#Blog4NZ - Honeymoon in NZ - Blenheim

December 23rd and time to leave Wellington. Of course, typically, the clouds parted, the sun shone, and the wind died down as we left:

After saying goodbye to Nat

We took the Interislander ferry from Wellington (bottom of the North Island) to Picton (tippy-top of the South Island) for our 11 day South Island adventure.

Entertainment at the ferry terminal

Our boat!

Atop the ferry while in Wellington Harbour

Westpac Stadium - home to many a kick-ass rugby game

On our way to the South Island and the Marlborough Sounds

Welly wind turbines

Parting shots of the North Island

Finally, after a miraculously smooth ferry ride across the Cook Strait (notorious for some of the most not-smooth swells ever), we entered the Marlborough Sounds and then on to Picton. The Sounds are truly stunning, and the photos just don't do them justice.

Picton

Goodbye little boat!

(love this guy's wee foot)

We had about an hour in Picton, where the sun continued to shine. We then boarded the train to Blenheim, which is in the heart of the Marlborough wine region, and where we'd be spending the next couple of days.

Our hostel in Blenheim: Grapevine Backpackers

Grapevine

One of the reasons we settled on this backpacker's was because all the reviews mentioned the gorgeous view from the back deck. It did not disappoint:

The people on the back of the riverboat are having their Christmas "do". So jealous!

The view from the riverbank (and me, if you look very closely)

We wandered around Blenheim, however there wasn't a lot going on. We realized that while vacationing over Christmas was convenient for us, it didn't mean that no one else would be celebrating it. We encountered many businesses closed up for the holidays, and even worse, a holiday tax on virtually every meal we ate. But enough about that!

We found a lovely riverside restaurant which was open for lunch:

Then, since it was too late to do much of anything else, we *ahem* went to a bar. If we couldn't go to any of the wineries, we were still going to drink! We were on our honeymoon, dammit.

Notice the Brooklyn Brewery hat, the Fiji Bitter shirt, and the Tui Lager beer in his hand

Me with the uber-trusty Lonely Planet

After drinking, and some more walking, we realized it was time for dinner (yes, we just had lunch, but again - WE WERE ON OUR HONEYMOON!).

We were too tired to find out what other restaurants were open (and what kind of holiday tax they would charge) so we just went back to the same river-side restaurant where we had lunch.

Michael had lamb:

And I had mussels (the size of my fist):

Lookit these things!

So, tipsy and sated, we wandered back to the hostel for a little tea and deck-time:

The next day, we had a half-day wine tour scheduled, but that wasn't until noon, so we had the whole morning to ourselves. We were told there was good hiking in some hills nearby, so decided to seek them out. After a 45 minute walk, we got to Wither Hills Farm Park:

We had very limited time, so couldn't make a lot of headway, but there are a number of different paths there. We decided to head back for our tour and try another path the next day.

At noon we were picked up by Kerry from Bubbly Grape wine tours...in their BRAND NEW MERCEDES BUS! (They were very excited about it).

Many wineries to choose from

The first, Allan Scott Winery

Quite nice!

Next was Bouldevines (and happy Claire)

The next winery, Mahi, had inherited an indoor cellar that they let us visit

The sign for Nautilus Wines

Next was, my favorite, Wairau River

Finally, Drylands, which was the biggest and least impressive. I preferred the boutique wineries.

Although, we were greeted at the door with some wine, so there's something to be said for that

Kim Crawford (part of Drylands)

After the delicious wine tour, we were dropped back in town and apparently needed to keep drinking.

It should be mentioned that this was December 24th, also known as Christmas Eve, so the pub was celebrating by holding a drawing for a fishing rod set. The bartender convinced us to enter.

The cops showed up and we started to worry about what would happen if we won

I think we agreed to donate the gear to the cops if we were indeed lucky enough to win it

Christmas Day! Blenheim was dead, so we went back to Wither Hills for another hike.

Yes, that's a "restroom"

We had a bus to Kaikoura to catch later in the afternoon...but that's for the next post.

Up next: Honeymoon in NZ - Kaikoura!