Sunday, February 04, 2007
Wairarapa weekend get away
We haven't been out of the city for a while so it was nice to head over to the Wairarapa last weekend for a break. The Wairarapa is a wine growing region just north of Wellington. Lou had booked a cottage in the town of Martinborough. It was very nice with all the facilities, a table outdoors and spa pool. We arrived at about 6:30 pm on Friday evening. We cooked a meal and were eating it outside when it started raining. That didn't stop us from enjoying the spa that night.
The next day we got up late. Lou was feeling low on energy as she was recovering from a cold so we had a late breakfast and wandered five minutes down the road to the centre of the village. There are a few cafes, galleries and restaurants all targeted to people from out of town on the northern side of the town square. We spent the day relaxing, and had an afternoon snooze. In the evening we headed back to the square for a meal at Est. We both had steaks which were delicious. Back at the cottage we had another spa but this time were able to see the stars, fantastic.
Sunday was clear and warm and we were feeling refreshed so we packed up our stuff, took some pictures of the cottage and got in the car. We drove south to Lake Ferry. This is a lake that is right beside the sea. You can stand on a sand bar and see the sea to one side and the lake on the other. It is a very popular fishing spot and the channel from lake to sea was surrounded. I think swimming through there would be like flying through a flak barrage in a b52 bomber.
We carried on round the coast on windy roads by beaches, along cliff tops, through fords and along gravel until we reached the light house at Cape Palliser. There is a steep set of steps to the lighthouse and from the top you can see the seal colonies around it. We got some pretty good shots of a bull seal comming out of the water and throwing his weight around. There was a pretty mean fight because some guy had taken his spot while he was swimming or whatever.
We headed back to Ngawai for some freshly caught fish and chips. I think everyone who lives there makes their money from fishing. There were many boats along the beach. Most were on trailers connected to tractors that are colourfully painted with names like Babe, Tulip and Kermit.
Further back we stopped to look at the Pinnicles. These are great spires of earth and stones that are all grouped together. We took a bush walk through the trees to see them from above then headed down to the dry river bed to see them from below. Lou tells me that they shot a scene from The Return of the King there - the one where Aragon enlists the ghosts for the final war.
On returning to the car we were tired but happy and headed home.
Pics are here - Wairarapa weekend get away gallery.
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The next day we got up late. Lou was feeling low on energy as she was recovering from a cold so we had a late breakfast and wandered five minutes down the road to the centre of the village. There are a few cafes, galleries and restaurants all targeted to people from out of town on the northern side of the town square. We spent the day relaxing, and had an afternoon snooze. In the evening we headed back to the square for a meal at Est. We both had steaks which were delicious. Back at the cottage we had another spa but this time were able to see the stars, fantastic.
Sunday was clear and warm and we were feeling refreshed so we packed up our stuff, took some pictures of the cottage and got in the car. We drove south to Lake Ferry. This is a lake that is right beside the sea. You can stand on a sand bar and see the sea to one side and the lake on the other. It is a very popular fishing spot and the channel from lake to sea was surrounded. I think swimming through there would be like flying through a flak barrage in a b52 bomber.
We carried on round the coast on windy roads by beaches, along cliff tops, through fords and along gravel until we reached the light house at Cape Palliser. There is a steep set of steps to the lighthouse and from the top you can see the seal colonies around it. We got some pretty good shots of a bull seal comming out of the water and throwing his weight around. There was a pretty mean fight because some guy had taken his spot while he was swimming or whatever.
We headed back to Ngawai for some freshly caught fish and chips. I think everyone who lives there makes their money from fishing. There were many boats along the beach. Most were on trailers connected to tractors that are colourfully painted with names like Babe, Tulip and Kermit.
Further back we stopped to look at the Pinnicles. These are great spires of earth and stones that are all grouped together. We took a bush walk through the trees to see them from above then headed down to the dry river bed to see them from below. Lou tells me that they shot a scene from The Return of the King there - the one where Aragon enlists the ghosts for the final war.
On returning to the car we were tired but happy and headed home.
Pics are here - Wairarapa weekend get away gallery.
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