South by Northwest

Claire Great Taste Trail

We traveled by ferry from Wellington to the South Island through the Marlborough Sounds. The boat leaves windy Wellington Harbor into open ocean, passing through 22.5 kilometers of Cook Strait before entering the intricate, beautiful, and calm water sounds at the tip South Island. The strait was rough enough, even on the huge ferry, couldn't imagine being in the water. There was a plaque on the boat about swimmers who have made the crossing.  The first woman to swim between the north and south island was Lynne Cox, (American) 12 hours and 7 minutes. She battled heavy seas and at one time a ferry pulled alongside to block the wind, flying an American flag to show their support for her effort. A much easier crossing for us and the seas calmed down when we entered the Marlborough Sound channel and we spent the final hour passing by very scenic inlets into the town of Picton. From there we headed to the Tasman region and the small village of Mapua, our home for ten whole days.

Mapua was on the Great Taste Trail, one of the developing New Zealand Great Cycle trails. The government began building trails all over the country about 10 years ago to build a cycling system to rival the Great Walks (think Milford Track). The coastal portion of this track is completed from the town of Nelson west to the Abel Tasman National Park.  We managed three days in on the trail, riding through estuaries, along beaches, through forests and along ridges. It's called the Great Taste for the opportunities to eat and drink along the way... a vicious cycle, eat/ride, eat/ride. A great way to see the country side.

The Abel Tasman Park to the west of Nelson/Mapua and offered some spectacular hiking along the well-worn coastal track. We boated in and out one day to see the middle part of the trail. Lumpy seas made that day a bit rough but it was a beautifully easy way to see more of this beautiful park.

Abel Tasman National Park coastal trail

Take away wine tasting

Our friend Rick at the Wild Ginger in Seattle used his wine connections to get us tastings with two wineries in the famous Marlborough Sound wine region. The first was Forrest, founded by two doctors. Trevor showed us the vineyards and we tasted some great wines with him. They produce 50 different wines with vineyards in the Hawkes Bay and Otago regions as well. Felt like being in a medium-sized Napa winery. The second tasting was quite the opposite, with Jules Taylor wines. It was the most relaxed tasting we have ever experienced. We met George Elsworthy in his office where he'd laid out ten different wines. We talked for almost three hours about travel, New Zealand, Seattle (George had been there many times) and occasionally, wine. By the end of the conversation, I realized that George was actually the very understated owner, being married to the winemaker, Jules Taylor. George sent us home with the open bottles we tasted which we happily managed to finish off over the next couple of days. Don't think that would happen in Napa! Jules and George got their start at Kim Crawford before starting their own project. If you see their wines in the store or on the wine list, give them a go, you won't regret it!

Jeff on the beach at Abel Tasman

We really enjoyed the small community of Mapua, our house was near the wharf and the grocery store so we could make meals or eat at one of the restaurants along the small wharf. Trail Journeys, the bike shop there was awesome and fitted us up for our rides. There was even an Iyengar Yoga teacher at the community center and I really enjoyed getting to practice with kiwis and with a very good teacher.

We left there this morning and drove along the West Coast on a spectacular, sunny day. A rare treat. When we pulled off the road to a nearly deserted beach, a fellow walking his dogs gave us a piece of greenstone. The beach was littered with it, along with what looked like agates and quartz. Tomorrow we catch the TransAlpine train to Christchurch. More from there! xoxo

Mapua Wharf 

The beach off the coastal track in Abel Tasman