Two for the Road

You join us live from the middle of a detox period. Having, umm, sampled a large variety of wines from different wineries, we’ve decided to go cold-turkey until we reach the next set of wineries or whenever we have a slightly tougher than normal day, whichever excuse will fly best.

We arrived in Martinborough and stayed in Swan House, a small hotel/B&B run by a retired couple who upped sticks and moved out to where the fishing was good a couple of years ago. Graham, our host, was such a laid-back chap and couldn’t have been nicer. Our room was the nicest we’ve stayed in thus far, including complimentary continental breakfast foods and free use of bikes in and around the town. We highly recommend them if you’re in the area.

Martinborough is a wine town through and through, vineyards bordering the town and vines growing in many an open green space throughout, so it would be in the itinerary of any self-respecting couple on a sabbatical who love wine a bit too much.

After a run in the morning¹, we set about on our bikes taking in the town and heading to the vineyards. The streets are long, flat, and lined with green trees and small, quaint houses, making it the perfect picturesque location to explore.

On our first day in town, we stopped at a fair number of wineries to sample their wares, including Palliser, Margrain, and Tirohana. The tastings are pretty cheap, around $15 (£6.75) per person for five or six glasses – that’s without counting the odd bonus some vineyards threw in. Martinborough is an area famous for its Pinot Noir but not in a style like you’d find in the more southerly and more famous Central Otago (as seemingly every winery was keen to point out). We were familiar with Pinot Noirs being quite fruit-forward and jammy, but these ones were earthy and pepperish. No, I can’t see why this description wouldn’t appeal to you if you’re not into wine, but take my word for it that they were bloody lovely.

“But, Matt,” I hear you cry. “What about the wineries at the other side of the town?” Fear not, for we got up the next day and headed to check them out. These ones contained some of the best we visited, such as Poppies. After a lovely dinner that evening, we decided we were Pinot’d out and that it was back to the Coke Zeros for us. Well, we’ve taken a website link with which we can send a case of wine back to the UK, but I only meant for now!

Despite us drinking enough to thoroughly please Dionysus, it seems his fellow gods had other ideas and sent us the rainiest day we’ve had on our trip so far when we were to drive to Wellington. You can probably tell that this was, of course, the perfect day to take some detours and battle gravel roads and winding coastal path mere metres from the sea to see the Cape Palliser lighthouse, so we battled the elements to do so. A herd of seals² casually chilling on the shore welcomed us. At least I think when seals bark at you before bobbling away it means welcome. I need to brush up on my aquatic mammal etiquette.

For those who are not Lord of the Rings fans, there will be some things described in the following paragraphs that, for you, may as well be in Greek. Stick with me, though, as there are some fun locations we’ve been to. If you’re not that way inclined, just skim over any parts that contain mentions of people whose names sound like they may be standing for Plaid Cymru in the next election.

Iris had correctly surmised that not far from here was a path to the location used as the Path of the Dead in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy³, but unfortunately it was too rainy for us to access it. We may live in South Wales and have been on many a rainy walk, but those didn’t come with as many red warning signs warning of flash floods and landslides. Ah well, got to have a reason to come back!

After braving deluges and its surrounding misty mountains, we arrived in Wellington. Only having a single day here, we set out to make the most of it. We trekked out to the forested hills of Hatatai Park and found the Hobbits’ Hideaway. Fans of the films may recognise this from Fellowship of the Ring where the Hobbits got off the road and hid from the pursuing Nazgul.

A quick Uber ride took us to Weta Workshop, a now-legendary practical effects studio made famous from its work on the LOTR trilogy and who have now been involved in countless movies, making armour and moulding masks of all sorts of creatures. We got to see more than our fair share of props used in the LOTR films and many more. Unfortunately, due to copyright law we weren’t allowed to take photos of much, but trust me, they’ve likely worked on some of your favourites throughout the years. And yes, we’ve come away with some Middle-Earth themed tea towels and a copy of Thorin’s Map to the Lonely Mountain. What did you really expect?

We checked out the Nairn Street Cottage, the oldest building still standing in all of Wellington, before taking a cable car to the observatory. Iris explored the botanical gardens while I went for a coffee, and she was selfish enough to meet some Keas, a cute bird native to New Zealand, and get some quality pictures.

The observatory that evening had a special show that evening – a full space-themed psychedelic video show in its planetarium for a full playthrough of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. We naturally had to go. The video was as colourful and trippy as you’d expect, a perfect tribute for the album’s 50^th anniversary.

For now, we’re awaiting a ferry to the South Island where our adventure will continue, starting with a two-night stop in Nelson. I’ll stop typing here in case I get sea sick.

Matt

1. For those who’ve seen my run on Strava, did I mention how hot it was? ↩︎
2. Other names include a pod, bob, colony, or harem. Geez, seals, keep it PG! ↩︎
3. For fellow Middle-Earth obsessed cool kids, it’s where Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli summoned the cursed dead men of Dunharrow to fulfil their oath and aid in the War of the Ring. If you like this, just wait until we get to Weta Workshop! ↩︎