Where has the time gone? How has a week passed since our last blog post? We’ve managed to cover a fair bit in this time, so strap yourselves in.
As Iris alluded to in her previous post, she kindly agreed to a detour to Dunedin so I could visit the New Zealand Sport Hall of Fame. To be honest, worries about its quality crept in ever since I found out it was located in Dunedin train station.
What could I expect? A signed All-Blacks shirt in the supplies cupboard adjacent to the Gents Toilets? Richard Hadlee’s cricket box resting on the ticket desk, used by a blissfully ignorant worker as a paperweight? Fortunately, my mind was put at ease as I paid a whopping $6 (£2.75) for my ticket and was able to browse display case after display case chock full of memorabilia from countless NZ sporting greats. They even went out of their way to welcome me by posting ‘Wales 3 New Zealand 0’ in large letters in the first rugby room, the score of the only game NZ lost in their 1905 Northern Hemisphere tour.1 Can’t fault the Kiwis’ hospitality.
After a quick overnight in Timaru we arrived in Christchurch, the South Island’s largest city. Given the short amount of time we had there we regrettably didn’t get to see much, but their Botanical Gardens are beautiful and Iris and I both bought new pairs of shoes in a nearby shopping centre, and paid a glamorous visit to a laundromat, so can’t really complain.
We then headed to Blenheim in the heart of Marlborough, which is famous for putting New Zealand wine on the map. Now, you’ve been very lovely and patient with us by putting up with all of our wine chat, so I won’t subject you to further punishment, but rest assured we managed to hit several more vineyards and they were on the whole lovely.2 We wholeheartedly recommend Small Town Winery for a drink if you’re in town, although be warned as their wine flights are cheap and extremely easy-drinking.
Blenheim itself is another small, pretty town, similar to places we’ve visited like Martinborough, and surrounded by mountain-scapes straight out of a landscape painting. It’s absolutely worth a visit, even if you’ve a shorter time in New Zealand than we have.
It was then time for us to say e noho rā3 to the South Island. We had a 7:45am ferry from Picton to the South Island, but they needed us to check in at least an hour before. We’re not used to getting up this early! Your heart bleeds for us, I know.
We fuelled up as needed (Subway meatball marinaras for lunch) and drove four hours to where I’m joining you from now, a house just outside of Napier in the idyllic Hawke’s Bay region.
Our view stretches as far as the eye can see, green fields and trees ubiquitous. It has an outdoor bath, and thankfully we’re far enough from the owner’s house, or anyone’s house for that matter, to have privacy worries. Don’t need that anxiety as I’m stepping in.
As for our plans for now, we’ve had a busy few days so we’re going to spend today taking it easy and recharging our batteries. Mine feels like a 2001 Nissan Micra’s after it’s been fished out of a river, so R&R is most definitely appreciated right now.
We’ve been told our view is perfect for stargazing so tonight we may once again take in the night’s sky in all its glory. Tomorrow we’ll be looking to take a more restrained approach to visiting wineries4 before heading further north to Matamata, where the Hobbiton set is. Words. Cannot. Describe. My. Excitement!
As I wrote the above, it became clear that our time in New Zealand is running short. It’s been an amazing place to visit, and while it certainly has its quirks (try getting signal outside of a city centre, or expecting maps to be updated), it’s the most consistently beautiful country we’ve ever been fortunate enough to visit, complimented by the most friendly people everywhere we’ve been. We’ll be sad to leave it behind, but we’ll never forget it.
Time to make the most of it.
- For any sports history nerds out there, they’re still salty about the disallowed try at the end, going so far as to have recorded mock radio coverage of the event in which the incredulous commentators rant for a short while. Ah well, at least we didn’t cheat, lads.
↩︎ - The same couldn’t be said for one South African guy on a tour we did, who did nothing but ask annoyingly difficult questions to the winemakers and tipped away all the complimentary wine he was given, but that’s a story for another time. Also, just for posterity, our favourite vineyards were Bladen, Clos Henri and Spy Valley!
↩︎ - Who needs Duolingo when you have this blog?
↩︎ - Only three or four, we promise!
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Two for the Road 
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