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Travel Reviews

 

New Zealand: A Caravan Experience
Written By: SUSANNE LOMATCH

PAGE 8....
Marlborough – Picton, Havelock, Blenheim, Nelson
Day 12-13

Foggy Marlborough Driving from the ferry in the off-season, we figured we’d have no problem finding a caravan park nearby in Picton with open accommodation. No can do, all were full – so our advice to travelers is to make reservations at any time of the year for this particular area. The next closest caravan park was over 20mi away, Smith’s Farm. We didn’t want to drive all the way to Blenheim, preferring to enjoy some of the scenery of the Marlborough Sounds first.

More inclement weather the next day prevented us from undertaking a popular sea-kayak trip in the sounds, so we opted to drive to the closest town, Havelock. On the way, we took a short hike and a shot of the foggy sounds. Havelock is known for its Scottish immigrant heritage, and we enjoyed lunch at a local pub, where we were treated with local NZ green giant mussels (farmed close by) and seafood chowder.

With the weather uncooperative, we drove south toward Blenheim to experience some of the Marlborough wine country. The drive weaved along gorgeous farm and range country, extending upward along the rocky hills and mountains on either side. We came out toward flat wine country just as the sun was beating away the clouds. Blenheim and Marlborough are flat and sprawling along the Pacific coast and inland. Known for being the largest wine producing region in NZ, home to such large producer labels as Cloudy Bay and Kim Crawford, and where there actually exists massive stainless fermenters right on the cloudy bay to produce all that exported Sauvignon Blanc wine. Not to be too hackneyed, we headed for the uncommon, first asking around what might be considered uncommonly great. The answers we got registered only three – Saint Claire, Hunter’s, and The Wine Cellar, for its rotating display of exceptional boutique wineries/winemakers.

Marlborough Vineyard Marlborough Vineyard We indeed confirmed Saint Claire as one of the greats, with most exceptional reserve and single vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürtztramer, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. We couldn’t pass on any, and may even claim that the finest Sauvignon Blanc is produced here. Just down the road is Hunter’s, a winery owned and run by a veteran winemaker, Jane Hunter. The exclusive here was undoubtedly the Mirumiru Reserve Sparkling Wine made from a Pinot Noir/Chardonnay blend, predominantly Pinot Noir (63%). Champagne-style (bottle fermented sparkling wine) is rather sparsely found in NZ, and we probably stumbled upon one of the finer producers. Care went into this – apples, minerals and flowers, with a soda bread finish. Very dry and very clean. At the Wine Cellar we discovered a newer winemaker, Bouldevines. We had to have both the Pinot Gris (concentrated pear, crystal clean with a mineral bite) and Gewürztraminer (pure flavors of ginger with hints of honey, lovely floral nose). Oh how the aromatics excel in NZ! Why didn’t we know?

On a rash decision we turned our caravan northwest, with the revised intent to include the Abel Tasman peninsula in our journey, before resuming our scheduled waypoints along the SI west coast. Little did we know, but our journey would become a veritable zigzag across the island later on, before we would even get to the wild west coast. It was already late in the afternoon, and we knew we wouldn’t make the long drive, so we stopped at Nelson for the night, checking into Tahuna Beach Camp. A little gourmet food shopping and we found ourselves busily preparing a meal of pan sautéed local Groper (related to Bass) and smoked "chili" mussels in fresh garlic and olive oil, with fresh pasta and pesto (all separate and layered). A delightful meal with that ’06 Te Kairanga Martinborough Chardonnay.

Exercise was on our minds in the morning – guilt for not having been to the gym in a few weeks but relying on mostly rather pedestrian touring activities. The park offered a self-guided exercise path with callisthenic contraptions at regular intervals, a gamely amusement while viewing the local landscape. Nelson is located on the Tasman Bay, adjacent a large agricultural area, producing fruit (kiwi) and wine grapes.

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