KEY POINTS:
On lime green grass down by the lake, under a cloudless blue sky, 14 stalls are selling all kinds of fresh local produce, from Motanau Bay crayfish to tiny zucchini tender enough to eat raw.
We buy some zucchini for our dinner, along with spanking fresh blue cod (carefully packed among bags of ice in our chilly bin), new Jersey Benne potatoes, and organic strawberries.
Leaving Auckland at a civilised 9am, and with a quick dive into a car at Christchurch Airport, we've managed to get to Pegasus Bay Winery just in time to catch the tail-end of the new Saturday farmers' market. As the stalls start packing up, we head back to the winery's high, cool tasting room to find the wine. The New Zealand art on the walls gets changed regularly: today Michael Parekowhai's poignant Amiens stands out.
The tasting notes for the newly released 2005 sauvignon semillon (a classic French combination), say the sauvignon blanc "gives aromas and flavours suggestive of passionfruit, lychees, paw-paw, guava and tropical spices", while the semillon "adds elements of yellow plums, greengages and dried herbs supported by hints of musky Turkish spice and wisps of gun-smoke". Goodness. Well, I don't really know much about wine, but I know what I like, and I like this. A lot. Especially for under $25.
We've often whizzed through the Waipara Valley on the Picton-Christchurch run. This time we're staying for the best part of a weekend, but even that isn't long enough to sample everything on offer.
One look at the winery's vine-shaded courtyard and the menu is enough to convince us to stay for lunch. We should have booked, but they manage to squeeze us in.
The tasting platter to share avoids difficult decisions, and it's the best I've had: their own cold-smoked salmon, marinated artichoke and lemon caper dressing, espresso cups of white bean soup, watercress puree, French goat's cheese filo parcels, pork and chicken terrine with apple and riesling jelly, Italian buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, prosciutto, Italian pickled onions, truffled rare beef and horseradish on crostini, plus generous supplies of ciabatta to mop it all up.
No wonder they won Cuisine magazine's best casual dining award in 2005.
It's a short drive up the road to the Old Glenmark Vicarage to meet our hosts Damian and Janette. We're staying in what was once the barn, these days complete with proper kitchen, red dining room, and stained glass windows.
By now it's late afternoon, leaving just enough time to visit Waipara Springs for a late dessert of orange cake and coffee out on the peaceful, tree-circled lawn. One of the earliest wineries in the valley, this has some of the oldest vines in New Zealand.
The new winemaker, Duncan McTavish, drawing on his experience in Europe, is using them for the Premo range, and getting some rave reviews.
At dinner we discover that Damian and Janette get their own wines made by Waipara: The Wicked Vicar (chardonnay), The Vicar's Mistress (pinot noir), and The Divine Daughter (riesling). They don't think Glenmark ever had a wicked vicar, but it certainly had a wicked landowner.
Manxman George "Scabby" Moore was notorious for his vast flocks of scab-infected sheep. He was so mean that after he turned away an old swagman who came to his door one stormy night, and the poor man killed himself in despair, Moore refused to let his carpenters build a coffin.
He chased off his daughter Annie's suitors, convinced they were only after his money. She did eventually marry a retired vicar, but the old man outlived him. Moore's death made her the richest woman in New Zealand, and in 1907 she built Glenmark Church next door in his memory.
I doubt Scabby ever ate anything as good as our blue cod dinner. After all that wine and sun, we're soon climbing the stairs to our books and bed.
Breakfast next morning is exactly how I like it best: everything we need, including free range eggs and organic bacon, is waiting for us to make when it suits. We have it out on the verandah while we work out that we can fit in Athena Olive Groves and Glenmark Winery before 11.30, when we have to catch a train.
John McCaskey's family has owned a remnant of the original station since 1936. He planted Waipara's first vines there in 1965, but a flood swept them away. In 1981 he tried again, and five years later he sold his first vintage. Now there are 24 vineyards.
John explains why the Waipara is so good for grape-growing: while the heat of the limestone valley (up to 40C in summer) produces sweetness, the surrounding hills bring the cold nights needed to develop complexity of flavour. He gives us a vertical tasting of his rieslings back to the 2000, a lovely oily, resiny wine that's a real surprise.
The Clausen family who run Athena, just over the road, have farmed in the area for 25 years. They call their oil "Canterbury's First" because it was - they had their first pressing in 1998. We take the tour, and taste this year's oil (sharp and peppery), last year's (dark and fruity, from a better crop, says Helen), and lemon-infused, made by son Phil, along with preserved lemons and onions. They even make soap from the oil residues left at the bottom of the tank. They use traditional cold pressing to process the fruit within 48 hours of picking.
Next comes the weekend highlight: Weka Pass Railway. Its committed volunteers started the project in 1982, but it took them 17 years to get the full Glenmark-Waikari run going. Harry Emerson, our driver, joined New Zealand Railways in 1940. He'd been getting 17 shillings a week on a dairy farm, but NZR paid a shilling an hour. He and the fireman, Cyril Kenworthy, are sporting their traditional white ties - Harvey remembers the drivers wearing them on the old Little River railway.
Their cherished 1909 steam locomotive A428, the only one of its type still operating, is getting up steam, so we climb into the 1931 carriage with its reversible red leather seats. Guard Warren Campion takes his neatly furled green flag out of his top pocket, and we're off on a fascinating two-hour trip through the weird limestone formations of the Waipara hills.
Off the rails, we turn the car south again to Amberley for a very late teetotal lunch at the Nor'Wester Cafe: organic apple juice, Akaroa salmon, and excellent coffee. That should last us nicely until we get home.
CHECKLIST
Where to stay
The Vicarage Barn, ph/fax (03) 314 6775 or see website link below.
$150 per couple per night, extra beds $25 each, generous breakfast tray for two $25.
Dunnolly Vineyard Cottage, ph (03) 314 6940, parish-dunnolly@xtra.co.nz
Where to eat
Pegasus Bay Winery & Restaurant, Stockgrove Rd, 5 mins north of Amberley, ph (03) 314 6869 or see website link below.
Waipara Springs Winery & Cafe, SH1, 5km north of bridge at Waipara, ph/fax (03) 315 6777 or see website link below.
Nor'Wester Cafe, 95 Main North Rd, Amberley, ph (03) 314 9411, info@norwestercafe.co.nz
What to do
Waipara Valley Farmers' Market, Pegasus Bay Winery, Saturday, 9am-12pm. (03) 314 9263.
Athena Olive Groves, The Millhouse, 164 Mackenzies Rd, (03) 314 6774 or see website link below. Open daily, 9am-5pm.
Glenmark Wines, 330 Mackenzies Rd, ph (03) 314 6828. Visits by appointment only.
Weka Pass Railway, Glenmark Drive, Waipara, ph/fax (03) 314 6813 or (03) 389 4078. Runs of first and third Sunday each month. See website link below for timetables and fares.
For local wines try Pukeko Junction, SH1 Leithfield, 458 Ashworths Rd, ph (03) 314 8867. Cafe from 8.30am, wineshop and gallery 10am-6pm daily.
Further information
See website links below.
* Anne Else was assisted by Christchurch Canterbury Tourism and Alpine Pacific Tourism.
