The drive from Blenheim to Christchurch brings new adventure with vineyards, dolphins and an unexpected delight in the form of a Ferrari 166 Inter
“There’s a lady out front who says she has something you might like to see,” proclaims the receptionist at Hapuku Lodge, our hotel near Kaikōura, an old whaling town on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island. Intrigued, we head out to the forecourt where, nestled among the red and blue Purosangues, is a little silver Ferrari. But not just any Ferrari. It’s the fourth Ferrari road car ever made, a 1948 166 Inter owned by locals Amanda and Phipps Rinaldo.
“The pharmacist told us you were here, so we thought we’d bring it out to show you,” says Amanda as we gaze open mouthed at a car with which Enzo Ferrari himself would have been intimately familiar. It’s quite a moment.
The roads around Blenheim presented the perfect opportunity to showcase the agility and power of the Ferrari Purosangues
Aotearoa, the Māori-language name used for New Zealand, is widely translated as ‘the land of the long white cloud’, referring to the cloud formations that helped Polynesian navigators locate the islands 700 years ago. And that morning, as we had headed north from Blenheim, a small town surrounded by vines that produce some of the finest sauvignon blanc wines in the world, the long white cloud was brushing the hilltops and dripping rain.
With the Manettino switched to wet mode, and the suspension in its softest setting, the Purosangue darted along sinuous roads suspended between heaving sea and primordial forest as we followed the rugged coastline overlooking Cook Strait, the body of water that separates the South Island from its more populated neighbour to the north.
The Cook Strait, 14 miles at its narrowest point, separates New Zealand’s North and South Islands
The Ferraris had shrugged off the morning’s conditions, but the sperm whales that now swim unmolested in the deep underwater canyons near Kaikōura, 80 miles south of Blenheim, clearly preferred the cold comfort of the South Pacific. We saw no sign of them on our whale watching flight that afternoon. The sight of a large pod of dolphins joyously cavorting in the waves brought a smile to everyone’s face, however.
As the Purosangues headed toward Christchurch, the alpine roads of Route 70 and Route 7 offered more than a few pretty sights
The next day, under brighter skies, we headed to Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island. But instead of following Highway 1 down the coast, we took the more inland Route 70 and Route 7 through the genteel grandeur of New Zealand’s Alpine Pacific region. It was here, on near empty roads that sometimes flow and sometimes squirm along green valleys, through gentle hills, and over wide pebble filled riverbeds, that the Purosangue’s credentials as a 21st century gran turismo snapped into sharp focus. This is a Ferrari that will effortlessly transport you across all roads, in all weathers.