Waipara, Wine, and Westerlies

I’ve escaped the city for a few days on a road trip with my aunt and uncle, Pat and Gary, who are visiting New Zealand for the second time. They were keen to take their favourite niece to Waipara, Hanmer Springs, and Kaikoura, and I was happy to let them!

We’ve stopped to spend the night with family friends, Dick and Vivian Pharis, fellow Canadians and part-time New Zealanders. They have a beautiful home on their Torlesse vineyard in Waipara, and the quiet stillness of the country was a welcome treat.

Waipara is situated in a valley, and the Westerlies rival even the strongest Lethbridge Chinooks. The wind almost knocked me off my feet, not kidding. I remember walking to school one day in Lethbridge and watching a kid’s bike fly into the coulee; I’m sure these Westerlies would have lifted a Harley. Nevertheless, the grapes still grow. Torlesse wines can be purchased in Canada, so next time you’re at the liquor store try some Sauvignon Blanc or some tasty Cabernet/Merlot. Check out www.torlesse.co.nz for more information.

After Waipara we ventured to Hanmer Springs for a dip in the famous hot springs. My memories of Banff and Fairmont are a bit foggy, but I’m sure Hanmer has the nicest hot springs facility. We spent the night and then took off for a short drive to coastal Kaikoura.

The road to Kaikoura was all but flat and straight. As the Willis Brothers would say, “soft shoulders and dangerous curves…” characterized this scenic leg of our trip. The valleys and sloping cliffs would be suitable for a racecar driver’s warm-up, and the narrow roads (with little or no shoulders) get even narrower when you approach the many one-way single lane bridges where you’ve got to be alert to the right-of-way rules so you don’t get caught in a head-on with another vehicle. The curves hug the hills, and I found gravity acting very strangely on my body. Thank goodness I’m not prone to carsickness.

My uncle and Dick went on a fishing trip and caught loads of perch, blue cod, and the delicious crayfish (lobster) above. We had a terrific feast at the Pharis’s and I tried my first swig of Chartreuse (a liqueur produced by Carthusian monks in the world’s largest liqueur ageing cellars – the Chartreuse Caves in Voiron France). Only two monks are allowed to macerate and distill the ingredients (130 herbs), thereby keeping the recipe VERY secret.

I am taken aback by the varied scenery on such a short drive. I know that Canada has a lot to offer in terms of scenery, but you’ve often got to drive quite a distance. In this respect, New Zealand seems to be a mini-Canada, with loads of scenery compacted into a country that would fit into Alberta about 3.5 times. Some of the hillsides look as soft as Merino wool, and some look more like sand dunes from afar. There are roads along the mountain side that resemble the infamous mark of Zorro, and I now realize that Albertans are spoiled with wide roads and flat prairies as New Zealand offers quite a different driving experience. I am actively training my mind to recognize the beauty in things, and I catch myself really enjoying things I am seeing for the first time.

Until the next post…

L.