48 hours in Martinborough

Friday, 11am
We need somewhere sleepy. We need to wander, not rush. To stay in rather than going out. And more than anything, we need to get out of this rain.
Having just spent a few days running from catch-up coffees to catch-up drinks with long lost friends in Wellington, which just happened to be at its wet and windy worst, we've decided to extend what hasn't yet felt like a holiday.
So it's over "the hill", as they say, and into magical Martinborough.
Noon
We need sunshine to peek through clouds and we still need shelter. We get it all as we drive through the town and on to New York St.
Bustling by name, but the opposite by nature, New York St's farmland leads us to Parehua, our accommodation for two nights.

1pm
"Help yourself to the selection of coffee and tea," we're told as our host turns on the hot tub on the deck and shows us how to turn on the gas fire.
An antipasto platter arrives with a knock on the door. Now we're on holiday.
Scrabble and magazines dissolve our afternoon and as dusk sets we decide to turn on the bubbles and try out this barrel-style hot tub. We feel like we're in the middle of the country as ducks wing their way across the skyline and the first of the stars start to sparkle. Bliss!

6pm
With fingertips wrinkled, we bolt the few steps to the cottage ranchslider and inside to the heat of the fire. I eye up the the huge tealight candle-lined bath in the equally huge bathroom. It will have to wait though as we've booked in for a degustation dinner in Parehua's dining room at 7pm. After a quick shower and spruce up we're walking the short path to dinner.
7pm
My man, whose palette is usually pushed by anything your mother wouldn't have heard of in the 70s, has promised to try everything and refrain from screwing up his face. He keeps to his word, even through the first course, which the waitress mentions includes snails. Each course is exquisite and candlelight, with the addition of amazing wine, makes for a romantic evening.
Saturday 9am
Birdsong wakes us and I pull up the blind to reveal blue sky. Robert Harris or Hawthorne? Plunger or instant?
We wake up properly while breathing in the country air sitting on the deck. Fantails dance about the garden nearby. Do we have to go home tomorrow?

10am
It's time to discover this place. Parehua is known in Martinborough for the cute vintage bikes it loans to visitors. We helmet up and have a practise ride around Parehua's winding pathways to get our confidence up. It's been awhile since we both took to two wheels, so it's lucky the village is just a few blocks away. Not one car passes us on our way, but the town's cafes are busier than we expected. Cafe Medici serves up the best mushrooms on toast I've ever had.

1pm
We've explored the cute homeware and clothing boutiques Martinborough has to offer, so get back on our bikes and ride slowly back to Parehua - stopping to coo over the spring lambs on our way. Not quite ready to give the bikes back, we ride down to the lake on site.
2pm
It's a short drive to Greytown where we get to work collecting the pieces for our DIY dinner platter. We're soon weighed down with cheeses from Main St Deli, deli meats from the Four Square, a baguette from the French bakery and red wine from the bottle store - Martinborough pinot of course.
3pm
We learn more about Martinborough's trademark pinot noir when we go to The Vintner's Choice at Circus Cinema. We're served a splash of a few wines from Martinborough's big-name wineries and left in the dark to make our way through them when instructed by the winemakers on the film. We'd been wondering why the town's streets were named after places around the world and learn it's where Martinborough's wine can be bought.
5pm
Time for me to assemble our platter goodies on the plates in our cottage and pour two glasses of that pinot. We settle in for a night of eating well, chatting plenty and looking up at the stars with a glass of wine in the hot tub. Doesn't get much better than this.
THE FACTS
Where: Parehua Country Estate, New York St, Martinborough.
What will it cost: Prices range from $285 a night for a Winemakers Cottage to $665 a night for a Woodlands Villa which sleeps four. Or check out the packages available. There's something for those who need romance, relaxation, a wine and food escape and more.
Things to do: Ride a retro bike to one of the surrounding vineyards for tastings, play tennis or petanque, take a dip in the pool or experience Kent Baddeley's cuisine in the dining room.
Visit parehua.co.nz