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Blenheim
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The "Sunshine Capital" of
Blenheim stands on the wide open Wairau plain whose grazing potential drew
to their deaths the leaders of the pioneer settlement at Nelson. Today the
prospect is one of spacious riverflat, vibrant with colour except in summer,
when the heat of the country's sunniest district tans the landscape to a
uniform brown. Some 2,686 sunshine hours were recorded here in 1972, the
country's highest. |
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It is a combination of high
sunshine, a long ripening period and free-draining river flats that has
placed the district's vineyards in the forefront of the international wine
trade. An annual wine and food festival (second Sat. in February) draws
thousands to a celebration of gastronomy, music and dance. |
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Blenheim's earlier name, The
Beaver (which animal is still the town's mascot), was bestowed by the first
survey party in the area, who were caught in a flood and forced to roost in
their bunks "like a lot of beavers in a dam". It was renamed when the new
province of Marlborough was created, honouring John Churchill, first Duke of
Marlborough, and his most famous victory, over the French at Blenheim in
1704. At the same time Picton was named in honour of Sir Thomas Picton, one
of the Duke of Wellington's hard-swearing generals and a casualty at
Waterloo. |
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