Daydreaming of twinkling Wairarapa nights _{by Madelaine Empson}

Wairarapa (Summer 2023)

On a Friday after work, my partner and I shot over to Wairarapa from Wellington for a night of starry-eyed adventure at Stonehenge Aotearoa.

It was my first time driving the Remutakas, so I took it slow. Real slow. The kind of slow where the wind whistling through the window sounds like the prolonged sighs of exasperated commuters trapped behind the sloth up front. Nevertheless, we arrived in one piece and, pressed for time (that couldn’t possibly be my doing, right?), checked straight into one of the cutest Airbnbs I’ve ever seen: The Alchemist Retreat in Carterton. Nestled amongst immaculate gardens, this private studio has a chic but homely feel. Our lovely host Chrissie had thought of everything to make our night perfect. We only wish we could’ve stayed longer.

A quick dinner before we were due at Stonehenge for the Star Trek found us at Balter Bar and Kitchen on High Street, where we were served by Bhajan – aka Budgie – who was personable, cheeky in all the right ways, and on to it. He managed to persuade us to stay for dessert, which we hardly had time for, but felt it would’ve been rude not to. My smoked chorizo and prawn linguine was fresh and aromatic, while the highlight of Paul’s main (a pork belly that I ate a fair bit of because again, it would’ve been rude not to) was the burnt apple puree. What an ingenious accompaniment! Dessert was a banoffee pie and a deconstructed, creamy plum cheesecake, gorgeously presented with dry-ice theatrics.

Then it was off to the main event. We arrived at Stonehenge to be met by Richard and Kay, who took us inside for a fantastic presentation on the night sky. I don’t want to spoil all Richard’s secrets, but I’ll treat you to a few minutes of the half-hour chat, because what we learned was mind-blowing.

If you were driving at 100 kilometres an hour, it would take you 17 days to get around the Earth, and five months to get to the moon. The sun?

“Well, I’m afraid you’d die of old age first”, Richard quipped. “It would take you 171 years.”

If you fancy feeling even more tiny, to get to Alpha Centauri, the brightest of the two stars that point to the Southern Cross, it would take you 46 million years in your little car.

The talk covered everything from galaxies to light speed to space travel, but I’ll leave you with this last life-altering fact: there are more stars in the known universe than there are grains of sand on all the beaches in the world. Richard is a powerhouse of astronomical knowledge and insight who puts it all into accessible terms that really hit home the scale of our universe.

With heads full of stars, we went outside to see them first-hand from Stonehenge, an open-air observatory and the hub of astronomy in Wairarapa, which has just been deemed an International Dark Sky Reserve. This means the stargazing here is second to none. Bathed in the glow of the full moon, we loved hunting the night sky for some of the stars we’d learned about. A star trek in every sense, and a breathtakingly beautiful experience.

It was hard to check out of our accommodation the next morning – especially because a nomadic cat had found me drinking coffee in the sun in the garden and promptly curled up on my lap – but Greytown was calling. Filled with boutiques, cafés, and New Zealand’s most complete collection of wooden Victorian buildings, Main Street is one of my favourite places. We had a killer brunch at The Offering, where I demolished something a little different: brioche orange French toast. The floral, zesty kick of the orange counteracted the sticky sweetness of the caramelised banana and maple syrup, making for an overall delectable, well-balanced meal. At least that’s what I told myself after eating so much sugar! Two velvety smooth coffees later and we’d toddled out of The Offering to wander the main stretch.

I started mentally redesigning my whole house the second I stepped into Mango Interiors and had to drag myself away before I bought the whole shop. With more special trinkets calling everywhere we looked, we found one last hidden gem before the drive home: Kotare Art Studio and Gallery. I was struck by Mark Dimock’s work, particularly a rustic, romantic sculpture of a couple On the Beach. Apparently, I’m not the only one! A chat with Mark after the trip revealed fans of his work have commissioned him to sculpt their own families.

Perhaps I’ll move to Wairarapa one day. My house will be blanketed by stars, decorated with everything from Mango Interiors, fringed by gardens just like The Alchemist Retreat’s, and filled with sculptures of all the people I love. Of course, I’ll eat like a queen every day. A girl can only dream!