Tuesday morning, 1 March 2011... we pulled off the wharf at 1105 (an hour delayed) and started the short but exceedingly scenic cruise north-east out Picton Harbour and along the Queen Charlotte Sound... this is a most spectacular voyage; it must be one of the most beautiful 1 hour trips one could take - anywhere in the world... not as 'vertical' as Milford Sound but absolutely as stunning. Ships and boats, including sister InterIslander ferries, passed between hills and mountain walls while the sunshine flashed off the dark green-blue waters... this goes into the 'ultimate eye-candy' bucket, too and it's in good company. as we cruised towards the entrance to the QCS, the outer-most rocky cliffs of the sound presented a dramatic closing of the chapter of our South Island adventure drama... and, as the swells of the Pacific moved under the ferry, we nosed in to the Cook Straight headed east-north-east towards Wellington and the North Island.
One coast turned grey and was enveloped by the clouds and sea-mists while to our north, the groggy peaks of the southern tip of North Island became clearer and more defined... at least until the clouds and mists began to occlude the coastline. A short hour after leaving the protection of the QCS. We were provided our first glimpses of the outer reaches of Wellington... white (or white-looking) houses and other structures perched on rocky promontories climbing from the rolling swells below... sounds neat, but what about the winds and spray?
As the ferry approached the outer markers for the entrance to Wellington Harbour, there came, from the grey towering clouds to our west, a curtain of rain and gale force winds that soon made the sky, mountains, cityscape and distant ocean reaches disappear into a driving opaque wet wall... and for several minutes, it seemed like we were standing in front of a horizontal waterfall. Then it was over... the dark grey turned to broken light grey clouds and blue patches of sky and the odd sun beam, like a large bright stage light, shining through onto t he harbour waters as we turned westwards and then, eventually south to the ferry terminal and docking. We were, of course, politely asked to return to our vehicles to disembark but the polite voice did not happen to mention that the sheep truck - so recognizably odiferous, would also be sharing the departure queue with us... and I was pleased to see that it turned right as we went left into downtown Wellington.
First impressions of windy Wellie: clean, green (vegetation everywhere) orderly (even though the city exists up and down the numerous hills), windy, well-signed, people well-dressed in suits and dresses (mostly not seen on South Island - at least the parts we have visited), chic (that's an old-speak word, I know), somewhat grey except that when the buildings were colored, the colours were pastels (reminiscent of Bermuda), did I mention windy(?), multi-cultural, and altogether charming (a descriptor chosen with care). Those were first impressions.
We arrived at our hoter - the Museum Hotel - opposite the sight-seeing target-du-jour, the Te Papa Museum (best collection of Maori artifacts in NZ); it is also located on the waterfront and just in front of it is the Wellington Yacht Club - home to the VELUS 5 Oceans races but a week earlier... we just missed saying hello and bon voyage to Derek Hatfield - our flag-bearer and really great single-handed sailor - on his second trip around the world. Although I have been following his exploits a from the internet services, it was only through the e-mails sent at periodic interbals that I was able to get a real sense of Derek's trials and tribulations... as well as his feelings of angst and success as he sailed into Wellington... and is not completing the final stages of his trip up the coast of South America in the Atlantic. Sorry we missed him but glad he traversed the Cape without incident.
The Te Papa was a real education - excellent descriptions and exhibits of NZ flora and fauna... most of the fauna were reptilian (aviary) rather than mammalian - the mammals, as noted earlier, were introduced onto the Islands by... yes, you guessed it... m-a-n.... and that's another story... Also, Te Papa's large collection of Maori artifact - from hair combs to 60' outrigger war canoes, from jade ancestral 'paddles' to a fully functional family meeting house (reminiscent of 6 Nations long houses) with really ornate wall carvings or totems depicting the history of each family). Traditional rites are described and, for me, on of the more impressive displays is the 3-story tall hall in which on one wall, the treaty between Queen Victoria and the Maori chiefs is displayed (it has only 3 articles - simplicity and grandeur) and on the wall opposite is the same treaty but in the Maori language.
