Love Marlborough

Spring Camellia in Pollard Park. Marlborough in springtime means new buds on the grapevines, gardens bursting into blossom and lush growth everywhere.

Spring is the time for our big botanical event; Hunter's Garden Marlborough, a highlight of the national gardening calendar. It’s also the time when fresh, new season fruits and vegetables are tempting everyone at our traditional Marlborough Farmers Market. And of course, our wonderful wineries are throwing open their cellar doors to visitors, ready to showcase the new season’s vintage.

Food and wine, fruit and flowers – spring is a real time of plenty in Marlborough.

Check out the 100% Pure New Zealand Guide to Marlborough on their website. Peter Gordon, Micheal cooper and Ruud Kleinpaste take you through Marlboroughs Food, Wine and Gardens.

Bike, Hike or Kayak

around the wineries, inland Marlborough or the Queen Charlotte Track through the Marlborough Sounds.

Explore section on the Destination Marlborough website

Wining and Dining

pick up a wine trail map and visit the cellar doors of your favourite winery, then enjoy the winery food or try the casual cafes or fine dining around the region.

Wine and Food section on the Destination Marlborough website

Wine Marlborough website

Wildlife

hire a boat or take a charter tour in the Sounds to see terns, shags, herons, blue penguins, dolphins, seals, and native forest birds.

Picton and Queen Charlotte Sounds section on the Destination Marlborough website

Spring Tulips.

Aviation

go gliding for spectacular views of region then visit the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre, an internationally ranked collection of World War One Aircraft and memorabilia, brought to life by Wingnut Films and Weta Workshop.

Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre website

Marlborough Gliding Club website

Marlborough's Museum

hear the story of Marlborough settlement with a separate section chronicling the wine industry’s enormous impact on the region. A taste of earlier history can be experienced with a boat trip out to Ship Cove and Motuara Island, in the Marlborough Sounds, where Captain Cook claimed British sovereignty over the South Island.

Marlborough Museum website

Golfers and Skiers

good all-year golfing with a range of courses to choose from and a driving range for practice. A friendly club skifield at Rainbow is just two hours drive from Blenheim, generally open July to October.

Rainbow Skifield website

Arts and Crafts

follow the Art and Craft Trail map or take one of the local organised tours of the local arts community to see contemporary art to sculpture and pottery.

Art and Craft Trail website

Marlborough Arts Guide website

Adventure Tourism

white-water rafting, mountain biking, sea kayaking for those looking for a buzz.

Eco-Tours and Adventure section on the Destination Marlborough website

High Country Experience

take a 4WD tour through New Zealand’s largest working farm, Molesworth Station; take a helicopter in for some trout fishing or go horse trekking through remote back country. Alternatively, try a rural homestay or farmstay to get a taste of rural New Zealand.

Molesworth Station - Places to visit, on the Department of Conservation website

Eco-Tours and Adventure section on the Destination Marlborough website

Walking in the park during spring.