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Kia Ora.

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Bellbird Walk at Nelson Lakes National Park
It is a short gravel surfaced walk taking about 15 minutes to complete located at Kerr Bay, St. Arnaud. One of New Zealand’s “Mainland Islands”, the Rotoiti Nature Recovery Project is a sanctuary in Honeydew beech forest and excellent for bird watching. Extend your walk to Honeydew walk (1.2km/ 45 min) which is wheelchair assisted.

Tawa Walk, Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve

This is gravel and boardwalk surfaced walk located on SH6 (State Highway 6) between Blenheim and Nelson. It takes about half an hour to complete. From the cafe, walk through one of Marlborough’s last river-flat forests, which has towering beech, rimu and kahikatea trees and plenty of birds.

Totara Path, Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve

This is another short walk located near the Tawa Walk. It takes about 15 minutes to complete walking on grave surface with gentle slopes. You’ll walk through podocarp, broadleaf and beech trees. A magnificent ancient totara tree is a feature.

Waikoropupu Springs Walk, Golden Bay

This walk is located 9km north of Takaka. It will take you about 35 minutes to complete its 750 meters of gravel surface and boardwalk. This is New Zealand’s largest natural spring and a sacred place for Maori. The water of Pupu Springs are crystal clear, and you can see to a huge depth through. Have in mind that toilets there have no handrails.

In my next post I will continue writing about easy access walks, so come back soon!

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• Import and export of national and foreign currency is unlimited.

• At the borders of New Zealand introduced a detailed examination of persons, baggage, goods and even the mail. Sanitary and veterinary control is very rigid, using electronic detectors, trained dogs and hand inspection of all luggage. Also, customs can ask for a return ticket, cash, travel checks or credit cards.

Allowed duty-free imports (citizens over 17 years):

• Up to 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 gr. tobacco or a mixture of all three weight measurements of no more than 250 gr.

• Up to 4.5 liters. wine or beer

• Up to 1,125 liters. spirits or pure alcohol

• Items of personal use of the total value of up to NZ $ 700

Strictly Prohibited:

Bringing Food products (including most types of canned food), drugs, weapons, any product of animal and plant origin (including soil), bee products, pet food, ivory in any form, crafts made of tortoise shell or sea animals bones, tusks, rhinoceros horns and tiger skins, as well as products made from cat family members leather.

Also Prohibited:

Importation of a number of diuretic, sleeping-pills and nervine, heart drugs, tranquilizers, all types of vaccines and drugs, which is used for production of musk, if their need was not confirmed by the relevant medical prescriptions.

Firearms and bladed weapons are subject to mandatory customs control.

• The importation of pets from countries where the rabies virus or a lack of control is registered, is simply not allowed. The only way for getting a pet from such country into New Zealand is by putting it through a long quarantine period (up to 6 months) in a country where rabies virus is absent (for example in UK). Owners are required to display the appropriate certificate confirming the passage of a special animal quarantine.

• Export of specimens of plants and animals under state protection, as well as leather, bone, bird feathers, shells, corals, etc is strictly prohibited.

You should know that these rules are very strictly followed and be prepared and patient when you arrive at New Zealand’s airport.

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You can read more about Tuataras in my article titled Tuatara – The surviving Dinosaur

Current Theory

According to current theory, about 500 million years ago New Zealand was part of a giant continent Gondwana. Approximately 167 million years ago Gondwana started cracking, forming a smaller continents. New Zealand, Antarctica and Australia have long been connected to each other. It is believed that New Zealand has begun its separate life at about 130-85 million years ago. According to one theory, some 25-22 million years ago, it fully plunged under water, but later resurfaced. Such a conclusion was made due to the fact that in New Zealand haven’t been found fossils belonging to that period.

New Exciting Foundings

The discovery of this petrified ancient tuatara’s jaw by scientists who worked under the leadership of Marc Jones from University College London forces to revise this theory. Location of the teeth traces found in the remains of the jaw points to only one group of reptiles – tuataras. Age of discovery dates back to the period when New Zealand supposedly was under water.

The owner of discovered jaw must have got to the island after its resurfacing. Animals would have swam to New Zealand through the ocean. It is unlikely that tuataras could survive such a journey. In addition, in Australia, which is the only possible location from which these animals could arrive, remnants of tuataras have never been found.

The Alternative

The researches of UCL put forward an alternative version New Zealand’s past. In their view, it wasn’t completely plunged under water. Animals and plants survived on the dry parts of the islands. Scientists suggest that dry surface could be a very small part of New Zealand – up to one percent of its current territory. As proof of this assumption scientists point to Stephens Island. It has an area a thousand times less than one-hundredth part of New Zealand (!), but more than a thousand tuataras are living there.

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Even when visiting an ordinary supermarket in New Zealand, let alone specialized wine stores, one can’t help noticing the abundanse of wines from local vineries. But as it turns out you can also find New Zealand’s wines in the finest shops and restaurants all over the world, since a big part of New Zealand’s wine is being exported.

photo by Sandy Austin

The Beginning
Mother Nature blessed New Zealand with everyting that is so crucial in creating great wine – rich soil, abundance of rainfall, sunshine, and natural bays, which protect the vineyards from strong winds. But despite this, the indigenous Maori population has never grown grapes and made wine, and outer world would never know the taste of New Zealand’s wine if it were not for missionaries who came there, and among them priest Semuel Marsden.

Semuel Marsden founded first New Zealand’s vineyards near Kerikeri in 1819. Sixteen years later James Busby (1801-1871) planted grapes from France and Spain. Ever since that time New Zealanders have adopted the winery lifestyle, in which rural life, study, and work closely intertwined with winemaking.

photo by PhillipC

Growth of Wine Industry
Rapidly developing technology and wine research made it possible to expand the wine industry over to the territories, which were previously considered unsuitable for vineyards, and also improved the properties of grapes. The vast variety of soils found in New Zealand gave familiar types of wines exceptional taste.

Numbers and Details
Between the years 1993-2000 the total area of New Zealand’s vineyards increased 2-fold reaching by the year 2000 120,000 hectares. In some cases wine making took over the sheep breeding grounds! The yield is quite high – being in average of 90 gallons of wine per hectare.

Grape harvest is usually from February till May. The primary type of wine grown in New Zealand is Sauvignon Blanc (about 41% of all vineyards), which is followed by Pinot Noir (about 18%), Chardonnay (15%), Merlot (6%), Pinot Gris (5%), Riesling (3%), Cabernet Sauvignon (2%), and Gevyurtstraminer, Sira, and Semillon (1%).
There are more than 30 wine producers in New Zealand, the largest being Montana Wines, Corbans, Nobilo, Villa Maria, Vidal Wines, Esk Valley Estate, Te Mata, Stonyridge, Sacred Hill, Saint Clair, Goldwater, Matariki, Babich, Clearview, Claudy Bay, Matua Valley, Wither Hills, and others.

photo by adselwood

And this is how just over one hundred years of winemaking New Zealand became a new home for the great culture of wine!

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