New Zealand - OutboundHolidays

Christchurch Clearview Lodge named top place to stay in…

A magazine published by the Japanese Tourism Bureau has named Christchurch Clearview Lodge the best place to stay in New Zealand.

Rurubu serves as a travel guide for visitors to New Zealand and named Clearview alongside other luxury accommodation providers including Queenstown’s Millbrook Resort, Dunedin’s Corstorphine House and the Heritage Hotel & Spa du Vin in Auckland’s Mangatawhiri Valley.

Clearview Lodge owner Robin Clements said it was fantastic to be singled out for praise in such a highly regarded publication.

“We are just pleased to be recognised. It can be only good for our business and good for New Zealand tourism,” he said.

The magazine said Clements and his wife Sue were great hosts and that visitors could “totally relax surrounded by glossy greenery”.

“The lodge is located in about 10 acres of a winery. With hospitality and kindness overflowing from the hosts, they welcome you to their resort with smiles that touch the bottom of one’s heart,” the magazine wrote.

Sue Clements said the article – which is entirely in Japanese – was only brought to their attention when Japanese guests staying at the lodge alerted them to it.

“They brought the article with them and said ’you are number one’.”

She said she believed hosted accommodation such as that provided at Clearview Lodge provided visitors with a more personal experience than they might have at hotels.

“We do spend a lot of time with our guests and try to show them how we really live.”

In addition to providing accommodation, Clearview Lodge makes its own pinot noir and rose wine. A wide variety of produce – including cherries, feijoas, nectarines, peaches, blueberries and apples – is also grown on site.

The full list of accommodation providers mentioned in Rurubu magazine were:

* Clearview Lodge, Harewood, Christchurch
* Millbrook Resort, Queenstown
* Heritage Hotel & Spa du Vin, Mangatawhiri Valley, Auckland
* Corstorphine House, Caversham, Dunedin
* The Classic Villa, Christchurch
* Elm Tree House, Merivale , Christchurch
* The Dairy Private Luxury Hotel, Queenstown
* Queenstown House B&B Hotel, Queenstown
* Earnscliff, Devonport, Auckland

Auckland to Wellington by train – New Zealand

Auckland to Wellington by train for a special fare of $49. The deal sounded irresistible and – like much about The Overlander actually – something out of yesteryear.

Sure, our start point at Britomart was state-of-the-art, gleaming, but the atmosphere was a bit of an exercise in nostalgia. We stood, a little sleepily, in a queue for 20 minutes admiring the setting. The online ticket isn’t a boarding pass and passengers are required to arrive at least 20 minutes before departure time of 7.25am.

“Darling,” the rotund woman in a navy uniform, said cheerfully, “I can fix you up. I’ll put you both in the last carriage, darling.”

The back of the train is glass all round with a lounge area and table where passengers can admire the receding landscape. But at this early hour we were more interested in the small food bar in the central carriage which – when open – dispenses coffee in cardboard cups. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open.

By the time the train rattled off we weren’t the only ones looking for a caffeine hit. The half-hour wait till the bar opened didn’t kill us but seemed unnecessary.

We knew we were in for the long haul. Auckland to Wellington by train has taken 12 hours for at least 50 years and it would be a pity to change. The snail’s pace is not just because of the number of stops – 15-17 depending on requests – or the narrow gauge. The terrain through a large scenic section in the middle of the island is rugged and tortuous and the track twists and turns.

So we settled in to the relaxing lilt of wheels clicking on rails and enjoyed the view, into back gardens, so different from the one you get from the road.

Initially, the seats weren’t too uncomfortable but as they don’t recline you’re stuck in one position and unless you bring your own, there’s no pillow. In the net in front of us was a strange metal object that resembled a tray. An astute neighbour worked out that the middle arm rest has a top that lifts, revealing slots the tray fits into.

These days commentaries on journeys are par-for-the-course. There was nothing much to say about Papakura or Pukekohe apart from assuring us of the necessity of stopping for the crew to carry out passenger work.

Not long after came views of the mighty Waikato river as the line followed alongside State Highway 1. The geography and history lessons were interesting enough, with the background to Ngaruawahia as the home of the Maori King, and we acknowledged the beautifully tended Maori cemetery on the hillside, visible to the left of the train.

Frankton is the name of Hamilton’s railway station. Ten minutes before our arrival we were warned that the food bar was closing and would reopen after we left. To avoid competition?

