Thursday Feb 1 - A wild and windy day!

Today was one of our longest travel days, from Wellington up to Taupo, so it didn’t matter too much what the weather was, but a cyclone moved up the country and it has been pretty wild!  

We started out the day dry in super windy Wellington.  Here are some views out over the city from Mt. Victoria.  

We met some Californians yesterday who were crossing Cook Strait on the ferry today.  Glad it wasn’t us!

The trip up was relatively uneventful and not too photogenic.  We did find a windmill

A very low flying airplane (one of two at restaurants we saw)

And a sign that apparently South Africans will love!

Big news in the local paper!

And some weather shots from Auckland on TV tonight.

Should be a bit better tomorrow.

Wednesday Jan 31 - We get schooled!

The National Museum of New Zealand is right opposite our hotel, it’s one of the main attractions in Wellington, and......... it’s free! Need we say more?

We started out with a walk on the waterfront again and got to the museum just before it opened.  There is a cruise ship in town and we were worried sbout lines but it turns out they let them in early so ‘no worries!’

We also came across this place. Do you have a copyright on the name Joey?

At the museum we started out on the earthquake simulator. Big Mistake!  It simulates an earthquake in a home felt up in the Bay of Plenty in the 1980’s, but only 1/50th of the actual force.  Wow! We were both feeling queasy after this for nearly an hour, it’s very unsettling.

The museum has many natural and ciltural exhibits as well as a fantastic tribute to the Kiwi’s who fought at Gallipoli. They say war is hell and this really brought it home.  The supersize lifelike figures are modelled in tremendous detail.

We also found out who invented the bra!

After several hours we went on and found the downtown shopping area as well as the parliament buildings.  The cable car is iconic and of course we had to take a ride to the top. It has a good lookout over the city and harbour but sadly the day had turned cloudy by then.

Too bad I stared at the wrong notice!

Tonight we’re going spicy for dinner and then tomorrow we head back up island to Lake Taupo.  The heat serms to have dissipated for now. 

Tuesday Jan 30 - The Southest.....

.... either of us have ever been, and that includes a lady that lived in Cape Town!  41 degrees of latitude south.

We left Napier this morning and head headed south through the wine country we so enjoyed yesterday.  It is just over a 4 hour drive down to Wellington so we got on the road just before 9.

Keen observers of blog facts may have noticed not a single picture of sheep yet.  Actually, we have seen way more cows but we tried hard to get a super sheepy shot for you today.  When you see them the herds can be immense but New Zealand’s narrow roads often make stopping to get a picture impossible or dangerous.  We will keep trying though.

We went through some interesting towns today, Scandinavian Dannevirke, cute as heck Greytown, and we stopped for lunch in Martinborough at Tirohana Estate winery.  Our shared food plate was delicious but Julian managed to insult the server over the pinot noir which somehow tasted like cold mulled wine - apparently that is the style there. His appalling manners did spare The from having to comment on the Sauvignon Blanc which was just as odd.  Strange, we had wines yesterday grown from Martinborough grapes but they were much better.

After lunch we got back in the car to see the thermometer reading 46C!  It wasn’t that hot but the high 30’s would not be an exaggeration!  We then drove up and through the Rumitaki pass, another excellent potential motorcycling road.

Finally we arrived in Wellington mid-afternoon.  It’s an interesting looking city around a huge natural harbour.  It’s too soon to say much about it yet but the waterfront walk and marine activity is extensive and interesting.  We are in a very modern, very artistic hotel situated right by the National Museum of New Zealand which is rated as one of the top attractions here.  We just have to beat the cruise ship passengers there tomorrow.

Some waterfront sights.

Some prawn shaped public toilets for the collection of weird loos!

While we enjoyed a drink the Cook Straight ferry docked right in front of us.

Sculpture depicting the first Maori explorers.

Also, we had our best meal yet in New Zealand tonight at a waterfront restaurant, and that is saying something as the quality of cuisine here has been pretty good all round.

Tomorrow we have a day to explore the city on foot and it looks like the weather will cooperate.

Meanwhile here is a look at some of the eccentric art in our hotel

Monday Jan 29th - we’re on familiar ground!

We have the whole day in Napier and so, after a nice morning walk along the beachfront, past the National Aquarium of New Zealand and back into town for coffee we decided to spend the day.......... wine tasting!

Before we get to that, Napier is one of the coolest towns we have been to yet.  They really play on the art deco theme and many people take city and wine tours in antique vehicles with period dress driver/guides. An idea for the Okanagan?

We put our faith in Google Maps and drove off out to wine country. There are distinct growing regions here with markedly different climates and soils.

First stop was the stunning Craggy Range Vineyard.  Top marks for design and some lovely wines.

Our tasting host is from Texas.

Loved their unusual Sauvignon Blanc, one is now hitch-hiking with us.

The view of craggy range from the winery. It looks great for hiking!

From there we moved on to Black Barn winery. A rose left with us.

Next stop, and a long one, was at Te Awa. First class wines and the best tasting we have ever been treated to.  Thanks Rachel.  They make New Zealand’s top rated Chardonnay and a very interesting wine it is.

There is a rose in this bag too!

Unbelievable soil structure, if you can even call it soil!

They have a beautiful restaurant where we had lunch.

This region is so like the Okanagan you could mistake one for the other.  We felt right at home and once again had the tasting bars pretty much to ourselves. Fantastic to just talk wine, we are getting spoiled!

Sunday Jan 28th - further into wine country...

... and art deco!

Following a nice outdoor breakfast we took a drive up Kaiti hill.  No, we didn’t make it for first light but there was a light sea fog first thing that would have spoiled the views (that’s our excuse anyway!).

Views up there are amazing and we can only imagine the oh s—t! feeling the Maoris must have had when they first sighted English sails coming their way.

We really enjoyed Gisborne, here is a look over the town.

From there we drove south down to Napier. A stop in Wairoa on the way proved disappointing but on the outskirts of Napier we found our first winery - Esk Valley - and old habits die hard, we had to do a tasting. Joy! We were the only people there so we had time to sample their selection and talk wine. We were even asked if we were in the wine business!

Phillip is South African and pretty soon the Afrikaans began to flow as well as the wine.

He even unlocked the production facilities and took us to see the original square concrete fermentation tanks that they used to line with wax.  Sadly, this winery was bought some time back by Villa Maria and this is it’s last year. They are building a new $50M winery further inland.  Anyway, wine was sampled, wine was bought, and we are enjoying a very nice Chardonnay right now as I write this blog!

On into Napier and a lunch at West Quay.  They have renovated some of the original docks and warehouses as a restaurant district.

Something we didn’t know about Napier is the prominent art deco style of architecture here.  An earthquake in 1931 levelled much of the town and it was all rebuilt in the art deco style. Today it is one of the world’s finest collections of art deco structures. An evening stroll along the beachfront and through the main shop was delightful.

Tomorrow we are going to hit the vineyards and wineries with purpose!