Easter morning! Drive along the coast to Blenheim in NZ

ALLIE: DAY 53: Sunday, 8^th of April Easter

An Easter morning walk, drive up the coast to Blenheim

How wonderful is it to get some fresh air into your lungs in the early morning. Run up the hill. It’s still drizzling but then the rain gradually died off and the rest of the day was beautiful. After our Easter breakfast we climbed up a steep hill of the Nicholson property. Alas I just missed spotting their “Yeti sheep”. There are obviously wild sheep that were living up here in the hills without ever being shorn.

Keeping up writing this diary is really hard when you are staying with friends. On the other hand, the company of Rachel, Andy and the kids is wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay with them. After lunch it’s time to set off with the truck and trailer towards the North Island. The drive takes us past the half island of Kaikoura where we stop for a quick coffee. Vast empty countryside follows us all along the wild eastern coast. For a hundred miles only mountains to one side and for at least 10.000 miles only the sea to the other side.

Then finally the last pass over some hills and we enter the broad valley of Blenheim. This area has changed dramatically within the past 10 years: from being just empty open grass fields into vineyard country. Property prices for land have thus increased tremendously. Towards sunset we finally pull into a lovely lane of eucalyptus trees and stop in front of a lovely countryside villa. Our Danish ballooning friend

Per Rold and his wife Linda welcome us into their home. Per having made his fortune 20 years ago by selling duty free goods on international ferries between Denmark and the rest of the world is now a multi millionaire just having sold off 4500 acres of farm land for 30 million NZ dollars. But he stills keeps all the mountains we see from the house and the huge fields and woods around the property. Over a few nice booze and later on a couple of bottles wine, lamb shanks and vegetables we chat the evening away.

Per has come the New Zealand on a sailing trip with his wife and then two young kids. That was 18 years ago. He loved the countryside so much that the family had decided to stay on. They bought this land and made their fortune out of it now. Per is an aviation enthusiast and owns a German built motor glider, a balloon and the yacht that the family had lived on and sailed around the world. Not bad! Their son is running a paragliding business in Queenstown whilst their daughter is a very successful horse trainer.

She obviously has talent for spottin young horses and training them for military competitions. Having sold a few of championship winning horses she now lives on a farm in the north island with her husband and their new born baby.

Hardly realizing how time had passed, it’s midnight when we finally fall to bed.

PHIL: Day 53/8 April

More rain but the forecast is for a big ‘high’ to arrive from across the Tasman Sea by mid-week which is all we need to make the balloon festival a success. Before we leave I must talk to the people who run Mandeville Airfield about the possibility of the property purchase. 

I have cold feet, really, as the whole thing is probably ill-considered, but there’s no harm in investigating up to the point of commitment. Andy and Rachel are, of course, enthusiastic, and add that buying over 500,000NZ$ of business probably entitles us to permanent residence in the country. Of course the whole project won’t work as long as Mum is around in UK and understandably she’d never consider moving to New Zealand (or anywhere else). Maybe, we think, my son Nick might take on the restaurant project, but it’s a long shot and I have no easy contact for him from out here. Still, it keeps your mind sharp devising projects like this even if they come to nothing.

Early afternoon start for Per’s place at Blenheim. Allie & Andy hitch up the balloon trailer to the ‘ute’ and load the kit whilst I psych myself up about the property issue.

Great trip up the Kaikoura coast in startling clear weather. Dinner in style (and 7 bottles of assorted wines from Per’s cellar) listening to tales of his recent land sale – 4000 acres – for many millions. He is spending it on a motor-glider, new balloon, and a 90+ foot yacht to replace his ‘old’ Camper & Nicholson 58. Of course all this makes owning property in NZ look more attractive, but the difference in scale is, of course, immeasurable.