Blenheim/ Wairau Valley / Havelock

Another day of perfect weather awaits us and after a bit of research we have decided to take a drive out into the Wairau Valley, through which the Wairau river flows. Main cities in the valley are Blenheim, Renwick and Spring Creek. However the valley is agricultural land dominated by vineyards and wineries, mostly vineyards. We drove well into the valley past the township of Wairau Valley and well on the way to the small ski resort of Saint Arnaud before we decided to turn around.

The Wairau Valley Tavern was closed, and possibly is for much of the time. There wasn't a lot going on in this small settlement.

The landscape was clearly dominated by vineyards. We didn't see any cellar door open signs, but it is Monday in the off season. Most of the vineyards were owed by major producers, Yealands seemed to have the most acreage.

The backdrop of the mountains really enhances the vineyard views

The vineyards continue on both sides of the road with a rare break if the soil conditions may not be right

We turned around about 30km from Saint Arnaud and figured with the short time we have available, we should go back to investigate Havelock, which was on our original plan. Even though we will pass through havelock tomorrow on our way to Nelson, we thought we would spend some time their today, so tomorrow we could go straight through to Nelson.

For the uninitiated, Havelock is the home of the Green Lipped Mussel, something of great pride in the town. On the way to the town you drive through towering hills covered in radiata pine plantations. We constantly pass trucks hauling logs going in both directions and are still unsure where they end up. Anyway, back to mussels.

After our morning tea tea, coffee and half a date scone at the local cafe, we head out to seek the elusive mussel. Actually it was not to elusive here. Every second shop was promoting something to do with mussels.

After our coffee, we walked down to the marina to see what was on offer down there, clearly with an expectation we were going to have mussels for lunch.

Early research suggested that Mills Bay Mussels may be a suitable venue, as they are both processors of mussels and have a food outlet. Whilst there was much activity in the processing section, the restaurant was closed on Mondays, so we had to move on.

There is a reasonable sized marina and a large processing factory

A food truck at the marina satisfies some tourists needs

There is a flash restaurant on the waterfront called the Slip Inn, but no mention of mussels on their menu, so we move on, past the very modern Pelorus Boating Club building and back into the main street.

As we wander down the street eyeing off the only plausible restaurant to get a feed of mussels, we see the dreaded tour bus parked out the front. Hopefully they don't like mussels.

We enter the Mussel Pot Cafe hoping that they can accommodate us, glad to find it is much bigger than we expected, has a great outdoor dining area  and there is no sign of the tour bus crowd. Nevertheless it is a very popular spot, and it the goto place in Havelock for mussels.

Like most people in the restaurant, we opted for the mussel platter which was mussels cooked 6 ways. all of them were tasty, but you couldn't go past the traditional steamed mussels in their very tasty broth.

Look at the size of the steamed mussels

I think we have seen what the main street of Havelock has to offer, so it is time to move on. We are always a sucker for a scenic drive and a walk to a lookout and we noticed on the way into town that such an alternative was on offer by taking the Queen Charlotte Drive to Picton. 

The main street with our trusty Prius in the foreground

The road, this time a nice sealed road, goes along the edge of the sounds between Havelock and Picton through the settlement of Linkwater. Not far out of Havelock we come to a lookout, Cullen Point Lookout, at the end of a peninsula that overlooks Havelock. The sign says that is a a short walk to the lookout, only 500 m. What it doesn't say is that it is all uphill and the track is a bit rough. Nevertheless, the view is worth it.

View of Havelock from the lookout

We also see two mussel boats returning to Havelock from where the mussels are grown, somewhere in Pelorus Sound.

The track

It took us a good half hour there and back, with the downhill trip back to the car much more acceptable in what is quite hot weather today.

The rest of the drive (it is about 42 km in total) is very scenic, with a few places to stop but not many as it is very windy and big changes in elevation.

                    

We stopped at Ngakuta Bay, a nice beach/swimming area along the way.

It was a very popular spot with locals and campervans with quite a few people in the water. There are also lots of moorings, so I guess it is bays like these that cruising boats go out to from the marinas for a weekend on the water. There were also quite a few that look like they are permanantly moored here.

Another shot below as we travel along at water level before the next windy climb over the hills.

As we get closer to Picton we catch a glimpse through the trees of what looks like it might be the Scenic Eclipse 2 at anchor. There is space to pull over and sure enough, there she is. We were told that they would be in Picton on Monday.

We drove around a few more bends and are now almost in Picton. At the next lookout, the mystery of where many on the logging trucks have been going is unveiled.

Around another few bends and we are looking at Picton and the now empty Inter Island Ferry wharves.

From here we have a short drive back to Blenheim, about 40 minutes. A bit different yesterdays s

scenic route. Once again it has been a pretty full day, getting back to the motel at around 3.30 pm.

We are well located with a Woolworths Supermarket just around the corner where we went to stock up on our breakfast staples.

Tonight we walked to a local Thai restaurant and had a nice meal of huge servings. 

Tomorrow we are off to Nelson.