Walks, wines and whales in in New Zealand’s Beautiful South

NELSON gets consistently voted the city most Kiwis would like to live in. What has this low-key, slightly remote South Island settlement got going for it? Well, it boasts, officially, the best weather in the whole country with 2,400 sunshine hours a year. All the better to ripen the grapes in its compact but high quality vineyards and to bronze the visitors who flock to its gorgeous national parks for experiences that range from chill-out to adrenalin-fuelled.

Pose for a selfie with the fish icon made our of mussel shells

Established in 1841, so New Zealand’s second oldest city, it’s even got history going for it. Fittingly it’s big on the arts and quirkiness. Witness its oddball homage to artwork that doubles as fashion (alongside a vintage collection), the World of Wearable Art and Classic Cars museum. 

Yet you don’t want to stay indoors in this stunning, unspoilt region, which stretches northward for over 150km to Farewell Spit, a 25km bird-thronged arc of sand stretching out into the Pacific.

From our road trip across both of New Zealand’s islands, which gravitated inevitably towards wineries and restaurants, our outstanding memory is of a five-hour coastal trek in the Abel Tasman park under the bluest sky I’ve ever seen. Not the most arduous walk we’ve tackled but among the most beautiful, a switchback through dense bush rich in birdlife and wild flowers or suddenly across exposed granite cliffs, with sea views at every turn.

Water taxi; below, enjoying perfect sun in a remote bay; and Torrent Bay, half way point of our walk

It almost didn’t happen. We had lingered over breakfast (as you would at the generous Te Puna Wai Lodge B&B) in Nelson – an hour away from Kaiteriteri, where we were to catch the mid-morning water taxi north. We made it by the skin of our Birkenstocks, landed up the coast at Anchorage Hut, set in a bay of total turquoise, and then took the path north to Bark Bay Hut, another place only accessible by sea taxi. Or kayak, but that’s another story. Like water canyoning or bungee jumping. Not for us. Picnicking with Pinot Noir on the beach, we made sure we were on time to get the last boat back that day. 

Judy Finn, one of the great characters of the New Zealand wine industry

In high season, this footpath is the victim of its own accessibility. Inland it’s much quieter. Our inland target, though, was one of New Zealand’s finest wineries, Neudorf, whose Moutere Chardonnay is one of the world’s greatest. The Riesling and Pinot noir are exceptional, too, all very elegant. Tim and Judy Finn were pioneers in the Moutere Hills back in 1978 when the area was primarily orchard country settled by German emigrants. It still is.

The vineyard area is small beer (sic) compared with high profile Marlborough. Organic grapes, low yields, sustainable viticulture in a lovely setting. An ambitious organic wine project nearby, Mahana, is also well worth a visit, not least for its scenic terrace serving exquisite local food.

Check out all the area’s wineries, extending down to the Waimea Plains, and their cellar door opening dates via Wine Nelson.

With the German influence and a world famous local hop industry, it was no surprise to discover New Zealand’d oldest pub in Moutere, The Moutere Inn (1850). It features in a guide lauding Nelson as the ‘craft brewing capital’ of New Zealand. Check out the Nelson Craft Beer Trail and you’ll start to believe them.

The Free House; below, its oddball decor is part of the charm

Our favourite bar was in Nelson itself. The Free House inhabits a former chapel on Collingwood Street in Nelson proper.  From a huge selection of beers we chose a rare cask ale in homage to Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, brewed by an ex-pat Brit up in (where else?) Moutere. So laid back is the bar’s food policy, we accompanied it with a vindaloo delivered from the Indian across the road. Yes, it did taste like a Seventies flock wallpaper flashback!

Te Puna Wai Lodge is full of Victorian charm – and check that outlook

Te Puna terrace

Our free Nelson pizza was equally silly. Our Interislander Ferry from Wellington had docked an hour late in Picton and it was lateish when we made Nelson. Our Te Puna Wai boutique B&B hosts Richard and James had spent the evening at an Italian Club opera performance, so arrived simultaneously bearing free pizza for us, which we washed down with G&Ts and beers from the fridge in our top floor room. 

Typical of the amazing Kiwi hospitality we encountered. Matched, it must be said, en route in Hong Kong where we took advantage of Cathay Pacific’s terrific lounge – essential for its hub connecting with 190 destinations globally, one of them Manchester with its four-times a week HK direct service.

