Full house
Living in Martinborough makes you a magnet for guests coming to stay. Whether it’s friends, family, a workmate or a cousin’s neighbour’s hairdresser (slight exaggeration but you get the drift), living a stone’s throw from a slew of top vineyards means you’re a favoured stopover on everyone’s holiday list.
Don’t get me wrong, house guests are generally lovely and it’s fun to roll out the welcome mat. But I must admit, nowhere else I’ve ever lived has made me such a popular target for road-tripping rellies.
I no longer pretend it’s my sparkling wit and tremendous company that draws the crowds. It’s Wairarapa’s relaxed vibes, picturesque rural roads so close to Wellington, and the pinot, lots and lots of pinot.
Whether it’s the ‘just one glass’ drop-ins that saunter out the door two days later, the friend doing the slightly-awkward-but-no-pressure getaway with a new boyfriend off Tinder, or the relatives who make plans for a public holiday faster than you can drag out the futon, I do love them all. Honestly!I’m sure most Wairarapa residents can relate. Spare rooms, couches and sleepouts across the region are on particularly high rotation at the moment, and I bet sales figures are especially healthy on sheet sets and towels at Masterton Briscoes these days.
In September, official data from the boffins at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment showed the Wairarapa was leading the country in domestic tourism growth.
But for those of us who aren’t hotel professionals, hosting guests is always a bit rock and roll.
Someone inevitably announces they no longer eat dairy just as you’re unwrapping a deliciously pongy parcel from C’est Cheese. Someone who was supposed to be the sober driver gets too merry at a cellar door and blames the heat rather than the rosé. Someone with a competitive streak gets slightly too intense as a game of ring toss turns serious.
Back in the 1700s, US statesman Benjamin Franklin supposedly said, “guests are like fish, they start to smell after three days.” Ouch. While I would hate to be as mean spirited as old Ben, the seemingly simple act of having someone to stay can be surprisingly loaded territory.
