Just after our previous update we were hit, well nudged really, by another earthquake. This one shook the van for a good 10-15 seconds. It was actually centred about 100 miles away on North Island and was 20 miles underground, but as a magnitude 5.8 it was significantly bigger than the Christchurch one a few weeks previously. If you saw Jacinda Ardern being interrupted in a TV interview that was the one we felt.
Our next destination was Blenheim, the epicentre of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc or 'Sav' as us locals now say. We took one for the team and tasted as much as we could manage and are happy to report that it really is quite good ! In truth this is wine production on an industrial scale with massive, truly massive, vineyards stretching across the valley floor, mechanised watering, mechanised picking, enormous holding and blending vessels and so on. For the most part the concept of 'terroir' seems misplaced so if you want good best quality Sav look for Single Vineyard or Reserve designation - it seemed to us that anything else could be made up from just about anything.
That said we had a lovely day cycling around a few vineyards having a slurp of anything and everything available. We both identified the Awatere Valley sub-region as our favourite Sav, lovely grassy flavour compared to the more citrussy flavours of the main vineyards. Best tasting was at Gibson Bridge run by a 73 year old eccentric who specialised in Pinot Gris production (think Pinot Grigio with flavour); he produced some beautiful wines, with age, including the most delightful dessert wine ever - promise you. Finally, if you want a really indulgent experience, try a dessert wine with blue cheese and a dribble of honey - top tip.
Completing our tour of South Island we travelled further south to Kaikoura, location of a huge (7.8) earthquake in 2016. The damage was reportedly huge but only 2 fatalities as it was in a relatively unpopulated region. It was looking like a disappointment with little evidence of the quake and the other spectacle, sperm whale watching off the coast, cancelled due to Covid issues. Lady luck smiled again though and taking the only boat trip available, we saw several albatross, a huge pod of ~200 dusky dolphins just leaping and surfing the boat's bow wave and even an orca. Lovely day out under yet more blue skies and warm sun.
The final excursion was to join the ‘post run’ around Marlborough Sounds. This boat service is a mixture of deliveries and collections to the remoter communities away from the roads. A fun time was had pulling up at jetties to meet the locals queuing for their weekly mail drop, groceries and on-line deliveries. Quirkiest character was definitely Dave, an ex-conductor, lightening conductor that is; he is lucky enough to have been struck twice in his life, so far!
So the time has come to say farewell to South Island after 13 weeks here (7 in lockdown), as tomorrow we are taking the ferry from Picton to Wellington in North Island. The south has been spectacular and everyone tells us the north is quite different. Check in next time to see what we find.