11 December 2024 -New Zealand- South Island -Marlborough

Written By Nicholas Hine

We slept well and when we woke the birds were all seeming to talk at the same time. There was so much birdsong otherwise it was so quiet. We had a long leisurely breakfast of fruit, cereal and yoghurt and I then had bacon and the eggs from the hens on the estate which were lovely.

We headed toward town and we thought we would go wine tasting in the afternoon so we went to the Omaka Heritage Aviation Centre which had a fantastic selection of World War 1 and World War 2 aircraft and memorabilia. You may think how odd to be here but it was fantastic.

Omaka's first exhibition, 'Knights of the Sky', presents one of the world's largest collections of World War I aircraft and rare memorabilia, including a mix of static displays along with flyable planes.

'Dangerous Skies' Exhibition broadens the Omaka experience into the Second World War. As well as the Battle of Britain, visitors are taken on a journey through the lesser-known stories of the war on the Eastern Front. Like the WW1 'Knights of the Sky', this exhibition features mannequins made by Weta Workshop, and original, static and flyable aircraft in larger-than-life dioramas.

Collection

The museum's collection contains a wide variety of military aircraft from the First and Second World Wars as well as artefacts and personal items belonging to some of the most famous aviators of World War I including some items of Baron Manfred von Richthofen memorabilia.

Aircraft on display

The Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre contains the following:

The displays were magnificent and very interesting. There was quite a lot about Baron Manfred Von Richthofen “The Red Baron” who had an unbeaten record of 80 kills. He took to the sky for the last time on 21 April 2018. He was flying low over the Somme when he received a single bullet wound to the chest. He brought the plane down in a beet field managing it down with little damage but he died promptly from his wounds. The area was occupied by an Australian Gunnery Unit. The troops gathered souvenirs from the aircraft and the triplane was torn to pieces as a result including taking his distinctive fur covered over boots.  Remarkably quite a few items have survived. The engine is displayed in London, the seat in Toronto, the control column in Canberra. Both boots have over the years been given to the Australian War Memorial and so nearly a century after being taken they have now been reunited as a pair. Among most items sought after were the black crosses from the wings, fuselage and tail. One of these crosses was still original and in a case in the museum. The picture of the day is a model of the crashed Red Baron’s plane being surrounded by troops collecting souvenirs and you can even see a soldier pulling off the boots off Von Richthofen’s body under the middle wing structure.  

The Red Baron was buried with full military honours at Bertangles Cemetery near Amiens. Years later his body was returned to Germany and is now in a grave at Wiesbaden. The bullet which killed him came from a single Australian gunman called Sergeant Cedru Popkin.

After the museum we had a light lunch and saw a Douglas DC3 outside on the grass which was a propeller driven airline and it had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930’s and 40’s.

Enough about planes and World Wars. We are after all in a major wine region so we decided to go off to Cloudy Bay ,which is a well-known vineyard, and there are a number of their wines in the UK. The valley here is flat and hot and we drove through a number of miles of vineyards to get there. All of the vineyards here are on the flat and not on the hills.

The Marlborough wine region is by far New Zealand's largest, accounting for three quarters of the country's wine production, 70% of its vineyard area and 85% of its wine exports. A Geographical Indication in the north-east of the South Island, it covers the entire Marlborough District and the Kaikōura District of the Canterbury Region, but in practice the vineyards are concentrated around the Blenheim and Seddon townships. Internationally, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is recognised as world class; wine writers such as Oz Clarke and George Taber have described it as the best in the world.

Early settlers in Marlborough planted vines as early as the 1870s. A small block of Brown Muscat was planted in 1873 by David Herd, but in 1931 his son pulled up the last of the vines, and no others were recorded in the region for the next forty years. Commercial wine-making began in earnest only in 1973 when the first large-scale vineyards were planted by Montana Wines, at the time New Zealand's largest producer (now Brancott Estate, owned by Pernod Ricard). Meanwhile in 1975 Daniel Le Brun, a Champagne maker, emigrated to New Zealand to begin producing méthode traditionelle in Marlborough.

Wineries in the Marlborough region were producing outstanding Sauvignon Blanc by the early 1980s, and in 1985 the Sauvignon Blanc from Cloudy Bay Vineyards finally garnered international attention and critical acclaim for New Zealand wine. Wine writer George Taber recounted in 2006 that Cloudy Bay is "what many people consider to be the world's best Sauvignon Blanc" and Oz Clarke wrote that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is "arguably the best in the world." The suitability of the region and later success of Daniel Le Brun's sparkling wines were also sufficient to attract significant investment from Champagne producers.

Cloudy Bay looked very modern in that the buildings and wine rooms were very modern and looked like money had been spent. We decided to have a tasting (when in Rome!).

We tasted a

Pelorus Rose (Sparkling) – very pleasant and made with Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc.

Sauvignon Blanc 2024 – harvested in March 2024 and fermented in the vat for 6 months. Tasty but good Sauvignon Blanc.

Te Koko Sauvignon Blanc 2021 – put in French oak barrels of 11 months. Much more elegant and fuller flavoured with a bit of oak.

Chardonnay 2022 – elegant and not overpowering.

Mustang Pinot Noir – 2019 – pleasant but a little plain (due to the terroir of the region)

Te Wahi Pinot Noir 2021 (from the Otago Region -down south of Christchurch where due to the area there was a lot more structure and tannins.

It was a great experience and I would have liked to have bought some but we do not have room on our onward journey as I bought a few bottles in Waiheke.

We returned to Misty River for some tea and relaxation. We then had a light supper, chilled and listened to the birds. We are to explore the area further tomorrow.

Opportunity Year Two

In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com 

 

Nicholas Hine
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12 December 2024 -New Zealand- South Island -Marlborough
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10 December 2024 -New Zealand- North Island – South Island from Wellington to Picton