Bill English stops in at the chocolate factory

Prime Minister Bill English ended his many conversations with voters in Marlborough today by saying, "I hope you can support us this election".

It reflects a sense of the election being on a knife-edge and a possibility that a handful of votes could really count.

But there were a couple of interactions when no plea for votes was made. Both came at the BV Deli in Blenheim, one of seven campaign stops.

Labour's Kaikoura candidate Janette Walker works across the road and after noticing the police cars outside decided to gatecrash.

After speaking to media she approached English, who said hello and swiftly moved off to talk to staff in the cafe's kitchen.

At the same cafe English bumped into former All Black and National MP Grahame Thorne, who didn't mince words when asked how he was feeling ahead of Saturday.

"New Zealanders are of the opinion that we want to give the other side a go ... and I think there's a bit of a wave here ... it might be a very long night. It is scary stuff this weekend."

English evoked some of that fear at a Marlborough Chamber of Commerce lunch attended by about 200, contrasting the stable growth under National to the "vague and pessimistic" uncertainty a Labour Government would bring.

Bill English pipes chocolate at Makana Confections in Blenheim. Photo / Georgina Campbell

In a region stacked with wineries that would include a water tax and inevitable capital gains tax, English said, even if the latter was postponed for a while.

"It's a simple choice. And the days for making that choice are running down. We have a generational opportunity ... or we can change course, stall, go backwards."

Winston Peters has this week pledged to stop the water royalty, but English had a direct warning to those thinking about "taking out some insurance", as Peters calls a vote for New Zealand First.

"Cut out the middle man. You have a clear choice between Labour and National."

English said opposition parties had discovered the regions this campaign and as a result had learnt the narrative about the regions doing badly was wrong.

Another recent discovery for other political parties was water quality, English said, when farmers and communities had been making steady progress for years.

"It's hard to be green when you are in the red."

Bill English's truffle-coating skills were judged 'trainable' at Makana Confections in Blenheim. Photo / Nicholas Jones

Another stop was at Makana Confections, where English donned gloves and an apron and got his hands dirty covering truffle balls in chocolate.

As his wife Mary chatted with British tourists about Brexit and Theresa May, English received the verdict on his work from the supervising chocolatier - trainable, but possibly in need of a 90-day trial.

In the afternoon more news broke about the fuel crisis caused by a ruptured fuel line near the Marsden Point oil refinery - public servants had been told to cancel non-essential air travel.

English, who will receive a full briefing after arriving in Wellington tonight, said he had given the same advice to his own MPs.

His own air miles will drop soon when he travels on the National campaign bus to Auckland and Saturday night's terror, triumph or uncertainty.