11-22 November 2025

We are working our way north to the top of the South Island and our flight to the North Island. This is our last post from the South Island.

Along the Way

Hanmer Springs

Hanmer Springs suprised us. Charming. This spa town, population 1,000, has an attractive retail strip of mostly new one-story shops, cafes, and lots of trees. But the big attraction in town is the water park near the center of town. The elaborate water slide is visible from a distance, and the publicity photos all show squealing kids. But adults go for the abundance of soaking pools of varying temperatures. Bonnie passed on the pools and headed up the street for a long massage instead. The exuberant Brazilian masseuse was a delight.

We stayed at the Amuri Estate, a 15-minute drive out of town. The four rooms in this elegantly designed and landscaped inn have an expansive view of the broad, green agricultural valley. The long, steep, curving gravel driveway up to the inn alarmed us, and even our New Zealand fishing guide was taken aback by it, but we quickly learned that our rented RAV4 could handle it even in the rain. A word of caution. They do not serve breakfast. You’re on your own.

Lodging

This and That

Eats

Murchison

On the Way

Lodging

The Murchison Lodge, a kind of aging ski chalet with five rooms, is tucked in the woods behind one of the two main roads in Murchison. Phillip, a refugee from Switzerland, runs the lodge. He loves to chat and draw comparisons between different cultures. While there, we met guests from Russia, Scotland, Britain, Israel, and the USA (Utah). Most guests are on their way to another destination and stay only one night. Phillip serves a great breakfast and his coffee was perfect for Robert. His chickens provide the eggs. The Bullard River lies about 200 meters from the lodge.

Murchison Town Centre

Murchison is a very small town of about 500 residents, half in school (5-18 years old). Bonnie loves the official sign at an intersection on the main highway pointing toward the Town Centre. What is the town centre? Maybe it is the general store a few yards from the intersection. The store faces the public toilets and a bit further down the block is a lively lunch place. The long block also has scattered along it, a butcher that was always closed (he now focuses on home kills), a second-hand store, as well as two competing and barely functioning shops for New Zealand jade. It’s sleepy.

Our stay in Murchison was enlivened by a sociable Russian couple and their nine-year old daughter Norah we met at the lodge. (Bonnie spotted heavy eyeliner and knew she could connect with the mom.) The mom is a tiny Russian princess who teaches etiquette. Her husband is a big, burly, but well-groomed and good-humored husband. He handed Robert a Corona beer at the lodge. His cheery, “Hello. My name is Alexander,” probably exhausted his English. The family relied on mama to translate.

We ran into them everywhere on Saturday night—at the lodge, in the hotel dining room, and in the grocery store after dinner—which is not hard to do in tiny Murchison. On Saturday night a crowd filled the hotel pub, so there was a long wait for food to arrive. During the lull the Russians stood at our table and gamely chatted with us despite their limited English and our nonexistent Russian.

We supplemented the halting conversation with photos on the wife’s phone, maps on Bonnie’s phone, and lots of smiles on all sides. The wife said she practices English by watching Netflix and YouTube, which are officially banned but nevertheless she finds them. These people, from the south of Russia, are major travelers. They have even driven from their home, through Turkey, to Italy.

Eats

Murchison is the smallest place we have stayed so far. Several cafes serve lunch, especially for travelers passing through, but only two places offer dinner, although the pizza place is closed several nights a week.

One choice is the Hampden Hotel. The other is the Cow Shed. The hotel is the plain, but spacious local pub and dining room with basic food choices. A true New Zealand country atmosphere. Filled with locals. The staff are very hospitable even when they are overwhelmed with orders. (Although online reviews claim the magenta-haired woman behind the counter is a terror.) We got used to waiting 45 minutes for the food we ordered at the counter. For Robert, a beer eased the wait.

But Robert finally got lamb chops, which was the special on Saturday night. Lamb chops are seldom featured in Kiwi restaurants, which is a puzzle to us. Perhaps the best lamb is shipped overseas. We ate at the hotel three nights in a row because the Cow Shed is closed on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Why? We do not know. The Cow Shed would do well in Berkeley. Small. Interesting decor. Mostly pizza. Young tatted waitstaff with a hippy vibe. One young server from France. Both places served good food.

