Marlborough region - legitimate wine tasting

The drive north of Kaikoura takes you through the key wine-making region of New Zealand - Marlborough - where the relatively hot and dry climate is ideal for wine producing. Mainly Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, the vineyards sprawl across the rolling hills and in the small town of Blenheim you could do a different wine tasting in a different winery every day and still be at it after about 2 months!



We chose a short tour around the largest and oldest winery, Montana, where you get to learn about the wine-making process, albeit in a mass-produced way, and then (most importantly) get to sample 5 wines from their top range. The tour was interesting and Kieran kept the tour guide on her toes by asking a million questions. The wine was pretty good too but all out of our price range.


Kieran tries a little fruity number

We hot-footed it to a smaller, independent winery who, as we discovered, were only open for another 10 minutes when we got there. We didn't care and still managed to knock back a few samples and came away with 2 excellent bottles of wine to guzzle at our leisure at a later date!

The we caught a ferry from Picton on the north of the South island and headed to the bright light of Wellington. Although there is mountainous scenery in the North island, it is much more populated and the emphasis is more on culture (NZ and Maori) rather than rugged good looks. We have seen so much beauty and vibrancy in the past 2 weeks that in some way the city will be a relief as there is this constant feeling that just around the next corner will be something even more fantastic. You think you've seen everything here and then you drive 20km in a different direction and you could be in a different country or continent. We'll be sad to leave this leg of our journey but eager to slow the pace a bit in the North island and learn a bit more about Maori culture and legend.