Marlborough Nelson Kaikoura West Coast YOUR FREE VISITOR & LEISURE GUIDE WITH MAPS WHAT TO SEE • WHAT TO DO • HOW TO GET THERE We’ll drive you to drink! Sample unique tastings with an unforgettabubble, funfilled and flexible experience. 0800 228 2253 Mob: 027 672 2195 bubblygrape.co.nz MARLBOROUGH/NELSON/KAIKOURA/WEST COAST GREAT TIME GUIDE (vol 13 issue 2) Advertising & distribution; COVER PHOTO: Richard Benton Courtesy of Richard Benton PO Box 76137 Northwood, Christchurch, Ph 03 423 9516 Graphic Design by David Foulds Email [email protected] Email [email protected] No reproduction of any contents, except brief extracts for the purposes of review, without prior written permission of the Publisher. The Publisher has made every endeavour to ensure accuracy of all material, but accepts no responsibility for consequences arising from any errors or omissions which may occur. 4 Picton PICTON Sounds Air operates daily scheduled flights between Kia Ora! Picton and Wellington, with a Welcome to Picton, the vibrant flight time of just 25 minutes it seaport town that sits at the is the fast, scenic way to cross head of the breathtakingly Cook Strait. The flights offer beautiful Queen Charlotte stunning views of the world Sound. famous Marlborough Sounds and the country’s capital city. There are so many things you Sounds Air is a privately owned can do while exploring Picton airline providing a friendly, & the Marlborough Sounds and high quality experience that we the explore Picton brochure is would love to share with you. a great way to get started. The Victoria Domain is located The ferry terminal is the 800m from the town centre focal point of the western and is an unspoilt area of end of the foreshore, with a bush country east of the pleasant park area between the harbour. The Domain provides township and the water’s edge. spectacular views from the The town wharf at the other headlands. end is the centre for launch and charter yacht facilities. Enjoy some of the BEST attractions, activities and accommodation in Picton & the Marlborough Sounds www.explorepicton.co.nz +64 3 573 6030 6 7 Picton Within the foreshore area is the battlefields of the Crimean the Edwin Fox project, where War. In the 1870s many one of the oldest ships in the immigrants travelled on the world, a barque built in 1853, is Edwin Fox from Britain to settle now being preserved alongside in the raw young colony of New a small maritime museum. The Zealand. ship and the museum are open Also on the foreshore, the Smith every day from 9am to 5pm. Memorial Museum features The Edwin Fox has a colourful relics from the pioneering days 150 year history, which includes of last century. It provides a carrying convicts to the penal wealth of information about the colonies of Australia; and area when it was occupied by a transporting French troops to Maori settlement, as well 8 9 Marlborough as providing a snapshot of Marlborough’s climate allows life when Picton became an good year-round walking important township for whalers conditions. Well-maintained, and sealers. Many of the old the track attracts walkers of cast iron whaling implements all ages, most choosing four and whale bones remain. day/three night options though one day walk options are Picton’s placid waters are also popular. Mountain bikers often a playground for visiting also revel in the undulating dolphins and seals, and are landscape of the track. an ideal setting for rowing Accommodation along the regattas, water-skiing and way is provided by lodges, fishing excursions. backpackers and campsites- But if you prefer to keep your arrange to your preference. feet on mother earth and enjoy Luggage is transferred ahead closeup of bush, coast and daily free of charge. birdlife then include the Queen Charlotte track in your plans. Queen Charlotte Track The track is a broad pathway which wends 71km from historic Ship Cove to Anakiwa, through ancient beech forests, along fern-fringed coves and ridgelines revealing breathtaking coastal views of the Queen Charlotte and Kenepuru sounds. 10 Marlborough BLENHEIM where among the gardens and trees are a duckpond, children’s A TOWN OF just over 21,000 playground, picnic and people, Blenheim is built barbecue area, a nine-hole golf around a modern, compact course, croquet green, tennis shopping centre with a number courts and a fitness trail. of specialist shops and a range of restaurants. Seymour Square at the town’s centre is built on reclaimed Blenheim is renowned as the land, once the site of a swamp. home of sunshine, flowers It now features fountains, and wine. The city has an gardens and an historic ship’s abundance of delightful parks cannon, named Blenkinsopp’s and gardens, with flowerbeds gun. Originally a ship’s cannon in full colour at any time of from the Caroline, it was later the year. The foresight of owned by John Blenkinsopp, a early residents has provided trader who in 1831 fraudulently several attractive parks and exchanged land on the Wairau walkways in the town. Pollard Plains with Maori for guns. Park covers an area around the spring-fed Fulton Creek Specialising in the unusual. Possibly the BEST VARIETY in N.Z. Come and see for yourself... 