Staying at Damfam Vineyard

Damfam Vineyard is just north of Blenheim, in an area called Spring Creek. They have a large paddock beside their vines where they allow self-contained NZMCA members to stay for $5 per person per night. There's heaps of room and it's situated alongside the Wairau River.

We parked up near the vines, close to the river, but the midges were out in numbers here, so we soon decided to move further along to the far end.

We stayed here a few nights while we explored the Blenheim area. This was one of the busiest nights with about half a dozen campers. You can see the vines at the far end. Damfam sell their grapes to Yealands Winery.

There were often rowers training on the river, especially in the evening.

We had a great view of the river from where we were parked. There is a bridge in the distance that we crossed over each time we went into Blenheim.

These are photos taken from that bridge, looking back up towards where we left the rig.

And a closer view . . .

It was a great place to stay—peaceful and friendly. Hosts Winston & Robyn tell us they use harrier hawks to keep the vines clear of birds, rather than have to cover the vines with netting/mesh as many vineyards do. They feed the hawks regularly to keep them in the area: Harry, Harriett and Junior, so I'm told! This where they feed them—on top of this platform near where we parked when we first arrived.

We saw "Harry" frequently while we were there. But I was never patient enough to try and get a photo of him feeding—maybe next time.

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