This and Thats

Blenheim

On the Way

Lodging

This and Thats

Our two-and-a-half hour drive from Murchison to Blenheim transported us from the land of no makeup, no jewelry, sturdy shoes, and basic outdoor clothes to the land of leopard print pants, a shiny gold tote bag, interesting sandals, and plenty of jewelry. The first woman we encountered on the sidewalk in Blenheim, thanks to her two sociable dogs, imports lovely linen dresses from Italy.

Eats

Picton and a Food Voyage

Picton is the last stop on the South Island. From here you can take a ferry to Wellington on the North Island. There are five crossings a day, but the trip is often rough and sometimes cancelled because of high seas. The little harbor town is a delightful collection of cafes and tourist shops overlooking the boat harbor. We hit a sunny warm day and enjoyed strolling the main street.

We signed up for a three-hour cruise in Queen Charlotte Sound focused on the famous New Zealand green-shelled mussels. We cruised by one of the mussel farms and learned that in a small area they can produce literally tons of mussels. The boat stopped there and the crew served our group of 17 passengers steamed mussels and grilled salmon, along with local Sauvignon blanc. The mussels were enormous.

As we cruised through the sound, past inlets and occasional houses, Bonnie suddenly recognized the name Curious Cove. She went to summer camp there! Like most spots in the sound, it is accessible only by boat.

On the Way to Picton

The Mussel Cruise

Roaming around Picton

A Few Wineries

With a free day while staying in Blenheim, we decided to tour a few Marlborough region wineries using the winery map widely available here. There are lots of wineries, and vast stretches of grape vines. Much more extensive than in Napa or Sonoma. The staff at the “cellar doors” (tasting rooms) are friendly and open to questions. Reminds Robert of Napa in the 1970s.

Our interest was in the Pinot Noirs even through this region is best known for Savs (Sauvignon Blancs). We had tastings at three wineries—Allan Scott, Cloudy Bay, and Framingham. Allan Scott has cool dispensers for tasting. They give you a card to insert into the machine, you select your wine and choice of pour size, and you see your total charges. Very convenient. Very inexpensive too. Beats wine tastings in Napa! We ended up ordering wine from Framingham.

Allan Scott Winery

Cloudy Bay Winery

Lunch at a Winery (No tasting)

Framingham Winery

Bookstores

Bonnie planned to stock up on books by New Zealand authors when we arrived because Robert planned many long days of fishing and the lodges we stay in are often remote. Before she left San Francisco, she and her friend Meredith used Google maps to search for bookstores and couldn’t find any at the first stop, Queenstown. When Bonnie actually arrived in Queenstown, she quizzed a couple of twenty-somethings who worked in the bustling retail area, and they seemed puzzled by the question. No bookstores.

Next stop on the trip: Te Anau. No bookstores. But Bonnie heard about three tiny bookstores in the next tiny town of Manapouri, because of a 2022 memoir called The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw. The book became a national hit and two more followed. Bonnie could see Manapouri in the distance while fishing from a jet boat with Ken, but she and Robert didn’t make it there.

Next stop: Lake Tekapo. Nice small bookstore. Bonnie went in and asked for The Bookseller at the End of the World. The woman owner could only find the third book by the author Ruth Shaw. As Bonnie was paying for it at the counter she asked the owner if by chance had met Ruth Shaw. She shyly turned to the dedication page and pointed to her name, Wilma. She explained that the book was dedicated to her and six other independent booksellers on the island. We were delighted! Robert insisted that she sign the book for us.

We got the idea that on the South Island, outside of the two university towns, there are only a handful of independent bookstore owners and they know one another. So Bonnie is on a mission to visit these shops. Geraldine, check. Picton, check. Trip in 2023 to Nelson, check.

Stop Signs Anyone?

As we leave the South Island, we are trying to remember if we have seen any stop lights or stop signs aside from those at highway construction sites and on the edges of Christchurch. We cannot. Lots of roundabouts and yield signs though.

Blenheim Airport

Dropped off the rental car. Total kilometers driven—1,809 (1,124 miles)

Next Stop—Wellington and the North Island