Next scheduled stop – the small farming centre of Otorohanga. Short of words, perhaps, our doughty commentator announced that there would be no passenger work at Otorohanga. However, she continued, our driver would slow down just to double-check.

The exchange of glances between two middle-aged couples, clearly North American from their voices, was patiently amused. The train was about three quarters full, perhaps half of whom appeared to be tourists.

Onward into the King Country and the most scenically rewarding part of the trip. Te Kuiti, then Taumarunui where we were warned “Please do not try and sneak off to the shops. Passengers get left behind at Taumarunui!” What, we wondered, were we missing out on.

From there until National Park the landscape was classic back country with solid stands of bush, dotted in spring with clusters of white clematis, and elegant viaducts across high spectacular gorges.

The gradient between Taumarunui and National Park is steep – a rise of 132m over 2km – and it’s here that we wound around the horseshoe loops of the famed Raurimu spiral.

The construction involved oxen, horses and small steam locomotives to carry materials in what is still a very remote part of the country. Only in the last two years was one of the first steam shovels brought in to help with the cuttings.

When the spiral was completed in November 1908 the first train, called the Parliamentary Special, travelled the Main Trunk line on a journey that took more than 20 hours.

The spiral is a highlight of the trip and hardy passengers took turns on the windy outdoor viewing platform (6 people at a time), leaning out to photograph the train’s curve. Then came the tunnels.

“Remember to pull your head in!” the commentator shouted.

At National Park, with a stop for half an hour for lunch (the train’s food bar having closed again), we were ordered to line up and wait patiently at the station cafe where, at least, the food was worth it.

By then, we were into the swing of this school-type outing and eagerly looking out for Kevin who, according to the commentator, waved a red towel every time the Overlander headed out of National Park. But my friend felt duly chastened when, tired of sitting upright, she lay down on the long seats in the empty lounge area and was spotted by the hostess.

“Sit up,” she said sternly. “You’re only allowed 20 minutes here.”

Tedium set in. The train rocked and rattled. We wished we’d brought pillows. Walking to the loo became a feat of balance. Even the promise of half-price food from the pie warmer after Palmerston North was little comfort. We were pleased to get out at Waikanae, 11 hours after leaving Britomart.

My previous train trip was on France’s super-fast TGV. Sure, the ticket cost an arm and a leg and I felt I was on a plane as the scenery whizzed past. But this was going from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Forty-nine dollars, November’s special, seemed about right.

But there’s something about the journey down the Main Trunk Line. Even at more expensive rates – the full fare is $119 – the Overlander is chugging full steam ahead into the summer season of seven days a week, December to April, up from the winter runs of three days weekly. Passenger numbers have increased 54 per cent since the 2004-05 season.

The Main Trunk line affords views of the landscape that are incomparably more interesting than those accessible by bus or car and the time to appreciate them.

Further information, fares and schedules see the Tranzscenic webpage.

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Hot spot in city of Scots – New Zealand

If there’s one New Zealand city where you don’t expect balmy temperatures, it’s Dunedin. Yet the city has one place that’s always as toasty as a sauna.

Otago Museum’s Discovery World Tropical Forest is a recreated rainforest, which houses a collection of beautiful, fluttering butterflies at 30C and 80 per cent humidity.

A decade after the seeds of the tropical forest idea were sown (by a hugely popular 1990s butterfly exhibition), the doors swung open late last year. It’s a little like stepping into a secret garden – just add a waterfall and about 1000 butterflies.

In dazzling hues, they flit among tropical orchids, bromeliads and banana plants, occasionally dipping down to feeding stations stocked with fruit-and-sugar concoctions. At ground level they’re joined by other hot-weather-happy inhabitants such as turtles, tarantulas (safely housed behind a glass wall), and giant-eyed goldfish flashing fluorescent orange in the pond.

Once we’ve had our fill of the forest floor, we climb the spiral staircase to two higher levels, the heat rising with us. A glass swing bridge on the near-rooftop walkway gives a completely different perspective on the slender but soaring space.

Dunedin’s Chinese Garden. Photo / Supplied

So far there have been two marriage proposals up here – although one unfortunate fellow dropped the ring from on high but luckily found it beside, not in, the pond.

