A daughter with a passion for horses led Martin and Ronnie Stallard into opening their own equestrian park. Panorama Equestrian officially opened to the public in December, after months of hard work had been spent on its planning and development.
 Ever catch a familiar snippet of music from a car at the lights and then spend a bit too long trying to remember the name of the song? Or had a dazzling party conversation stall over the name of the band that did that fantastic Otis Redding cover? (Probably 3 Dog Night)
When owners of Greytown gallery Left-Field, Jeannie and Steve Hancock, married in mid-winter England, the local florist warned Jeannie that there would be very few flowers for her bouquet. ”In the end she came up with three sunflowers for £75 or something like that. So I said, ’If I ever have a paddock I’m going to grow sunflowers.’” It was this, plus the memory of golden fields of sunflowers blooming in France, that prompted the Hancocks to plant the flowers in the field beside their shop just north of Greytown on State Highway 2.
In the first of a series Barbara Gillham visits the vineyards of North Wairarapa, discovering the beauty of Dakins Road and its abundance of fine wines.
URLAR WINES GLADSTONE
There are not many Scotsmen who would choose wine over whiskey if given the choice. Most I am sure would raise their hands (and voices) in horror at the very idea. But then most men are not Angus Thomson of Urlar Wines.
“How many times have you sat down to watch a movie at home but been interrupted by the kids or your husband looking over your shoulder saying ‘is it going to get any better than this?’” says Julie Collins, owner of the dinky 40-seater independent Featherston Cinema for almost two years.
Event organiser Heather Philip knew that she’d made it when the French Ambassador wrote to tell her how much he and his wife had enjoyed last year’s French Country Fair. Run every year since 2004, the fair brings a dash of Gallic charm to Tauherenikau Racecourse. Walls are brightly painted to look like a French provincial village, stalls laden with arts and crafts are set up under umbrellas and fair-goers browse to the sound of accordionists and French jazz singers. “Quite a few French people do come, so you hear quite a bit of French spoken,” says Heather. “We have an area for petanque set up for everyone, but some bring their own sets and play it under the trees.” It all adds to the atmosphere.
Down where the sun bounces off the water with almost metallic intensity in the middle of summer… where you can gaze across Lake Onoke after a day surf casting on the spit or whitebaiting where fresh water meets salt, a pub has stood for 158 years: the Lake Ferry Hotel.
A wonky signpost stands at a sharp bend in the Martinborough to Greytown road. It points down a dusty track to the Ruamahanga River and a well kept secret which has provided a slice of simple camping life to generations of families over the past eighty years.
A standing joke on the Martinborough-Featherston shuttle bus is that when overseas tourists are dropped off right outside their homestay or motel, the driver will say, “Don’t bus drivers in London (or wherever the visitor comes from) do that for you?”
By using organic and biodynamic principles, John and Kaye believe that they can produce their wines without resorting to the more conventional practice of using glyphosate to kill the weeds, chemical fertilisers and pest sprays.
Don’t be surprised if you see vanloads of musicians pulling up and instruments being unloaded outside a former army camp building on Featherston’s main street. Kate Mead has recently moved in, and she’s bringing the music with her….
Owners Karen and Ian Juno began preparing for planting the first of their 1280 Olive trees in October 2001. Before planting could begin, they manually ‘grass grubbed’ the necessary clearings of thick, deep-rooted rye grass in readiness. Their aim was to give the trees, sourced from Italy, Spain, France and Greece a good start without pasture competition.
 Queen’s Birthday weekend 1999. That’s when we first saw the piece of land where we now live. Rather, it was the view of the South Wairarapa at our feet, the snow-covered Tararuas and Kaikouras in the distance that blew us away. The totally undeveloped hilly farmland behind us was a bit daunting - but THAT VIEW!!
When was the last time that you had a good old fashioned, no holds barred PLAY with your family? If that memory has become as faded as an old 1970s beach towel, it might be time to pay a visit to Greytown’s Puzzlewood, where people of all ages can have fun together.
 Sampling wine in a tasting room in Martinborough three years ago, artist Lisa Matthys had a flash of inspiration: “I thought all this sipping and tasting could be a great metaphor for us trying something new in life.
Once a month, a quiet, tree-lined street in Greytown becomes noticeably busier. Cars line up on the grassy curbs of Wood Street, numbers of smartly dressed people descend and stride briskly down a leafy driveway. Their destination? Ed and Juliet Cooke’s home, where intimate music concerts have been held for 15 years.
Although highly successful, Barbara Gillham found Fraser Books are refreshingly different to many ‘main stream publishers’. The Wairarapa to many people is synonymous with fine wines, beautiful scenery and an idyllic lifestyle. To others mention the region and they immediately associate it with the ‘Golden Shears’ or ‘Martinborough Fair.’ It is unlikely however anyone would associate it with a highly successful and thriving publishing company. Certainly not one, which since its establishment over twenty years ago, has been associated in various capacities with publishing more than 150 books. However Fraser Books has done just that.
Anna-Marie Kingsley recently scored a ‘perfect 10’ in a telephone survey: “They asked me how happy I was on a scale of one to 10, and I had to say 10. There was this long silence on the end of the line!” It’s partly to do with living in the beautiful Hinau Valley, north west of Carterton, in a, sustainable house she built with husband Malcom, and partly because she’s living her dream of painting and teaching art. All a long way from her previous incarnations as an ENZA technician and phlebotomist.
Local Fashion designer part of leading edge fashion brand Oyl - Living in different parts of the country hasn’t stopped Greytown’s Nicola Screen and Papamoa’s Vicki Reid from establishing Oyl, one of New Zealand’s leading fashion labels.
Its five years since Craig Andrews 1880 Cottages, began ‘popping’ up at his Carterton site on the side of SH2. To the passing motorist the buildings no sooner seemed to appear before a ‘sold’ sign quickly followed.
With the Trust House Balloons Over Wairarapa taking place in March our skies will again be alive with multi-coloured hot air balloons. This not be missed event attracts thousands of people who all want a taste of the adventure of ballooning.
Pat McKenna in his Masterton based New York-style deli: “I’d always had the idea of a deli like the ones I’d seen in New York, Rome and Israel. Food is a conversation. It’s not dissimilar from selling antiques,” says Pat McKenna. “Everything in life is a narrative, and if something doesn’t have a narrative to it, it’s one dimensional.”
At Brasserie One in Martinborough, Miriam Williams found that the owners shared philosophy is to know their producers, to know where their ingredients are coming from, with an emphasis is on fresh, seasonal, local produce.
Air New Zealand’s new direct service linking Masterton and Auckland took off on February 16th. The new route will be operated six days a week by Eagle Air, a subsidiary of Air New Zealand, utilising a 19-seat Beech 1900D aircraft. Eagle Air General Manager Grant Kerr says the launch of the new service is fantastic news for customers travelling into and out of the Wairarapa, as it will save them time and money. “Previously, customers had to fly into or out of either Wellington or Palmerston North and make their way by road to the Wairarapa. Our new direct service will make travel between these two points considerably quicker and easier for both business and leisure travellers.”
The newly-built Masterton i-SITE visitor centre opened for business this week on the corner of Dixon and Bruce Streets, adjacent to the Aratoi Art and History museum and Entice Café. The Masterton Trust Lands Trust has funded the work and the design was developed by Aratoi’s original architect to ensure a complimentary yet distinctive design.
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