26 Battys Road, Blenheim Phone: 03 577 5402 [email protected] OPENING HOURS Mon-Sat 10am-4.30pm ANTIQUES • COLLECTABLES • NZ BOOKS 11 Marlborough Marlborough The region’s mild climate makes Wine trail tours are a favourite With the beautiful Marlborough placed to enjoy all aspects of it ideal for the cultivation of pastime, allowing visitors to see Sounds to the north, the quiet, the Marlborough region. grapes and the local wine the wine-making techniques more rugged area to the south industry has a well known and sample the products. and the wine district on its reputation for excellence. doorstep, Blenheim is ideally Grape Harvesting ������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������� ������������ ����������������� �������������������������� ����������������� �������������������������������������� ������ ����������� �������� 12 13 Havelock Kaikoura HAVELOCK see the sights of the Sounds, KAIKOURA Maoridom regards the area as a learn about the pioneering place of historical significance. Havelock, the Greenshell families who first settled here KAIKOURA lies almost It was here that the demi-god Mussel capital of the world and and visit a working Mussel midway between Picton and Maui fished up the North Island home to Marlborough’s iconic Farm. While at the farm your Christchurch. The town is in from the sea. The earliest Maori Greenshell Mussel Cruise. experienced skipper will explain the ‘sunbelt’ of New Zealand, ancestors of the South Island 191km south-east of Blenheim, But ensure that you plan why this delicacy grows so well tribes are also said to have and get to taste the freshest and can boast plenty of arrived here on the back of a enough time to take in the sunshine hours a year. Kaikoura Greenshell Mussel Cruise, steamed mussels matched huge whale. Today, you are still to a glass of award winning is scenically superb and rich in likely to see huge sperm whales, a totally unique experience historical mythology. departing each day at 1.30pm Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. the largest of all toothed for an afternoon cruise. The perfect wine and food The name Kaikoura means whales. match in a beautiful part of On board one of Marlborough ‘meal of crayfish’ and was given Kaikoura has an abundance of Marlborough. Travel’s huge launches you will to the area by a Maori chief marine life due to the Kaikoura called Tamatea. According to canyon (part of the Hikarangi Greenshell Mussel Cruise, Marlborough Travel. legend, he found the crayfish Trench) which comes to within so good that he stopped here 700m of the Kaikoura coastline to eat some while pursuing and at its deepest point is his runaway wives who were 1650m. eventually transformed into greenstone in Westland. New Zealand’s Ultimate Year Round Marine Experience Freephone 0800 655 121 www.whalewatch.co.nz 14 15 Kaikoura Kaikoura New Zealand Fur Seal The vast food supply from by Norfolk Pines which give the cold deep water ensures plenty of shade, there are also the area is home to whales, a number of whalebone arches. dolphins, seals and albatross. On the hillside above the There are several NZ Fur Seal garden are the remains of the colonies in the area and the Takahanga pa. seals can be seen sunbathing on the rocks or grooming their Sure to help you decide on what fur as they twist and turn to do and what to see is the with comic grace in the rocky Kaikoura i Site, West End (phone shallows. 03 319 5641). Acrobatic Dusky Dolphins inhabit the coastline and pods Dolphin Encounter of up to 1500 dolphins can be seen along the Kaikoura coastline. Their typically boisterous behaviour and spectacular leaps make them a treat to see. ��������� ������� ��� ���� ��� ������� �������� ���� The Little Garden of Memories �������������������������������������� in Kaikoura is a pleasant spot in ����� ���� ��� � ��������������������������� which to relax. It is dominated Kaikoura Fishing Tours � � � � � � � � � � � TOURS DAILY... �������������������������������������������� �������������������������� ������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������� ��� ����������� ������������ Tours from $59 ������ All catch filleted and bagged ready for the pan. Toilet and cooking facilities on board. Great variety of fish to be caught and