Just over an hour’s drive from Wellington, over the Remutaka Hill, is the sprawling countryside of the Wairarapa, comprising of the villages of Featherston (famous for the number of book shops per head of population), Martinborough (wine village), Greytown (boutique shops), Carterton (with Stone Henge Aotearoa close by) and the larger town of Masterton. This […]
New Zealand has ZERO active cases of Covid-19! Yesterday New Zealand received the news it has been waiting for and life has pretty much returned to normal, but with strict border measures for everyone entering New Zealand. Way to go New Zealand! Life for our immediate family is back to normal. We have made the most of […]
We visited Lake Ferry, on the south coast of the Wairarapa, over the New Year. It’s a place of incredible wild, rugged beauty and only a half hour drive from Martinborough. The small beach village, on the shores of Lake Onoke, is known for its fishing, particularly ‘white bait’, where Lake Onoke meets the sea. […]
The Queen Elizabeth Park in Masterton is a delight in early autumn. The park has plenty of deciduous trees to set the tone for autumn, with a mix of yellows, reds, browns and oranges. There’s even a Horse Chestnut tree, near the children’s play area, offering up seeds for conker games. I felt a strong […]
Wellington to Martinborough, in the Wairarapa, is a one and a half hour drive, skirting the beautiful Wellington harbour, continuing along the highway, through Lower and Upper Hutt, before reaching the beautiful area of Kaitoke Regional Park and then ascending the Rimutaka Hill on State Highway 2. There are a couple of beautiful places to […]
I have been counting my blessings indeed this weekend. What more could I have possibly wished for – sunshine, a loving healthy family, a weekend away from the chores and the cooking (and the endless cleaning up), chocolate, bubbly, fun and laughter. It was everything I could have wished for and more (especially after the […]
Set on the expansive landscape of the rural Wairarapa, where big skies, wide valleys and small towns full of character lie, is Stonehenge Aotearoa. A marvellous full-scale working adaption of England’s Stonehenge, located just outside of Carteton, an hours drive from Wellington. ‘It incorporates ancient Egyptian, Babylonian and Indus Valley astronomy, Polynesian navigation, and Celtic […]
were extremely wet! Our hopes of visiting Riversdale Beach were completely washed away when the rain set in on Sunday morning and didn’t stop till midday Monday. Thankfully, Masterton has a brilliant swimming pool, complete with hydro-slide and lazy river (and a nice spa pool for the adults) so we soaked up the water in […]
all come together at Castlepoint, where we spent the second day of our weekend away in the Wairarapa. Only a 12 minute drive from our holiday cottage on Tinui Station we packed up the car and set off. We’ve lived in Wellington for over ten year’s but have never made it to Castlepoint. We’ve heard […]
lies the sweeping rural beauty of the Wairarapa. We left on Friday in the most glorious sunshine. Our destination Poplar Cottage on the historic 19th Century Tinui Station, on the Castlepoint Road from Masterton. Enroute we stopped at Kaitoke Regional Park to stretch our legs, test out the swing bridge and watch numerous folk bravely […]
I enjoyed a weekend away in the countryside and went to my first “Toast Martinborough” wine festival.