Unfortunately, display photography is not permitted within the museum...so I left my camera back at our hotel... or I would have been taking lots of them; some, arguable those who cannot read english or Maori, were blissfully 'snapping & flashing' away and the docents were obligingly looking the other way... so much for rules in the Te Papa, EH?
That evening, we were to try to get together with a couple we met at FEAST, the resto in Cromwell... they invited us for dinner. We called but, to our chagrin, no answer. (We e-mailed them and, as it turned out, Robyn was engaged in some unplanned activity and her husband was working out of town that evening... so, it was just 'not to be'.) We decided to enjoy our evening meal at the hotel's renown 4th floor restaurant - the Hippopotamus - and were elated when it turned out to be such an excellent restaurant. The maitre d'hotel, Timothee, met us at the entrance and showed us to our table - we were seated overlooking the yacht basin - and our 'best meal on the trip' commenced. Amuse bouche preceded our appetizers - a glass of bubbly for the better half and a great Marlborough savvy for yours truly - followed by an excellent beef filet main enhanced with a Central Otago Excelsior Pinot Noir from Carrick vineyards (WOW!) and we shared a marvelous desert with flat whites. We also had the chance to talk with Timothee who suggested a number of wineries and rests we might visit in Martinborough and the Napier (Hawkes Bay) areas... and we thankfully accepted his recommendations and offered the best lobster dinner anywhere should he visit with us on his next stop in S-W Nova... which he also accepted.
Our departure from Wellington was heralded by the rain-gods deciding to impress us... it rained 'cats and dogs' as we drove out of the city and along the south east coastal road... so hard that even when the wipers were on 'full blast', they couldn't keep the water from cascading across the windshield. Although the rain was hard to drive through, I was thankful that we were not driving along the QCD road or many of the mountain pass roads on South Island... this was relatively straight or gently curving highway with wide shoulders and, thankfully, not a great deal of traffic. I thought the drive to Martinborough would be somewhat uneventful and pretty easy... after all, we were going into wine and fruit farm country... country described to me by my friend Mac as being 'kind of boring and flat farmland'.
I did't even see the mountains of the Rimutaka Range coming and all of a sudden, we were climbing back up the 90+degree switchbacks of State Highway 2 through these huge lushly-vegetated hills with the walls of rain falling and winds which, I swear, were not far off hurricane strength - at least when they were gusting. The strong winds blowing through these mountain passes actually held the rain suspended in the air; it wasn't able to fall to the ground hundreds of meters below but was lashed into the hillsides (and anything traveling on them). Although the camera was beside me, I was not about to relinquish control of the wheel to try to capture this phenomenon... but it was, none the less, quite amazing to watch as it happened around us. Eventually, we descended to the flatter farmlands of the Wairarapa Valley below and to the east of the mountain range... and, surprisingly, no rain had fallen there even though the clouds were apparently ready to dump... it was dry and hot and very very grey... not the most welcoming weather for this area of NZ wine country.
We spent two nights in Martinborough visiting the wineries of the area - some ofthe best in NZ and, one could argue, the world... ate lunch one day and enjoyed dinner the next day at Tirohana Winery (welcomed by Toby James and recommended by Timothee) - and we were made to feel right at home... even the vineyard dog, Bob, was there to greet us.. although, Bob is a little less steady on his 4 legs than when he was younger, we were told. A beautiful 'boutique' winery with great staff and excellent wines - and the 2005 pinot noir (almost gone from the cellar now) was stupendous!
Alas, the clock is ticking and our next leg to Napier and the Hawkes Bay wine area is nearly upon us... out time in Martinborough memorable, we are off in the morning (Friday) to drive through the south east farmlands of North Island and enter the Art Deco capital of NZ... Napier...
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Location:Martinborough, North Island, NZ
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