The Wairau Valley is in Marlborough and stretches from Te Koko o Kupe / Cloudy Bay at the northeast end of the South Island to near St Arnaud in Nelson Lakes, about an hour’s drive southwest of Blenheim along State Highway 63.
The Wairau River is the main feature and the Richmond Range, from 1,000 metres to 1,656 metres at Mount Patriarch, forms a stunning backdrop on the west side of the valley. The east side is marked by a string of dry hills, golden in Autumn, rising to 1,000 metres. These hills are backed by the distant Inland Kaikōura Range, which rises to over 2,000 metres. The Wairau Plain marks the Cloudy Bay / Blenheim end of the valley and reaches 20 km in width.
This scenic valley was dominated by sheep farming, but today, it is the heart of New Zealand’s premier wine region. There are more than 27,000 hectares of vineyards, mainly Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Gris, with around 40 vineyards. The vineyards dominate the northern end of the valley and stretch as far as halfway to St Arnaud. The smaller Awatere Valley, which runs parallel to the south, has another 12 vineyards. The valley’s cool maritime climate, free-draining gravel soils, and protection from extreme weather by the surrounding ranges are ideal for producing distinct, vibrant wines. Blenheim township on the Wairau River’s south side serves as a base for wine‑tasting by car or cycle tours.
Autumn is spectacular, as the vines turn golden, creating an even more scenic backdrop. Good viewpoints include the Port Underwood Road, Tuamarina Cemetery at the end of Cotterills Road, walks in the Wither Hills, Marlborough Ridge on New Rewick Road, tracks in the Wither Hills, south of Blenheim, and for the more adventurous, the Enchanted Lookout in the Richmond Range on the way to Lake Chalice.
The valley was formed by a combination of glacial and river action over many millennia. The Wairau River is braided with gravel beds that range from around 500 metres to 2.5 km wide. The wider Cloudy Bay end included substantial marshland and lagoons. Although much of this has been drained for farmland, the Wairau Lagoons Walkway at the end of Hardings Road allows you to take a walk back in time.
Early Māori settlement was also a feature of the Wairau Valley, with the mouth of the Wairau River at the Wairau Bar being one of Aotearoa’s earliest known human occupation sites, dating back to around 1280. Excavations have revealed tens of skeletons, tools, moa‑bone artefacts and evidence of adze‑making and inter-island trade.
Shortly after the signing of Te Tiiriti o Waitangi / Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the valley became a hotbed of contention between the New Zealand Company and Ngāti Toa iwi. The iwi claimed ownership by right of conquest during the Musket Wars of the 1820s and 1830s. The company had a fraudulent land sale document dating to 1839. It was desperate to prove it owned substantial acreage in the upper South Island to support commercial claims being made to investors and potential settlers in Britain. In 1843, the dispute resulted in the Wairau Affray, in which 22 European settlers and 4 Ngāti Toa died, the first violent action between Māori and Europeans after the signing of the treaty.
A subsequent investigation by the British Governor of New Zealand, Robert Fitzroy, found the New Zealand Company was to blame for the affray and that Ngāti Toa had acted in defence of their property. Ngāti Toa went on to sell the Wairau to the government several years later. As a further twist, 100 years later, another government inquiry found that this sale was illegitimate, as Rangitāne iwi were the true tangata whenua (people of the land), being the occupants before the invasion by Ngāti Toa in the late 1820s.
For modern travellers, the combination of attractive geography, history and world‑class wine and food makes the Wairau Valley compelling. To explore the valley, simply drive from Blenheim along State Highway 63 towards Nelson Lakes, or around the several roads that crisscross through the vineyards northeast of Renwick.
