Travel Notes: New Zealand Part 2

18 & 20 May 2022

The bald hills and stony mountains here in the South Island make Narnia and Middle Earth believable. I can almost see the Fellowship trekking over these mountains and an armour-clad Peter swinging his sword on the hills. 

  We have arrived in Blenheim Marlborough (I always thought it appropriate that Blenheim should be in Marlborough because Blenheim was the home of the first Duke of Marlborough who also won the Battle of Blenheim in 1704) to the song, “And we will come back home, home again,” playing on the car Bluetooth. Also appropriate, I thought, considering Blenheim is our family’s home town. Does it feel like home though? I don’t know. I do feel an attachment to this place though I’ve never personally lived here. But after all, some of my family’s roots are here (post UK). I do love this small quaint town with the clock tower in the centre. I love Pollard Park and the library and Whitcoulls. I have fallen in love with the gorgeous New Zealand scenery. Really, you don’t appreciate beautiful countryside as a kid or teenager anywhere near as much as you do as an adult. I’ll be glad to spend more time here. 

  The four + hour road trip up here was enjoyable and made more pleasant by the mountains and ocean and a stop at Kaikoura to see the seals and eat a lunch of fish and chips. Along part of the route there are literally mountains on one side of the road and the ocean on the other. Some of the mountain is held up by huge steel revetments to keep the rock from falling on the road should there be another large earthquake.

As we drove, Dad gave me a very good explanation of the Russia/Ukraine situation and some of its roots which was very interesting to me. Stopping at Kaikoura to see the seals is a family tradition and there is something rather quaint about eating fish and chips on the road in paper on my lap and a bottle of fizzy kiwi L&P in hand to drink. I especially enjoyed the hot battered pineapple ring. 

   Now we are here at Grandad’s and Hannah and I are chilling in the sleepout. We shall see how things go in the next few days. 

Blenheim reminds me of why I like living in a valley and why I like mountains and hills. Marlborough, and the Yarra Valley where we call home, are similar indeed. Both are valleys overlooked by hills. Both are known for their vineyards and wine. And both are made up of green farmland dotted with livestock. It is lovely here, apart from the grey drizzly weather. I love the small town feel and the people here are nice and friendly. It seems to me that Kiwis are nice to Aussies but Aussies aren’t nice to Kiwis, if you get what I mean. 

  I’ve been helping Grandad sort out his books on the lounge room shelves, working out with him what he wants to keep and what he would like to pass on and also picking out the ones my family and I would like to have. That night, Grandad took us out for dinner. The Italian restaurant had giant glass bottles hanging from the ceiling and we sat in these sort of booths. I had a lasagna with gelato for dessert. 

   On Thursday morning, I accidentally put my hand through Grandad’s lounge room window and cut it in four places. You see, Hannah and I were put up in the sleep out which meant we needed to come inside the house to get breakfast. When I went over, I found that the door was locked so I couldn’t get in. I saw Grandad was in the kitchen so I reached across the garden to knock on the window to get his attention. Instead, I wobbled and put out my hand to support myself and my hand went right through the glass. Twas rather a shock. There was a great deal of blood and plenty of pain but thankfully no glass in the cuts. Grandad let me inside and I felt faint and sick but he took care of me and fixed us up. Me and the window, that is. 

   We went to town yesterday morning and visited some of my favourite haunts: Blenheim library where Grandad used to work, Whitcoulls, what used to be Cafe le Cuppe (my favourite Blenheim coffee shop), and Pollard Park. I love that library and wish I could work there. Imagine going to work and spending your days surrounded by books!! Hannah and I both came out with a pile each. Grandad very kindly bought me a Lonely Planet Europe travel guide in Whitcoulls, and at the cafe I had the most delicious chicken and mushroom pie. Then Pollard Park was lovely as always but it was raining. We walked around anyway and I felt rather British in my big duffle coat and boots and holding my brolly. 

   I’ve been reading a lot too. Grandad has so many interesting books and there’s simply not enough time to read them all. Thankfully I’m getting to take some of them back home to Melbourne.

   Hannah and I cooked spaghetti bolognese for dinner on Thursday night but I couldn’t wash the dishes because of my injured fingers. Last night we had a kiwi treat for supper: L&P with Dad’s favourite green onion chips. Yum!

More to come in Part 3!