We (nearly) hit some Wineries

We took the road out to Rabbit Island this morning. The Council-owned island is 8km long and around 2km wide, and largely covered in pine forests, but the long seaward side of it is a lovely sandy beach. Although it was overcast to start with, by mid-morning the cloud had cleared and we had a very enjoyable walk along part of the beach and one of the forest tracks. The gates to the island are closed off during the hours of darkness, and no camping is permitted, but there are heaps of cycle tracks, parking areas, picnic spots (some with barbecues) for people to use during the day.
Our plan was then to hit the wineries for some tastings, and Seifried being the closest, we tried that one first. The gates were open, the signs were out, but the doors were locked so we turned round and headed for our second option: Rimu Grove Winery near Mapua. We found the right road, but no signs and we later found out the vineyard has changed hands and no longer does tastings!
We hit gold with our third attempt though. We drove down to the wharf at Mapua, to find Rimu Wine Bar, where we were hosted to a wonderful hour of tastings by the ex-owner of Rimu Grove. Patrick now makes wines for many of the local growers as well as his own label. Needless to say we bought several bottles, and also had a delicious platter lunch over another glass of wine in his restaurant.
The wharf had a great vibe – it was buzzing with people and all the hospitality businesses seemed to be having a good day. We wandered around in the sunshine for a while taking in the sights before heading off to our park for the night: a large Council-run camping ground called the McKee Memorial Reserve, which is right on Ruby Bay.
We have struggled a bit to find appropriate places to stay in the Nelson region. Sadly it appears that the Council is not very welcoming to visitors. Freedom camping is not permitted anywhere other than designated carparks in the CBD (which must be vacated by 7am), and everywhere you look there are signs saying NO motorhomes / dogs / parking / fires / camping / rubbish / entry, etc. We have seen publications that clearly state their preference is for ALL visitors to stay in commercially-run accommodation (and pay through the nose to do so) and highlight the fines that will be imposed if the rules are not followed. And there are no DOC campsites in the region either, so that means our options are quite limited. Needless to say we won’t be spending too long here.Read more