Blenheim: A great rural experience

Most people who travel here end up renting a car or a camper, but considering I don’t really enjoy driving, and I felt a little challenged by driving on a different side of the road, I decided to use public transit. I bought an intercity bus pass, which I have been completely impressed with due to the ease to book trips, change them, and linked into different transportation systems. My first experience was catching the inter-islander ferry from Wellington to Picton, and then taking a bus from there to Blenheim.

The ferry ride was so beautiful. The route went through a channel surrounded by islands, very similar to our pacific coast. The ferries were really interesting as they had a very different set up. They had smaller rooms some for reading, some for sleeping, several lounges, lookouts games rooms, bars, and cafés. They even had a place to watch a movie and had loads of activities for children like magic shows and colouring contest. The journey was about 3 1/2 hours and it started with our first sighting of dolphins . It was a sunny day and there were calm waters, which normally isn’t the case as they have many cancellations.

Blenheim is a town of about 28,000 people. My accommodation was in a residential area about a 20 minute walk from downtown and also from a beautiful river walk and trail. I love being in this smaller environment. People were so friendly and things were easy to access. There is a quiet, calm and peaceful feeling to the environment. You would think in a small environment, I would be able to easily find my way. But for those of you who know my navigation abilities, it is a different story. It did not take long for people in the community to know that I tended to get lost, always asking for directions. I am pretty sure that is what motivated them to erect the street sign called Carr Street which thankfully was my landmark to find my way home.

The town had a beautiful feel to it with a nice downtown core. They have a small public art gallery which currently featured landscapes from local artists. As you walked through the river trail, beautiful poems were displayed that were written by school children about the river and what it provides to the community. The town was well served by many businesses and social services. They even had a multicultural settlement organization. As you walk through the streets, you could smell the blossoms and hear the birds sing. It was very Zen.

One of my great activities was joining a self-directed bike tour that went through the Marlborough wine region. This is a region that we are probably most familiar with in Canada as it is where most of our New Zealand wine comes from. The tour group I booked with sent a shuttle to pick me up, took me to their place in Renwick, got us all set up with bikes, helmets, maps, gave us an overview of the vineyards, and took me back home. It was so lovely to bike amongst the vineyards on trails and slower roads. I was a bit worried when I first started out as in the first two minutes on the trail my map flew out of my basket and it took great athletic feat to grab it before it landed in the stream. Can you imagine me out there without a map! Even with it, I had a tendency to get lost. New Zealand is well known for its white wines. However, they have a growing industry of Pinot Noirs. I selected the vineyards that had a variety of red ones, a good selection of whites as well as places that don’t export to Canada or at least that I’m aware of. I went to four of the following vineyards.I have to say I completely enjoyed them all- Hans Herzog, Rimapere , No 1 family estate ( bubblies) and Fromm. I very much enjoyed this day getting out and exercising on the bike in a beautiful environment, meeting lots of new people, and enjoying some very delicious wine served by very knowledgable people who have a great passion for their life work.

Blenheim is certainly a place I would recommend for people to go to in this region. The environment and people are pretty special.

I took the train from Blenheim to Christchurch. It was a five hour train ride and the scenery was stunning. They were coastal mountain views, valleys, vineyards, and loads of sheep and cattle farms. My seat mate was this very lovely 88 year-old woman who is heading to a birthday celebration of her younger sister. She told me that her family always drives to Christchurch, but she decided that she hadn’t been on this train route for more than 60 years and felt that she wanted to see what it was like now. She was full of all sorts of reflections of what had changed and had many stories of growing up in the area and raising her family. She was a spectacular tour guide. She shared which town to expect to see next, what they were known for, how they had been impacted by some of the quakes and what it was like to live through that and the rebuilding process. I couldn’t have asked for a better seat mate.

I landed in Christchurch and was in my apartment by 8 o’clock at night. I was greeted by Mike and Liz, the owners, and they got me all settled into my very comfortable space. It’s well located, has a nice balcony and most importantly, laundry facilities! They recommended a place for me to go eat which was a couple blocks away called the Casa Publico, a South American restaurant. It had one of the best ceviche’s I have tasted and a delicious cauliflower dish. I can hardly wait to explore Christchurch as my first glimpses have me extremely excited about how lively it is, the arts and culture in the streets and the beautiful garden environment,