Haulashore Island and, below, that spectacular sunset

Richard and James’ lovingly restored 1857 hilltop house has wonderful views of Tasman Bay, framing picture-perfect Haulashore Island. Down below on Wakefield Quay are several good places to eat – we didn’t regret dinner next day at seafood specialists Boat Shed Cafe, helped by the most spectacular of sunsets.

Next stop was Marlborough wine country, via Havelock at the head of Pelorus Sound, a  spectacular labyrinth of steep-sided bays. Fertile breeding ground for the bivalves that allow the little fishing town to style itself ‘Green Mussel Capital of the World’. Epicentre is the Mussel Pot eaterie on Main Road. Pose for a selfie with the fish icon made our of mussel shells.

Our next port of call, Marlborough, over the mountains, is all about wine. This is Sauvignon Blanc country. The grape variety that put New Zealand on the world map rules big time as you’ll discover if you follow the Marlborough Wine Trail based in the rolling region around the workaday town of Blenheim.

Discover the wealth of SB alternatives. We were delighted by what outstanding winemakers are doing with other varietals. Riesling is king for Brit expat Andrew Hedley at Framlingham, who also loves rock and roll. The winery yard is full of rock lyrics engraved on stone. Next to The Clash and Iggy Pop is Elbow’s “The man at the door with a head like Mars/like a bay born to the doors of bars/surrounded by steam with his folded arms/he’s got that urban genie thing going on” .

Seresin was the jolliest tasting of the entire trip

Michael Seresin at his eponymous winery works with wild yeasts and biodynamic practices to produce sensational aromatic, wines. It’s an extension of the imagination that feed his day job as a globetrotting cinematographer (Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban, Dawn of The Planet of Apes).

Fiona Turner is a highly-regarded wine consultant; Tinpot Hut is her individual project

Both wineries have welcoming tasting rooms that don’t feel overtly commercial. Tinpot Hut’s Fiona Turner doesn’t even have one, so we tasted her award-winning range at her 100-year-old farmhouse. She sources some of their grapes from trusted growers and the rest from the family vineyard up in the cool climate Awatere Valley, tended by her husband. That's where you'll find the oriignal tinpot hut.

Cosy cottage at St Leonards; below our resident deer

Fiona's outstanding Sauvignon Blanc, subtle and restrained, belies the over-the-top Marlborough stereotype and we sipped a bottle that evening in our own cosy bijou ‘hut’, part of St Leonards Vineyard Cottages in the heart of the vine rows with the owners’ pet deer securely penned outside our window. 

Wildlife occupied the remainder of our South Island stay. Kaikoura, south along the coast towards Christchurch offers the perfect marine environment for whale watching and the spectacularly sited but hardly chic town has built its prosperity on this. You can spend big bucks hiring  a plane to look down on basking Great Sperm Whales; the cheaper option (book well in advance, prepare for rough seas) is a Whale Watch boat tour. 

Seals aplenty along the awesome Kaikoura coast

It’s a great rocky road trip, too, as the road hugs the shoreline with ample chance to see seals close-up and to eat NZ crayfish (langoustines) from legendary roadside diner, Nin’s Din – much cheaper than in Kaikoura itself.

Finally heading south to make a shuttle flight back to Auckland from Christchurch we couldn’t resist one last wine region – Waipara – and a winery lunch. We hit the jackpot. Pegasus Bay is an imposing but still family-run set-up that f has fulfilled the wine-mad dreams of top neurologist Ivor Donaldson. It produces superbly rich  wines, red and white, the reserve range of which are all dedicated to his wife Christine’s love of opera – Maestro Merlot and Prima Donna Pinot Noir etc.

Pegasus Bay; below, a starter at its deliciously good restaurant

For its food it has won Best Vineyard Restaurant in New Zealand and our lunch was indeed a virtuoso performance. Served out in the lush, semi-tropical garden, thronged with bees and butterflies, it served as the perfect curtain call for our own wine-mad tour of an amazing country. No, we never did make it out to the whales.

Crayfish before and after

The first leg of our New Zealand road trip was on the North Island. Read about it here. 

For wine tasting notes and recommendations from both legs of the journey visit this link. 

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