into the open waters and soon the strong open water winds were whipping past our ears making it hard to hear ourselves in simple conversation!! About halfway across the Straight, we noticed the North Island was not yet visible because a wall of fog had settled over the water. It was like we were sailing into a Stephen King Novel. If any of you ever read “the Mist” you know what I’m talking about! Creepy indeed! For a few minutes, as the fog surrounded us, the whole ship sunk into the darkness of a rainy day, and we were cut off from land entirely. Before our imaginations had time conjure up the worst though, the sun burned brilliantly through the leading edge of the cloud wall and the North Island came back into view. We were welcomed back to the North Island by the same twin light houses we’d seen on the way out, and the Interislander cruised comfortably the rest of the way into port.
We collected our bags, loaded them into the first cab we saw, and sped to the Kingsgate Hotel on Oriental Bay. Oriental Bay is the body of water that the city of Wellington curves around. The hotel was sublimely located up on a hill overlooking the entire downtown and within a few blocks from the restaurant and arts scene. Perfection! Looking back up the hill our hotel sat on was very reminiscent of San Francisco, with steep streets traveling up the face and a variety of multi-colored houses hugging the hillsides. Of course… what we didn’t realize was that while the location was fabulous, the inside of the hotel itself was probably designed in the 60s, and had not changed since! WOW!! We had an antique radio on the nightstand that conjured up images of small children in the 40’s listening to little Orphan Annie on while sipping their Ovaltine! We didn’t care though. It was a spacious room and our balcony had the view that you see on the hotel website! (P.S. I’m happy to report that renovations are currently underway, so don’t be scared!)
Once settled, we assessed the damage the bottle of wine had caused, and had hope that the fact that it was a blush might save the clothes inside from permanent ruin. We rubbed our lucky casino chips and set up a few loads of laundry, conveniently located 2 doors down from our room. I also soaked the back in the shower a few times and set it on the balcony to get some fresh air. Instead of waiting in the room, we decided to pass the time in the pool while awaiting the final verdict on the clothes! The pool sits at the far end of the hotel on the main floor and has a floor to ceiling glass wall on 2 sides and an outdoor balcony all with beautiful views of Wellington and the bay. There was nobody using the pool when we arrived, so we had the room to ourselves! Fantastic! The water was like a bath, and we reveled in the moment, soaking ourselves until every last bit of stress was gone and our fingers told us we were done! I should also mention that the acoustics in the room were kind of fun, you know, like that small room echo you get in a racquetball court, and Phil took advantage and treated me to a song or two, or four, but who’s counting! It was great. He’s quite the romantic if you hadn’t figured that out yet, and I’m a sucker for a man who can sing! A good match indeed!
Once in the room, I checked the laundry, and was happy to find that everything cleaned up nicely. Even the bag had recovered! We decided to celebrate by walking down the hill to a local restaurant call Kai in the City. The word Kai means Food in Maori. The restaurant offered traditional Maori food in a modest setting at a great price! It was a cozy little place, and we had the good fortune of dining at the same time a larger Maori family was. A young woman among them took out her guitar and treated the patrons to a number of traditional songs. It was a real treat! The food was surprisingly delicious too, and aside from our absentee waitress, who was more caught up in singing back up to our native songstress, the experience was a great!
The plan for the next day was to meet up with Vanessa and company to kick off the wedding festivities by doing some wine tasting in the Martinborough area! Because we had to pick up the car early in the morning and get to the region, about an hour away, by 10, we decided not to have too crazy a night. Instead, we settled on our usual wine in the room, and enjoyed the great views and each other’s company… and then there were 5…
We got up early, for a change, and hit the road north for Picton by way of Kaikoura . Kaikoura is a place that would have been fun to explore had we had one more day. It isn’t the town so much that is exciting, although its location on a rugged coastal peninsula surrounded by dramatic snow-capped mountains adds a certain magical something, but the coastal waters around it that is the draw! The town is an old whaling village that now draws its income from a huge ocean tour industry. The whale watching here is allegedly out of this world, offering people the chance to see a huge variety of cetaceans, the centerpiece of which is the Sperm Whale! Yep, that’s a real life Moby Dick in the house people! Alas, two weeks just wasn’t enough!! We hoped we’d get lucky enough to see something from the coast as we chugged along the Kaikoura coastal drive, but alas, it was not meant to be. Fear not though, we did not leave “empty handed” as there is a huge fur seal colony at the tip of the peninsula that more than made up for things! In fact, as we pulled into the lot, we were greeted by a large male fur seal who decided to lounge on shore right next to the car park. The fur seals are adorable, and are just big lumbering lazy looking critters on land. The one next to the car was just sitting there with eyes half-mast completely un-phased by our presence. Of course, as docile as they seem in repose, they sure as hell come to life if you cross them! Our furry little friend became one nasty Mo Fo when I tried to take a picture from his other side! I guess he’s like Barbara and prefers his left side for pictures! Oy!! All I know is the beast sat up more quickly than I ever expected and showed me a mouth full of teeth that would make a lion envious! Yeah, I was scared, and for one brief moment I was overcome with that pre-diarrhea sensation as I ran as quickly as I could back to his good side! Wow… the term wild animal quickly came back to mind as I noticed a warning across the lot with a cut-out of a person holding a camera and a seal with a line between them measuring 10m… ha ha ha… ha… oops. My bad!
