Farewell to the South

Farewell to the South
Blenheim, New Zealand

Blenheim, New Zealand

Tim and I very much believe in fate and it just seemed that fate was being incredibly kind to us in NZ. When we housesat for the lovely Gemma & Shane in Wellington we received an invite from Gemma’s parents Gaye and Martin, that if we were passing through Blenheim to stop by for a night. This could not have been any more lucky for us as Blenheim just happens to be right in between Nelson and Picton and we had just a couple of days until we were headed back to Wellington to look after our beloved Piglet and Owl for Gemma and Shane again for a long weekend.

On our way we managed to tick one more LOTR locations off of our list, the Hobbits in barrels scene was filmed at the Pelorus River and very conveniently had a café nearby for an icelolly. Then we also stopped in at a campsite that we had read about which had some wild pet eels. We really had to see this for ourselves and lo and behold, we walked up to the creek and were greeted by a pack of eels who were literally climbing out of the creek for some food. Tim kept his distance and just kept telling me to put my hand closer, yeah great idea Tim, I really want to be mauled by a pack of wild eels!

We had the most awesome couple of days with Martin and Gaye and their adorable dog Mack. We had a tour and ate our way around their garden which has everything from nuts, fruits, orchids, veggies and without any question the best almonds we have ever tasted!

As with pretty much every New Zealander we met, Gaye and Martin were just the kindest most awesome people. The funny thing is that they did not see it as odd that they had two complete strangers staying with them. It turns out that Martin is a bit of a liability when he takes the dog out for his daily walk at the river. Occasionally he will meet the odd backpacker hoping to get away with a nights free camping in the back lanes but inevitably they get moved on by the rangers who have clamped down on freedom camping and so Martin invites them to camp in the back yard. Honestly where else in the world are people this nice, because I need to go there and see it to believe it.

Our time in Blenheim flew by, we had to find a way to bank the cash we had received from the van and unfortunately due to a change in the law random overseas banks will no longer facilitate a transfer to a UK accounts. Hmmm, thankfully we managed to find a rather kind bank employee who bent the rules ever so slightly and actually helped us to open a Kiwi bank account to we could pay in the cash and make our own transfer. I am pretty sure that a passport and an AA card is not officially sufficient but thankfully for us we got what we needed.

We had time for one day trip in Blenheim and on Martin’s recommendation we visited the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre, an aeroplane museum that was started by some local enthusiasts with just two planes in the 1990s is now one of the most impressive collections you will ever see. Not only do they have some really cool planes, some replicas and some still flyable, they also have a collection on loan from a trust that is chaired by non-other than Peter Jackson. The benefit of his involvement meant that Weta studios were employed to create the props and scenes surrounding the planes which are mind-blowingly realistic. Aside from the planes there is a huge selection of memorabilia from uniforms to letters and even a swastika from the famous Red Baron. We stayed for hours milling around and listening to the various sound bites around the museum. It is probably not somewhere that we would have visited without it being recommended but we thoroughly enjoyed it and Tim even managed to get a silly picture in one of the coats that they have for you to wear when visiting the museum in the winter!

As we always try to do something however small to help whoever gives us a free bed for the night we took up the responsibility of giving Mack his afternoon walk down at the river, this had the duel benefit of ensuring Martin didn’t bring back any waifs & strays , hah hah. Mack is possibly one of the most awesome dogs I have ever met. His favourite game is to chase after a rock that you throw into the river and then he will spend a good minute with his head fully submerged into the river looking for the perfect rock to pick out and bring back to shore. Seemingly the bigger the better, I have no idea how he holds his breath for so long or has any teeth left after carrying so many rocks most of the way home with him, but he is an awesome dog who we were in love with.

Sadly our South Island tour was coming to an end and it was time to head to Picton to get the boat back to Wellington, but not without a quick stop at Cloudy Bay the namesake of one of New Zealands most famous Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs . What a great time we have had in the South, time to return to the North.