Insight Guides: New Zealand by Insight Guides

Author:Insight Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, New Zealand
Publisher: APA
Published: 2015-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

Araroa Bay, Abel Tasman National Park.

Peter James Quinn/Apa Publications

Picton has several museums, mostly devoted to its maritime heritage. Much of the activity here centres around the foreshore promenade, where there’s a children’s playground, mini-golf course, and kids can sail small yachts on a pond for 20c a pop. Further afield, half-day and full-day scenic cruises, kayak trips and dolphin-watching expeditions leave regularly to explore the labyrinthine waterways in the area. Departing from the Town Wharf, Dolphin Watch Ecotours (Town Wharf; tel: 03-573 8040; www.naturetours.co.nz) provides a range of trips including a popular wildlife-spotting cruise to Motuara Island Bird Sanctuary at the entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound, where once-endangered saddleback and South Island robins can be viewed at close range, along with a host of other rare and protected bird species. Water taxis also depart from the wharf, and within half an hour you can be dining at a resort, or hiking a short section of the Queen Charlotte Track.

To complete the whole 71km (44 miles) of the track from historic Ship Cove to Anakiwa takes four to five days. A range of accommodation is available, from tent sites and basic rooms through to upmarket rooms in private lodges and resorts.

Blenheim and the wineries

Some 30km (19 miles) south of Picton, Blenheim 3 [map] is the administrative centre of sparsely populated Marlborough province. Sitting on the Wairau plain, this pleasant rural service town has blossomed since the establishment in 1973 of the original Montana vineyards, now owned by Pernod Ricard New Zealand (www.pernod-ricard-nz.com). Pernod Ricard is New Zealand’s largest wine maker, producing a bewildering array of wines. One of its wineries, Brancott Estate (tel: 03-520 6975; www.brancottestate.com; daily 10am–4.30pm), is located just south of Blenheim. It offers guided tours of the vineyard as well as tastings.

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