After spending some time with Mr. Angry the seal, we hit the road and continued the drive north. The stretch of coast you enjoy as you head north of Kaikoura is pretty spectacular. A branch of the Southern Alps kisses the coast at this point creating dramatic views, with gorgeous shear rock bluffs, rocky coastal stretches, and secluded beaches. We also learned in short order that almost everywhere that there were rocks on the coast, there were seals! It was amazing! At various points along the road the mountains come down so sharply that tunnels have been cut into the rock to keep the road out of the ocean! As we rounded one particular bend and head into a tunnel, we passed one proud seal sitting on a rock higher than the guard rail on the road watching the traffic go by! So funny!! About halfway along this stretch of road we happened upon a small white trailer that at first glance looked abandoned. As we got closer though, we realized that it was a little seafood shack called Nin’s Bin. Apparently it’s a little treasure that both tourists and locals alike have enjoyed for several decades now! Lucky us! It sits on a flat stretch of rocky coast absolutely off the beaten path with no signs of civilization anywhere near it. We went in and ordered some garlic and herb butter steamed mussels and a crayfish (New Zealand lobster) for the drive later. We took the plate of mussels out to a picnic table outback right on the ocean. There were seals on the distant rocks and a couple of interesting shore birds exploring the beach along the breakers as we ate. A black variable oystercatcher and some pied shags picking at something in the sand. Further along, just before the road leaves the coast, we passed a stretch of beautiful gray sand beaches with sun soaked turquoise ocean waters. I was a striking contrast, so of course we stopped. We walked out along the soft gray sands and enjoyed the warm ocean breezes on what would turn out to be our last beach moment of the trip! It was hard to leave, but the ferry was a-calling, and we had a little ways to go to get back, and we wanted to try and see a few of the famous Marlborough Wineries. On the way, we decided not to wait until the ferry, and cracked open our crawfish prematurely and enjoyed the succulent bounty within its orange shell! Okay, it wasn’t as rich and sweet as a Maine Lobster, but it was damn good!
We made it to the town of Blenheim with time to spare, and after getting lost in the town center for a spell, managed to get ourselves on track to see a few of the local wineries. Blenheim is considered the center of the wine region, and given its close proximity to Picton ( less than 30 minutes) it’s a great first place to stop when you get to the South Island, or certainly before you’re leaving! Our day in the region could not have been better if we tried. The weather was flawless with temperatures near 80 and not a cloud in the sky. For those of you who have been to Northern California, the Marlborough Region has the flavor and beauty of Napa, without the commercialism. The grounds are all well landscaped and the tasting rooms are beautiful and intimate! What is more, the tastings are usually free or cheap cheap cheap! I don’t think we paid more than $2 NZ for any of them! Truly remarkable and not to be missed for the wine lovers among you!! And oh did we enjoy ourselves this fine day!! In fact, if we had a flexible ferry pass, we would have needed a driver to get us back to Picton, because we were well on our way to getting comfortably numb enjoying all of the sumptuous flavors that afternoon in the valley! We only had time for 3 wineries, but they were all great! Our first stop on the loop was Cloudy Bay . Across the street was Allan Scott , and on the home stretch towards the ferry was Hunter’s Wines !! Yummylicious! We managed to leave with a bottle from each of them! Of course, our collection was growing, and we had recently learned that you were only allowed to take back 2 liters back per person… so we had a bit of problem, as we probably had about 7 bottles now. Shit! I guess we were going to be drinking before we left! Again!
After our last tasting we hit the final stretch of South Island road back to Picton. The weather was even better than when we arrived, and we were psyched for what we knew would be a gorgeous journey back to Wellington. We pulled the car back in front of the terminal in a screech, as we had carelessly lost track of time and had only 10 minutes or so to get unpacked, checked in, and up the ramp! Oops! As we were unloading, we started smelling wine, and knowing that we were not that sloppy at the wineries, realized that one of the bottles must have offed itself on the last leg of the trip! D’oh. As we pulled the big army green bag out of the back seat, we noticed it appeared to be bleeding along the bottom edges. We tore through the bag and found the bottle of Waiheke Weeping Sands White Merlot in pieces in the bottom corner! So sad! ( Sorry Heather - Our proof that a decent white merlot actually exists outside of the U.S. was lost in a heap of stinking glass!) We didn’t have time to mourn the loss though, as we were late! We just prayed that in dying it did not ruin all of our clothes in the process… and then there were 6!. We checked the wine soaked mess into the baggage hold to put the tragedy behind us, and ran up the boarding ramp in time for the final boarding call. We apparently like to give ourselves ulcers, because it seems like we were on the verge of missing every major scheduled event we made on this trip!
