Marlborough. A regular competitor for (and winner of) the title of New Zealand’s sunshine capital. But it’s so much more than just sun. It’s wine, it’s food, and it’s an amazing lifestyle, with both the mountains and sea just a hop and a skip away.

But this beautiful place we call home is even much more than that. Here’s a little insight into the wonderful things on offer in this great little province…

Cost of Living

You’ve probably all seen the stories on the telly where a news (ish) program compares the relative value of living in the provinces with living in Auckland … you know the one; it compares soaring house prices and commuting with horses in a paddock and fresh air.

It even compares the RCFW (that’s Relative Cost of a Flat White) … Unsurprisingly to us, Marlborough came out of that survey pretty darn well…

How Times have Changed

It’s a funny old province is Marlborough. For a lonnngg time it had the oldest population in NZ and was mainly a rural service town. But we all know that times change and we’ve seen some amazing changes here in the sunniest province of God’s Own Country.

With the advent of grapes we’ve welcomed a diverse international community to our part of the world. It’s a relatively common story that the people who flew over us wondering what went on in that little bit of land at the top of the south, are now buying their ¼ to 10 acre dream and getting amongst some of the finest living there is in the Land of the Long White Cloud.

And to be serious, why wouldn’t you? The place is going chicken oriental … We’ve got the Marlborough Sounds, and wine (lots of wine), Rarangi beach, hunting, fishing, the Clarence River, the Pelorus River (if it’s good enough for Peter Jackson and his hobbits … it’s good enough for us..) the internationally renowned Omaka Air Museum and the world’s best wine…(did we mention the wine?).

Ditch the Commute

Recently, Auckland roads were described as “worst across most measures” in a traffic report by Austroad … it compares traffic levels in cities throughout New Zealand, Australia AND North America … And Auckland was the worst.

You know what we say? Bugger that! In Marlborough, you’d be unlucky to be in the car longer than 10 minutes when you drive to work … 45 max if you choose the rural life and live out of town (great views on the commute by the way…).

Come Join Us

So if our wee rant about why our place is the best little place in the world isn’t enough to convince you to move here, check it out for yourself when you join us for the annual Saint Clair Vineyard Half Marathon on May 11. At the very least it will be a perfect little pre-winter getaway, and at most the beginning of a love affair that might just see you come back for more…