We were lucky to have a 3 day weekend last week and we took the opportunity to visit Hawke's Bay which is one of the 3 main wine areas in New Zealand. As we drove we noticed the topography changing, somewhat flatter, warmer, and sunnier. In fact, we had sun for the entire weekend. I think everyone else in the country did too, but we felt like we were in paradise. We stayed in a bed and breakfast in Napier, the "art deco" city which rebuilt itself after a 1931 earthquake ("the largest natural disaster New Zealand has ever seen"). This city is very quaint, built on a hill, overlooking the ocean, and many of the building facades are in the classic art deco style. Lots of good restaurants and little shops. But the main reason for our visit was the vino!! There are loads of wineries around here, some really tiny, some large. We signed up to rent some bikes from a place called "Ye Olde Winery" and cycled around the area, tasting wine as we went. As you can imagine, after a few wineries, we became quite slow, lounging around, eating cheese, tasting olive oils, sitting in the sun. We found some great wines, and the bike company goes around and picks up your wine for you so you don't have to try to bike around with it. It's crafty actually...you don't realize just how many bottles of wine you have bought...It was the most fun we've had in a while....
We also had some nice dinners, one at M.E.D, which is a mediterranean restaurant, where we were served by a guy from Oklahoma! The next night we ate at a French Restaurant called on the bay. Yum. Very rich.
We also drove up Te Mata Peak which is a very large hill, overlooking the whole of Hawke's Bay. You can also see all of the surrounding mountain ranges, including Ruapehu! The valley is full of rolling green hills, and apparently has nice thermal air which leads a lot of people to paraglide off the cliff...This looks amazing, and is on our list of things to do. After a lazy picnic in the sun we headed off to Cape Kidnappers to go down the beach on the back of a tractor to see the Gannet colony. New Zealand has 3 colonies of Gannets (which are birds) who nest ever year starting around August. The little ones hatch starting in mid-November, then come February the chicks take off on their first flight all the way to Australia. Most die on route, but those who don't eventually come back to nest on this cape. The birds are partnered for life, and they claim the exact spot for their nesting every year, for about 25 years! The male and female share the responsibility for guarding the nest, and they have interesting patterns of behavior with each other...lots of necking. You'll see. The cape itself is beautiful, and a geologists dream (of which I am definitely not, but still, interesting). You can see all the layers of sediment, and you can even see the fault lines evidencing prior earthquakes where the earth shifted. It was a great trip. Highly recommend it.
We hit the Hastings farmer's market, then headed out to the ocean to enjoy the sun.. What a life.
