Martinborough Travel Guide

 vtveen Says:  Just after the little village of 'Te Kopi' is a signpost to the ‘Putangirua Pinnacles’. Park you car on the parking lot, put on some good footwear and follow the track. There should be two tracks to the Pinnacles, but when we visited this scenic reserve (just after the 2004... 

 vtveen Says:  Just after leaving Ngawi (a fishermen village on Palliser Bay), still on the gravel road, you will encounter a large colony of New Zealand fur seals. There are seals on the rocks, on some sandy beaches and in the sea.Stop your car, walk around and just enjoy these very... 

 salisbury3933 Says:  Winery tours are particularly popular for visitors to Martinborough, as you can go around a number of different wineries sampling the wine the region has to offer. Packages include transport, tastings and lunch, and tend to be quite well priced considering. 

 salisbury3933 Says:  This is a good place to start. The store sells wine from fairly much all the wineries in Martinborough, and allows you to taste a number of local wine varieties (at a small charge for each one).There is a little wine cafe attached. 

 craic Says:  A charming old place. One portion built in the 1890's - one grander portion added in the 1920s.It was empty too. The whole ecosystem of the secret valley had collapsed.We stopped to have a look.Miranda strolled across the lawn, looked up at the serenely beautiful mansion and... 

 craic Says:  The grass had grown.I think my cousin Miranda was with me. I think she might have taken the photo.She was curious. I wanted to have a look at how the place was doing without me. So we went past the old cemetery, turned in off the gravel road, across the cattle stop, and down... 

 craic Says:  And the park they had planted round the grand old homestead had come to maturity although no one lived there any more. Oaks and elms. An avenue of poplars. Then you would come to the site of the house.Some stone steps leading nowhere and one out building.I never paused... 

 craic Says:  ... just what they like to do. Colonised themselves. Gotta have daffs in a big old English style wood. It had been there so long that I hardly ever wondered what the country would have looked like before the Pakeha arrived. 

 craic Says:  So I took Theresa on the walk over the river.You cross the swingbridge to get to the site of the big old house that had burned down in the 1890s(?) It had been rebuilt but burned down again in the 1920s. It wasn't rebuilt. Maybe because they thought the site was unlucky.... 

 vtveen Says:  On the way from Martinborough to Lake Ferry and Palliser Bay we passed the Burnside Church, more or less in the middle of nowhere. We made a stop and looked around in this 140 years old wooden church.It is situated near the village of Pirinoa. 

 vtveen Says:  Over a gravel road along Palliser Bay with some fords you will reach Ngawi: an old Maori fishermen village. Most remarkable are the tractors on the beach, colourful or corroded. They pull the boats of the fishermen in and out the sea.A little bit (to the left) from the main... 

 vtveen Says:  From Martinborough drive to the south and just before reaching Lake Ferry turn off to the left to Cape Palliser (signposted). Suddenly the road will descend and reach the wild coast with views over Palliser Bay on your right and a spectacular landscape with the eroded and... 

 salisbury3933 Says:  It's interesting to see these things in the vineyards. The reason is simply that Martinborough is susceptible to frosts during the colder months of the year, and frosts mean curtains for grapes.Get the windmill going, and it keeps the air temperature at ground level warm...