And while we were admiring the view, a beautiful aquamarine butterfly paused for a breather on my arm – a blue morpho, I could inform my boyfriend, thanks to the species-identifying guidebook.

As breeding’s not permitted at the museum, about 900 pupa are imported each week from the Philippines and Costa Rica. Pinned painlessly to a board in a glass display window, the pupa hang upside down in rows like a line of sleepy bats, waiting to emerge.

Back outside, it’s a lot nippier than it seemed before our tropical excursion. We wrap up and get the blood pumping with a brisk walking tour through Dunedin’s compact city centre.

Guide John explains the city’s Scottish history – 43 per cent of Dunedin-ites have Scottish roots. We also learn that Scottish poet Robbie Burns – whose statue in the Octagon “faces the pubs with his back to the church” – had 30 illegitimate children.

Built on the back of hardy Presbyterian Scots set on shaping an “Edinburgh of the south”, 19th-century Dunedin quickly became New Zealand’s biggest commercial and industrial centre. It escaped the demolition days of the 1960s and 70s, leaving grand old Victorian structures in the cityscape.

We traipse through cavernous cathedrals and churches, including the Gothic-style First Presbyterian Church, where evidence of Scottish practicality can be found in the brolly hook and drip tray at the end of each pew. The 1899-built law courts are still used – as is the much-photographed, 1896 railway station with its limestone facings and pink-granite columns. Inside, among the stained-glass and Royal Doulton tiles, is the Cleveland Living Art Centre and Scotia restaurant, with its hearty Scottish-influenced menu and whisky and wine bars.

We’re told we can’t come to town without stopping into award-winning restaurant Plato. Formerly a harbourside seafarers’ hostel, it’s now a relaxed, retro-themed eatery specialising in sublime seafood.

Just down the road is the city’s newest drawcard, the Dunedin Chinese Gardens. A tribute to Dunedin’s longstanding Chinese community, it’s one of only three authentic Chinese gardens outside China, and the only one in the Southern Hemisphere. A 300sq m recreation of a late Ming/early Ching Dynasty scholars’ garden, it employs Chinese materials crafted by artisans from Dunedin’s sister city Shanghai. Wooden buildings with sweeping roof spars, handmade tiles and 900 tonnes of stone walls surround a lake.

Although the garden looks small at first glance, a long walkway that deceptively ducks and dives into all sorts of unexpected nooks makes it seem much bigger. Perhaps the best view is from the limestone mountain, where lilies, lotus flowers and small children peek out of gaps in the rock wall.

It’s worth taking a guided tour to learn the significance of the different elements, each with its own Chinese name. The city is also hosting two other exhibitions, timed to coincide with the opening of the gardens: The Emperor’s Dragons: Precious Collections from the Shanghai Museum, which follows the dragon motif through time (it runs until March at Otago Museum), and Chinese Treasures, on until June at the Otago Settlers Museum.

Don’t bypass this gem, considered New Zealand’s finest social-history museum. Sandwiched between the railway station and the Chinese Gardens, it houses (as part of its history of New Zealand transport) Josephine, our oldest locomotive, as well as fabulous old coaches and tramcars. Another excellent exhibition, Across the Ocean Waves, recreates the crowded quarters and stomach-churning rocking of an early settlers’ ship.

IF YOU GO

Walk – Take a guided innercity tour with one of Walk Dunedin’s volunteer guides. The $15 fee funds children’s activities at the Otago Settlers Museum.

Saunter around the 4.7km town-belt bushwalk or the 28ha Dunedin Botanic Gardens, which has camellia, rose, herb and rhododendron gardens, tropical conservatory, native-plant section.

For a real gutbuster, try hiking up the world’s steepest road, Baldwin St.

Eat – Plato, 2 Birch St, www.platocafe.co.nz

Scotia Restaurant, Dunedin Railway Station, Anzac Ave.

Otago Farmers Market, 8am to 1pm Saturdays. Try the Omega 3-rich “mutton bird arses”.

Art – Otago Settlers Museum, 31 Queens Gardens.

You’ll find Dunedin’s most visited attraction, Otago Museum, and its Tropical Forest, at 419 Great King St. www.otagomuseum.govt.nz

The Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 30 The Octagon.
Housed in Dunedin’s old synagogue is the Temple Gallery, 29 Moray Place. www.templegallery.co.nz

Milford Gallery, 18 Dowling St, www.milfordgalleries.co.nz