As well as the wine, I love Marlborough for its valleys – the Awatere and the Wairau. They’re vast and beautiful – brown in summer, fresh green during the wet season.

The Wairau Valley is a broad plain edged by the dark blue Richmond Ranges to the north and the Wither Hills in the south. Rows of grapevines march across the landscape. In the neighbouring Awatere Valley, snow capped Mt Tapue-o-nuku watches over the gardens and vines.

The fertile alluvial soils that make Marlborough wines so special also grow cherries, garlic, olives and other delicious things. And of course they grow gardens – big, colourful gardens.

Annual celebration

	Hunter’s Garden Marlborough is the region’s premier botanical event.
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UV brightness

The strength of the UV light and the brightness of the Marlborough sky seem to boost the natural colour of flowers. At the local lavender farms, the flowers almost glow with the purest shade of purple.

It’s not just lavender farms that benefit from the intensity of the light. Visit Pollard Park in Blenheim during summer and bask in the glory of the roses. Drive to Seddon and see Barewood – a large country garden known for its beds of perennials, bulbs and old-fashioned roses. Seddon is also home to Oak Tree Cottage, with its charming cottage garden.

Two hikers enjoy the view from a mountain lookout in the Nelson Lakes National Park.
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Beautiful beeches

Just an hour’s drive north east from Blenheim is the Nelson Lakes National Park, where the alpine village of St Arnaud sits at the edge of Lake Rotoiti. This is the place to see pristine beech forest and glacier-cut valleys. A network of short tracks will take you to the park’s most memorable places.