The Fruit Fields of Blenheim

Set in New Zealand's Marlborough area, Blenheim is best known for its range of wineries. If you've gotten off the boat in Picton and are heading down the east coast, Blenheim is the first town you pass though. Surrounded by hills and drenched in sunlight, Blenheim can be quite beautiful. Heading into town from either direction, grape fields stretch out as far as the eye can see, but the town center itself is quite small. Set on a river, the town contains several major bank branches, major phone and bookstores, and two grocery stores. It's most likely not the town itself you came to see, but the wineries on the outskirts.

Depending on your travel style, you have a choice between quirky hostels, luxury hotels, and friendly B&Bs. That settled, check in for at least 2 nights. In high season, December to February, it's wise to book your wine tour ahead of time. Many tour groups offer bike tours, which allow you to rent a bike with a basket in the front (for all your purchased wine bottles) and control the pace, schedule, and transport of your tour. I don't recommend this option, since many of the wineries are pretty spaced out. Chances are that you'll spend more of your time biking from one location to the next than sipping wines. A much better option is to hop on the half- or full-day minivan tours. This way, you get picked up from your accommodation and have a chance of getting to more wineries in your day. The tour we took had a suggested itinerary, but asked if there were any wineries we wanted to go to. They also let us know if a winery had a tasting charge so we could opt to avoid those places.

Now then, that's the visitor side to Blenheim. If you are traveling through the country with a work permit and looking to pick up some fruit-picking work, you've come to the right place. Blenheim has winery work year-round and seasonal fruit picking, such as apple and cherry picking, and thinning. All the hostels in town are set up to accommodate working travelers, offering weekly rates and possible connections to different jobs. You can also find several communities of fruit pickers depending on where you stay, making it easier to meet people.

Quick Tips:

Most hostels will offer a weekly rate that is slightly lower than the daily, and many will also help with fruit-picking employment. Tuesday nights is the cheap night at the local movie theater. When I was there, tickets were half-price.

Best Way To Get Around:

The town itself is very small, so walking it won't be a problem. If you want to go anywhere else, you are going to need a car. Luckily, Blenheim has a few of the national rental car chains in town. Rent-a-Dent, Avis, and Budget all do deals and offer you the opportunity for one-way hires. The buses (like Intercity or Atomic Shuttle) will drop you off in town or at any stretch of road thereafter. There is a train line that runs down the east coast, with stops in both Kiakoura and Christchurch, and there is a very tiny airport just outside of town. Air New Zealand has a few flights in and out. Your best bet for good deals to Wellington can be found at www.airtothere.com. You can also get cheap flights from Picton (just 30 minutes north) to Wellington.

If you are going on a wine tour, I would suggest getting a tour, either bike or minivan, and saving yourself the hassle of driving drunk.

Swampy's is anything but what its name implies. Just a short 4-minute car ride from Blenheim, this hostel is very much the seasonal fruit-worker's home. Once an older tea house (you can still see TEA HOUSE written in big letters on the roof), it's now a cozy hostel where the owner is constantly making upgrades. Swampy's takes its name after the owner's nickname. I regret that I never did get his real name.

Walking in the front door, you might not find the hostel very appealing, but walk down to the bathroom and you'll see some of its charm. Paint handprints adorn a previous white wall, thanking Swampy for their special stay. On the opposite wall is a hand-painted mural of a whale. The front room holds a few worn chairs, a couch, a fireplace, and a long dining table. The TV room holds two computers (one with Internet access at $2 for 30 minutes and one without), a TV, a DVD/Video player, and several comfortable couches.

At the time I stayed, Swampy's only had one double room; the rest were either single-sex or mixed dormitories. A year ago, there were 30 beds, but plans were in the works to add a new section. Two kitchens mean two ovens, two refrigerators (plus a separate small fridge for beverages), and plenty of storage space. There are also two separate bathrooms. There is only one room that is an en-suite. This is attached to one of the six-bed girl dormitories and primarily used only by them. The brightly lit main shower room holds four toilets and three showers.

Discounts apply to those with BBH cards and weekly borders. Nightly stays can expect to pay $19 for a dorm and $24 per person if you are lucky enough to score the double room.

Swampy is truly a hostel owner who cares about his guests. You can find him there most nights of the week, either working on projects or chatting with other guests. He is more than willing to help find you work in the area.

If that isn't, there are lots of freebees, such as free use of laundry machines, kayaks, bikes, duvets/linen, and SKY-TV.

However, while Swampy's is an ideal traveler's hostel, bare in mind that usually 90% of its occupants are working in the area. Many will be working on vineyards or picking fruit, which means Monday-to-Friday folks are early to bed and even earlier to rise. Loud noise gets greeted with bleary eyes and grunts to keep it down. However, once it reaches the weekend, that changes, and you might be hard-pressed to get to sleep before 2am.

Like all good hostels, the virtues of this one circulate by word of mouth, and as such, I believe there will always be good people there ready to work hard and party harder.

As far as location and comfort go, Koanui is one of the top hostels in Blenheim. It's a BBH (budget backpacker hostel) member so its standards are pretty high. The rooms are clean and neat, and the kitchen is pretty well stocked. The main "living room" has a large TV with SKY and a wide selection of videos and DVDS to choose from. It's a pretty quiet hostel based on the fact that it's mainly a workers hostel. If you are in the area to fruit pick or do vineyard work this is a top place to stay. They do have contacts and can arrange to find you work (proper working visa necessary, of course). The main house is where you'll find most of the working backpackers. There is a second complex (the "lodge") with its own kitchen and lounge/TV room, this seems to be where they put most of travelers just passing through.

Our double room had a sink and a TV in the room. It was pretty small but then again what more do you really need in the room? It had a chest of drawers and a cupboard and linen. However for the dorm rooms you will need your own linen or to hire some for $2.

Highlights of the hostel are the free pool table, barbecue, and laundry facilities complete with dryers. There are a few car park spaces in the back and off street parking is also free. There are two computers hooked up to the Internet but it's expensive and slow and you are better off trying an Internet place in town. The grocery store is only a 5 minute walk and town is about 10 minutes. The largest dorm style room is 6 beds and I never really noticed a line for the showers, they do have quite a few around. They owners are pretty friendly and they give discounted rates to those staying weekly. You'll get $2 to $5 off the price if you are BBH card carrying member. (and they are pretty strict about showing your card for the discount)
Dorm beds run about $20-22. Singles- $45, doubles- $50 and en suite-$62.