Greytown New Zealand

After visiting Government House on December 8 Helen and Sue drove us over the hill to the Wairarapa which is a sparsely populated geographical region of New Zealand in the southeast corner of the North Island.

This area has been internationally recognized for its outstanding experience of celestial viewing.

On top of the Remutaka Hill which separates Wellington from the flat Wairarapa.

This is the 555 meter (1,820 feet) summit which is accessed by a winding two lane road which is quite busy with traffic and numerous logging trucks. There are frequent accidents on this road which can cause road closures as well as snowy conditions in the winter.

About a 70 minute drive from Wellington and we are in Greytown which is well known in New Zealand for its collection of beautifully restored Victorian buildings and boutique shops.

We are staying in Helen and Sue’s guest suite which is on the ground floor. They do rent it out on Airbnb when they have no friends or relatives visiting. This is the lovely kitchen.

This was initially Sandy’s makeup table.

Our own backyard sitting area for coffee or cocktails.

Upstairs, this is their living room dressed for Christmas.

We love how they made maximum use of windows bringing the outdoors in.

Dining room table set for Christmas Dinner.

Extremely organized and neat kitchen where Helen performs miracles and Sue performs miracle clean ups.

Outside view of their home. The guest suite is on the ground floor level.

Since we are doing a three day hilly Tora walk in about ten days Helen took us to Fensham reserve where we can get in a few miles of walking with some hills.

A lot of work, money and time has gone into this approximately 5K track.

On another walk with Helen she brought us to this historic tree. When it was three years old this Eucalyptus was carried from Wellington up and over the steep Remutaka mountain in a wheelbarrow by Samuel Oates and planted in Greytown in 1850.

Helen works at The Runholder at their wine tasting bar talking rubbish and BS about wines to tourists.

She took us on a quick tour of their aging cellar.

She then gave us a demonstration of her wine prowess having us taste at least five wines from this vineyard.

Beautiful views from her wine tasting bar.

Another walk Helen told us about is the railway trail.

This is the official name of a 5K section of the rail trail.

At that visible gate it opens into unshaded fields.

Some bulls in a stream at the halfway point of the 5K. We have not yet walked the full 5K as we would then have to walk another 5K back to the starting point which is at least 2K from home.

We went to the Cobblestone Museum one night where Sue’s Choral group was performing on the lawn.

There were also very talented local performers like this young lady.

The best part of the night was watching the young children dancing to the music as you can see in this video of uninhibited young joy. Watch to the end and see the group of young boys in a circle joining in.

The last performance was our friend Sue’s group.

She is front and center in the red shirt and Santa hat.

After the performance they took us to The White Swan pub downtown where we met many of their friends. Here is a picture of Helen with their dear friends Dierdre and Richard. Diedre also sings with Sue.

Dancing to the music. We got him to play Sweet Caroline but unfortunately we were too busy dancing to record it.

We went to Palliser Estate Winery which is in the town of Martinborough and nestled near the rugged wild beauty of Cape Palliser. It was established in 1984. The estate is named after Palliser Bay and Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, colleague and patron of Captain James Hook.

On this lovely sunny afternoon she opted for a sparkling rose. Palliser is known for organic wines.

Next stop was a lavender farm. The name is thought to have come from the Latin lavando which is part of the verb lavare meaning to wash. Romans added these flowers to their communal baths to ease aching limbs. It has also been used as a perfume, air freshener, antiseptic, sleep inducer and even a corpse embalmer.

There are 28 different varieties of lavender from across the world.

This farm is nestled in the hills of the town of Martinborough.

Tracy and Eric started the farm on a small 10 acre block and have a lovely home there.

They also produce and sell a lavender flavored gin.

Sue and Sandy took the tour while Jim and Helen sat and had coffee. Then of course Sandy went shopping for gifts.

We went to a pub in Martinborough to watch the local Christmas parade.

As you can see from these videos it was your typical small town parade.

Our last stop of this idyllic Christmastime Sunday was to Helen’s company/winery Christmas party held at a colleagues home where we enjoyed meeting more people.

Here Helen introduces us to the sausage sizzle being served at the party.

All the Runholder employees contribute a specialty. This is Pavlova which is a meringue-based dessert originating in New Zealand and named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. The cake-like circular block of baked meringue has a crisp crust and soft, light inside. The confection is usually topped with fruit and whipped cream. The dessert was created in the honor of the dancer after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920’s. It is so delicious.

Jim had volunteered to be the designated driver for this day so that Helen could have a few drinks. New Zealand is very strict about drinking and driving. They also have frequent random stops for alcohol checks with a breathalyzer.

A Greytown sunset takien from Helen and Sue’s porch.

That is a summary of our first week in Greytown with Helen and Sue. We have fixed one meal for them and helped them a little (very little) in their garden. We are mostly being taken care of and just packing on the pounds with all of the home prepared goodies. You may not recognize us when we get back.

3 responses to “Greytown New Zealand”

Dawn Luck

January 10, 2026 at 8:55 am

Thanks for sharing your incredible experiences with us! It’s like going through a National Geographic magazine!

PEGGY SCOTT

January 9, 2026 at 12:38 pm

What wonderful Christmas memories you are coming back with….

Christina

January 9, 2026 at 12:15 pm

It looks like a delight place! Warm, friendly, good food and wine – The Best. Enjoy!

Living the retirement dream