We set up camp on the top deck at the rear of the ship in the glorious summer sun, hit up the concession stand for comfort food in the form of meat pies and fish and chips, and sat back and enjoyed the ride... and boy did it deliver! The trip was out of the park amazing! The water color was insane, changing in intensity with the depth of the water and the angle of the sun, with light Caribbean blue eventually darkening to a deep royal blue as we entered the deeper waters of Cook Straight! Clouds hugged the peaks of the northern coastal mountains and we watched as the waves crashed powerfully against the dramatic rock formations at their feet on our way out into the open waters. The power of the sea was apparent as several of the larger rocky crags along the way had tunnels worn right through their centers! Circling sea gulls serenaded us as we pulled into the open waters and soon the strong open water winds were whipping past our ears making it hard to hear ourselves in simple conversation!! About halfway across the Straight, we noticed the North Island was not yet visible because a wall of fog had settled over the water. It was like we were sailing into a Stephen King Novel. If any of you ever read “the Mist” you know what I’m talking about! Creepy indeed! For a few minutes, as the fog surrounded us, the whole ship sunk into the darkness of a rainy day, and we were cut off from land entirely. Before our imaginations had time conjure up the worst though, the sun burned brilliantly through the leading edge of the cloud wall and the North Island came back into view. We were welcomed back to the North Island by the same twin light houses we’d seen on the way out, and the Interislander cruised comfortably the rest of the way into port.
We collected our bags, loaded them into the first cab we saw, and sped to the Kingsgate Hotel on Oriental Bay. Oriental Bay is the body of water that the city of Wellington curves around. The hotel was sublimely located up on a hill overlooking the entire downtown and within a few blocks from the restaurant and arts scene. Perfection! Looking back up the hill our hotel sat on was very reminiscent of San Francisco, with steep streets traveling up the face and a variety of multi-colored houses hugging the hillsides. Of course… what we didn’t realize was that while the location was fabulous, the inside of the hotel itself was probably designed in the 60s, and had not changed since! WOW!! We had an antique radio on the nightstand that conjured up images of small children in the 40’s listening to little Orphan Annie on while sipping their Ovaltine! We didn’t care though. It was a spacious room and our balcony had the view that you see on the hotel website! (P.S. I’m happy to report that renovations are currently underway, so don’t be scared!)
Once settled, we assessed the damage the bottle of wine had caused, and had hope that the fact that it was a blush might save the clothes inside from permanent ruin. We rubbed our lucky casino chips and set up a few loads of laundry, conveniently located 2 doors down from our room. I also soaked the back in the shower a few times and set it on the balcony to get some fresh air. Instead of waiting in the room, we decided to pass the time in the pool while awaiting the final verdict on the clothes! The pool sits at the far end of the hotel on the main floor and has a floor to ceiling glass wall on 2 sides and an outdoor balcony all with beautiful views of Wellington and the bay. There was nobody using the pool when we arrived, so we had the room to ourselves! Fantastic! The water was like a bath, and we reveled in the moment, soaking ourselves until every last bit of stress was gone and our fingers told us we were done! I should also mention that the acoustics in the room were kind of fun, you know, like that small room echo you get in a racquetball court, and Phil took advantage and treated me to a song or two, or four, but who’s counting! It was great. He’s quite the romantic if you hadn’t figured that out yet, and I’m a sucker for a man who can sing! A good match indeed!
Once in the room, I checked the laundry, and was happy to find that everything cleaned up nicely. Even the bag had recovered! We decided to celebrate by walking down the hill to a local restaurant call Kai in the City. The word Kai means Food in Maori. The restaurant offered traditional Maori food in a modest setting at a great price! It was a cozy little place, and we had the good fortune of dining at the same time a larger Maori family was. A young woman among them took out her guitar and treated the patrons to a number of traditional songs. It was a real treat! The food was surprisingly delicious too, and aside from our absentee waitress, who was more caught up in singing back up to our native songstress, the experience was a great!
The plan for the next day was to meet up with Vanessa and company to kick off the wedding festivities by doing some wine tasting in the Martinborough area! Because we had to pick up the car early in the morning and get to the region, about an hour away, by 10, we decided not to have too crazy a night. Instead, we settled on our usual wine in the room, and enjoyed the great views and each other’s company… and then there were 5…
posted by Phil and Shawn's Blog @ Monday, March 19, 2007
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