Remote and forgotten right next door
Small towns and unbridled nature

I know a few of you follow this blog regularly, which is great, thanks. Some of you go even further and actually read all the text bits! Wow! So you're like that person that actually reads the paper and not just skip to the cartoons in the back. Anyway, you'll know by now that Sonja and I are so taken with New Zealand it's like a drug. We've grown so fond of Wellington in particular, that if some criticise it in any way, such as crappy weather or so, it kind of gets under our skin.

Which bring us to Martinborough!! If I lived there and shared the same views there as I do on Wellington, well, I would probably dislike the guy who writes this blog entry! :-). So I'll try my best to put it in a positive light, but the facts are against them!!

Some of these facts:

Martinborough is a town in South Wairarapa, a district in the Wellington region on the North Island of New Zealand. It is 65 kilometres east of Wellington and 35 kilometres south-west of Masterton. The town has a population of about 1300 full-time inhabitants.
If you want more, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinborough where I got this.

So this is 1300 full-time inhabitants from the air...

I know the question begs, so what did we do there? Hmmm... good one. Every year, for two Saturdays, one in Feb and one in March, the kind folk of Martinborough close their streets and open their hearts to thousands of riff raff visitors to attend their "Rotary Martinborough Fair".

And alas, what would a good fair be without proper BOERIE ROLLS!!!

In queue to get proper Boerewors in a roll with tomato sauce and mustard.
(Vir almal wat boerewors ken, mense, die ding wat hulle sausage hier noem is so melerige afvallerige gemaal in 'n stuk derm-ek dink ek kom eerder om van die honger! So wanneer ons die geleentheid kry, dan ondersteun ons die boerewors oom en tannie)

And as patriotic as boerewors is to us, so will no public event be complete without the wares and wit of TUI!! (See blog history for more on TUI, if you really have nothing else to go do now)


People milling about the sunny stalls - it was a hot day in Martinborough!


Cleverer people milling about shady stalls in the central park. I called it "goedtjietjies en kakkietjies", cause you could get from some dude's painted pebble to another's rusted and used nails and screws, like any good flea market.


And uh, yeah, uhm, what do I say now, uh, Briel Susters? As far removed as acapella style is from my gothic metal preferences, I must hand it to the foursome, they have awesome voices!!


And that, wraps up a day in Martinborough!!!

But there were some sunshine hours left in the day and we took a left out of Featherston, and drove down to the beach area on the "other side" of Lake Ferry. Now Google Earth reckons it is called Wharekauhau, but with only gravel roads, and a few beach bach "shacks", well, we were in unbridled nature!!! A piece of heavenly bliss on earth with hot as hell black beach sand that burns blisters onto tender feet in the hot afternoon sun. Really, Sonja has the scars of war to prove it!! :-)

Just a few informal settlement style dwellings for the keen anglers to store their gear and beer.


Pictures don't do it justice, all I can say is "WISH YOU WERE HERE"


This is how you do it: 1x guy, 3x lines and a chilli-bin full of the cold stuff, oh and sun block, and sandles or slip slops for the hot sand, and patience, and extra hooks, lines and sinkers, and extra bait, and a cap, and sunglasses and something to sit on- gees, fishing, it just never caught on for me - I just stick with the chilly-bin full of the cold stuff! The rest is way too complex! :-)


Some more of the breathtaking nature



Cool mountain streams flow into the ocean, here



I don't have a picture of where we sit in the stream to cool down - the camera is not a Scuba-Steve style one. So just imagine us in there, ok? Or not!


I know, I know. Silly hats, silly people - maar as jy op Eiland Casparia wil gaan bly is dit belangrik om die slagspreuk te ken: "Kry vir jou 'n flippen hoedjie" - anders gaan die son jou brand dat jy lyk soos daai rooi "kreefgevreet kartonmonster"!!! Ons kry toe sommer breë-band-blok-baie-son hoedjies!! :-)


On the way back refreshments were in order


Have you ever tried to eat a melting Magnum while driving through a winding mountain pass? DON'T!!! Your lap ends up having more chocolate and Ice Cream than you do, so it's just unfair!!! Now in NZ you can still stop at that little spot indicated by this rest stop road sign!

CONCLUSION: I started off stating how awesome it is here..., I think I don't need to say more. Thanks for taking the time to read this post.