Weekend in the Wairarapa

Noreen and I have just got back from a night away over the hill. We stayed in River Valley Cottage which is renovated shearers' quarters near Gladstone.

The land is fairly hilly and typical sheep country.

Most of the houses are by streams so there is a bit of greenery around

but it has been a dry summer and the land is parched.

This a view from the road out. We stayed down in one of those valleys. Beyond the hills on the horizon is the Pacific Ocean and then no land until South America.

There are a few remnants of bush but it was mainly cleared for farming in the early years of European settlement.

It is a sparsely populated region. Some old houses have been abandoned and left to rot while newer habitations have sprung up on the hill above.

It was Sunday, so even the sheep go to church!

On our way back we stopped off in Martinborough. Once a sleepy little rural town it is a now the centre of a wine and olive growing region. But still sleepy most of the time. It comes alive for a few weekends a year when various fairs are held. This is lunch - a platter of local cheeses, hams and salami, olives, pickles and bread. Oh, and a glass of a very fine pinot noir.