Wairarapa Day Trip

Since we’ve gotten our car, we’ve certainly been trying to make the most of our free time. If it’s interesting to us and within a short drive from Wellington, it’s certainly on our list.

Just to the east of us across the Rimutaka Range is a region called the Wairarapa. It is a very good wine region and has some spectacular scenery. When we were here together two years ago, this was where we spent the first weekend. Those posts are here and here. As it is less than a 2 hour trip to get over there, we decided to take a quick day trip last Saturday as the weather was supposed to be nice.

The day started great as the sun was out and the drive through the Rimutakas was very pretty. We had memories of doing this drive at night in the rain and fog and it’s much better during the day (and Gretchen is not so nervous .

Martinborough is where most of the wineries are, so we stopped there first. We actually only went to two wineries as many are either closed to the public or have limited winter hours. Luckily for us, our favorite one from the last trip, Alana Estates, was open, and as a bonus, they have added a little cafe so we decided to have lunch there. Quinn loved it since we sat outside, so he had lots of room to roam.

One of the other things in this region that we wanted to do was check out Cape Palliser. It is on the far southeastern edge of the North Island and is reputed to have a fantastic coastal drive to get there. The weather did not stay so nice, but we made the trip anyway. There is a lighthouse there and while the drive out takes a while, you still have 252 steep steps to get up there. Having come this far, you just have to go to the top.The view from below….

And the view from the top.

By this time it was getting late, so we headed off for home. We did make a few stops on the way back to capture some of the scenery on the coastal drive. We hope to go back when the weather is better and get some postcard worthy shots.