The Pinnacles of adventure
Most of us know Wairarapa as wine country, with the little village of Martinborough, which is surrounded by vines, New Zealand’s slice of
Burgundy.
But on a recent trip, I went beyond the vineyards and found Wairarapa is one of the country’s most exciting and often underrated regions. It has quaint little towns, a new adultsonly escape, and a dramatic road trip into Lord of the Rings country. Here are four unexpected journeys I found myself on.
A stunning coast
Until now, I thought the North Island’s most remote road trip was to Cape Reinga or East Cape.
However, a journey to Cape Palliser takes on a whole new level of adventure, thanks to wild weather that has sculpted a spectacular coastline.
Start your adventure with an easy 11⁄2-hour return walk to the Putangirua Pinnacles.
This remarkable formation of towering pillars in a remote valley was where the Paths of the Dead scene in Peter Jackson’s Return of the King was filmed.
It’s not often that a film location looks better in real life than on screen, but the Pinnacles is one such place. Over 120,000 years, an ancient stream has eroded the valley. While softer rock washed away, the harder parts remained, creating a series of stunning ‘‘hoodoos’’, also known as fairy chimneys or earth pyramids. Each towering pillar has its own unique form, making it an open-air art gallery thousands of years in the making. Once you’ve done the walk, continue the coastal drive to Ngawi, a fishing village of a bygone era.
It’s widely claimed to be home to more bulldozers per head of population than anywhere in the world.
They are used to launch the town’s fleet of fishing boats.
The only way to get the vessels into the water is by using the beach, but the sea is often extremely rough, hence the enormous machinery.
What’s also remarkable about the landscape is that there are almost no trees in the arid hills looming over the coastline. It has a Utah meets
New Zealand vibe.
After a walk among the bulldozers, continue your drive around the coast (seal spotting along the way) until you reach the Cape Palliser Lighthouse, the windswept southernmost point of the North Island.
It’s a steep but rewarding 258-step climb to the lighthouse, from where you can see the South Island on a clear day.
Moonlight Peak
New Zealand’s newest adults-only escape sits high above Wairarapa. The hilltop suite is the brainchild of Tim and Summer Priest, who initially planned to build a glamping retreat on a peak on their farm. However, as the couple realised the location’s spectacular potential, their plans transformed into a luxury off-grid, solar-powered suite, complete with underfloor heating in the bathroom (courtesy of an enormous solar panel).
This is for those who love seclusion, and the adventure starts before you even get to the suite. You’ll be met by a host, and you’ll jump in a four-wheel-drive for the steep ascent on a winding farm track.
You will then enjoy sweeping views of Greytown, Carterton and Masterton. On the other side of the peak is the vast Tararua Range.
After being dropped off, you won’t see anybody. This is where you’ll stay, and you won’t be able to leave. But you’ll have everything you need, including a full kitchen, hot tub, and dressing gowns you can spend the day in. And, of course, the view.
The suite is like a large, luxury hotel room, and you’ll spend most of the day lounging in bed, in the hot tub, tucked up on the couch reading, or watching storms roll in.
Cheese, please
If you’re in Wairarapa for a wine weekend, remember what also gets better with age: cheese.
The tiny town of Featherston is the region’s Garden of Edam. The C’est Cheese shop has one of the country’s largest ranges of speciality cheeses.
One of the many things I miss about closed borders is not being able to travel to Europe, where cheese is taken so seriously, it’s almost a religion. We make a lot of milk in New Zealand, but as a country, we haven’t really embraced artisan cheesemaking like we do craft beer, for example.
However, this little cheese shop makes you feel like you could be in Europe.
You will find creations such as The Drunken Nanny, a goat’s cheese from Martinborough; Grinning Gecko camembert from Whanga¯ rei; and even creations by its own brand, the Remutaka Pass Creamery.
This cheese nirvana is in one of the town’s historic buildings, which is also home to a cheese bar, where you can try cheese-rich scones alongside cheesy mushrooms on toast with a giant wafer.
Willy Wonka’s (tiny) factory
Two of the best things in life are chocolate and getting something for free. Greytown’s Schoc Chocolates combines both at its Chocolate Therapy Studio.
On the town’s main road is a colonial-style cottage that all chocolate lovers need to visit. Despite its small size, ‘‘chocologist’’ Murray Langham has packed a remarkable amount of cocoa creations inside.
The shop has more than 60 flavours, including a popular lime and chilli, Earl Grey tea, apricot and rosemary, geranium, fennel, and curry and papadums, which won gold at the NZ Chocolate Awards last year.
Don’t worry, there are less unusual flavours such as rose chocolate (irresistible if you have a sweet tooth) and smoky almond milk.
Too much choice? You can try any of the 60 or more flavours for free to help you decide.
I love the thought that goes into each bar. For example, Taste Wellington represents the city with its flavours. It has salt because, as Langham explains, it represents ‘‘the taste of the sea breeze on a good day or the hurricane on a normal day.’’ He then adds coffee because the city runs on it. And finally, ‘‘with Wellington full of civil servants, sits the caramel personality’’.
Langham is an expert at decoding what your chocolate preference says about you, in a practice he calls ‘‘chocology’’. The result, for the Taste Wellington, is a delicious salt, coffee, caramel combination.
Brook Sabin and Radha Engling travelled the length of New Zealand on a Stuff Travel nationwide road trip in a new Hyundai Kona Electric. The vehicle has 449km of real-world range on a single charge. For more information see: hyundai.co.nz/ kona-electric.
The writer’s trip was supported by Destination Wairarapa and Wellington NZ and produced as a part of an editorial partnership with Tourism New Zealand.