Yealands et al!

Kaikoura, Canterbury, New Zealand
Saturday, November 23, 2013

Saturday 23 November

A travelling day today, so quieter. We took SH1 down the coast, initially through the Awatara valley. Terrific views, from an overlook on the way to Yealands Winery, which is something to see, on several levels. As we approached on Seaview Rd ( which eventually ends up on the coast at Cloudy Bay) the vines again stretched as far as the eye could see in immaculate straight lines, which we learned later are set out using GPS . The attention to detail continued throughout. The winery itself was immense and the cellar door set up superb. The reception area desk consisted of two huge pieces of Matai wood brought from Peter Yealand's farm further south. A team had laboured all day to manoeuvre the pieces in position all day with no luck and in exasperation Yealand sent them home to return the next day and try again. The next morning on their return the wood was where he wanted it. He and his son had set about it themselves that evening and it was done. This probably tells one quite a bit about the man and his determination. I was reminded of Barry Brickell and the Driving Creek Railway - no surrender. The winery is virtually carbon neutral and everything is recycled. The vine clippings are bundled and fed into the incinerators for energy production, in which they are entirely self sufficient. Large areas of wetland have been developed to encourage birds and wildlife and miniature sheep and pigs are specially bred for size and utilised to crop the grass between the vines and keep everything tidy with no waste! In an experiment, areas of vines are played classical music together with the hens that roam free range in the musical section. Interestingly, both the grapes and the eggs produced in the music fed areas are larger by far than the musically deprived! This huge business has been built in 20 years and what's more the wines weren't bad either!!
Once SH1 hits the coast the scenery is lovely. The road follows the Pacific for some 50 kms and at the moment is fringed by masses of yellow flowering wild lupins. It is a magical sight. Approaching Kaikoura one comes upon the seal colonies basking on the rocks. They are so well camouflaged it takes a while to get your eye in. They are huge, so ungainly on land, but elegant in the extreme in the sea, their natural environment and remarkably tolerant of human curiosity, as you will see from the odd photograph. We arrived here in Kaikoura early afternoon. Slightly disappointing as a town if I'm honest, having heard so much I was expecting more somehow. I suspect it is all about the whale watching in truth, which we have decided to pass on. The sea is showing a strong swell and there is a distinct lack of whales at the moment so we're told. However, we are lucky enough to have rooms overlooking the ocean and to top it all, it was lobster for supper. Yum Yum!Baca selengkapnya