Marlborough

Just a few hours north of Kaikoura is the town of Blenheim, the gateway to New Zealand's most famous wine regions, Marlborough. We took the opportunity to spend an afternoon going from winery to winery to do tastings.

Views from the Cloudy Bay vineyard

The vineyards stretch on for miles 

The tastings were delicious and fun. And they lacked the pretentious aire that might be associated with wine tasting in general. The area also produces delicious cheeses and manuka honey which is lauded for its immune boosting qualities.

The Marlborough region is also the home to the Marlborough sounds. The expansive inlets and bays on the northern tip of the south island. It is in Marlborough sound that the inter island ferry carries passengers from Wellington, New Zealands capital in the north island, to the Picton in the south island. The sounds are also an important aquaculture area where green shelled mussels and salmon are farmed.

Marlborough sound is also the site of the Queen Charlotte track, a famous multi-day hike with great views of the emerald green sounds. We decided to hike a 26km portion of the track in one day. This required a boat transfer in the morning leading to an all day hike back to our car eventually.

The hike was very nice, however, the overcast weather was very disappointing as the water color lacked the beautiful hues that make the sounds so stunning.