We got out of the house very early - around 6:30am and headed north. We arrived at the first winery around 10:30am and had a goal of visiting 6-7 wineries. Jocelyn feels that it is never too early to have a glass of wine.
The first winery we visited was Montana. We enjoyed a few of their wines and took advantage of the fact that they were having a 40% of sale on many bottles since they are going to be changing their labels to Brancott Estate. They currently use that label in the USA since people there think of Montana, the state. Now they will be consistent all over.
Next we headed over to Hunter Winery. This place was recommended by one of Jocelyn's co-workers and we were not disappointed at all. We tasted wines with another couple from Christchurch and were commiserating about the earthquake. It was definitely a common topic when people in Marlborough asked us where we were from. It remains difficult to fully communicate to anyone what we went through and frankly, continue to go through (we had 2 quakes in the past 24 hours that were over 4.0). Hunter wound up being our favourite winery - we bought 4 bottles!! It was a cute property with an artist on site. Very cool.
We could not hang around Hunter since we had lunch reservations at the next winery called Herzog. We had read that the food was excellent here. The vineyard itself and the outside seating at the restaurant was absolutely lovely. The food however was pretty mediocre and we decided not to stay for dessert. We had planned to do a tasting there as well but they did not seem to have a lot of options which was a little disappointing. We certainly did not let that dampen our spirits though. We moved on to the next winery!
The rest of the wineries blended together a bit - maybe it was all the tasting we were doing!!?? We did buy at least 1 bottle from each one though. We did hit our goal of 7 wineries and left Blenheim in the rearview as we headed to Nelson for the night.
We had arranged to stay at a place that got excellent Trip Advisor reviews called the Palazzo. For a motor lodge it was very nice and the people who own it clearly take great pride in it. Trey had to get Jocelyn to sober up a bit since she refused to tip any of her wine out at the tastings. We had made reservations at a really nice restaurant called Mint.
Mint is relatively new and have a very interesting and classy way of welcoming guests. The restaurant only has a few tables and when you go in they walk you to a room with a fireplace that looks more like a funky living room. That is where they take your order and explain that there is no rush - the table is yours for the evening. It was lovely. What was even lovelier was the food!! We started with Golden Bay Goats Cheese Bavarois with granny smith apple salad and tamarillo chutney. Tamarillo is also known as a tree tomato that is used often in NZ as a sweet flavour. Jocelyn ordered lamb 3 ways for her main (a dish that apparently won an award for being the best in NZ!) Jocelyn knew Trey was really enjoying the food since he even wanted to order dessert! We shared a tasting plate that showcased all of their desserts in small portions. It was all very interesting and incredibly delicious. It was a perfect ending to the day.
The next day we slept in a bit and then headed out to check out the Centre of New Zealand. We walked uphill for about 20-30 minutes and got to take in an incredible view overlooking all of Nelson. It was fitting that Jocelyn was wearing her Uggs to take a photo with her feet exactly on the centre!
Looking out over the city of Nelson
After the walk we decided to drive out to some wineries in Nelson that had been recommended by friends. At the second winery, Seifreid we decided to have lunch. It was another beautiful day so we once again decided to eat outside. Trey enjoyed a huge and gorgeous seafood platter while Jocelyn got yet another lamb dish. Typical. After a wonderful lunch we went back to the town of Nelson to check out some shops before dinner later that night.
Yummy!
For dinner we decided to go to Mapua Wharf that was yet another recommendation. We thought we had left ourselves plenty of time and even had printed out a map because it was a ways out from Nelson but alas, we wound up getting lost - or at least we did according to the map. After pulling over to ask for directions we finally got to the wharf and boy did it look different than what we pictured! It was basically a few run down restaurants on the "waterfront" which was basically like a muddy lake. Jocelyn was way overdressed - even more than usual!
The meal was nice though and afterwards we spoke to the waitress about getting lost so we would be sure we would not get lost on the way back in the dark. She politely let us know that we must have been going by the "old map" because the new HIGHWAY had opened just last week! Huh? Only in New Zealand.
The next day was another early morning. We checked out of the hotel in Nelson and headed to the Marlborough Sounds. On the drive there we got to drive through Havelock which is the source of the famous NZ green-lipped mussels.
After experiencing the Sounds it is hard to believe that we almost missed the Marlborough Sounds on our New Zealand adventure. After a very windy road (where Jocelyn almost lost her breakfast) we arrived at the boat that would take us out 1.5 hours to our destination so we could begin our 10.5km hike - part of the Queen Charlotte Track. The boat left from the same dock as the Interislander - the ferry that goes in between the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
Stretching between the Queen Charlotte and Keneperu Sound is the Queen Charlotte Track. A 71km track renowned for its stunning views and contrasting landscape, historical landmarks and wonderful variety of native bush and wildlife.
The boat was actually quite nice and the scenery made the journey feel like no time at all. On the first part of the ride we passed houses on one side but not too long into the trip we were told that after this point there was no road access - hence why we were taking a boat. That said, there are actually houses and hotels around the Queen Charlotte. Some people choose to stay there when doing the 5-7 day trek but there are also some luxury lodges there as well.
Before our destination the boat dropped a few people off at Ship's Cove. At this site there was a monument for Captain Cook because this was one of the first places he landed on the South Island.
Our stop was next - Resolution Bay. We walked from Resolution Bay to Endeavor Inlet where the ship would pick us up in a few hours. We were the only ones who got off the boat so it felt like a real adventure!
The boat dropping us off.
The walk was amazing. It borders the water so you get a bird's eye view. We also passed many waterfalls and met a few wekas. They were very friendly and we got some funny video of them!
We could describe the full 3.5 hour hike but to be honest the pictures say it better than we ever could. And frankly, the pictures don't even truly do it justice.
Our friend the weka.
I made it!
We thought we were making pretty good time. The map we were given said that the hike would take fast walkers 2 hours, average walkers 2.5 hours and slow walkers 2.75. Just when we thought we were done, we wound up having another 45 minutes ahead of us!! We would have considered ourselves pretty decent hikers until the Queen Charlotte Track told us different!
Fortunately, the journey ended at a very quaint lodge with a restaurant right on the water. We did not have much time left to have the leisurely lunch and wines that we had envisioned but the woman working at the restaurant told us that she would place our order quickly and give us a warning when the boat called her to tell us to go down to the dock. We scarfed down our fried seafood platter that we felt was well-deserved and headed down to the dock.
The hotel where we got picked up at.
It was the end of Labour day weekend so the boat returning back to Picton was a lot more full than the boat out. We thought it was just going to be a shuttle back but just a little ways into the journey the captain spotted a large number of dusky dolphins out in the water. Back home the captain would probably be so concerned to keep us on a time schedule but not in New Zealand! He stopped the boat so we could get an up close and personal look at these amazing creatures. We got amazing video which we have posted for you.
On the drive back to Christchurch we drove through one of our favourite places, Kaikoura and it is the perfect time of year to admire the beautiful snow-capped mountains overlooking the turquoise blue ocean. We could not help but stop and take a photo!
We got back to Christchurch safely and ended what will likely be our last NZ Labour Day weekend.
