Hawke's Bay area, Wine Country and Art Deco in Napier

View from Te Mata overlooking the Tararua mountain range

View from Te Mata looking towards Napier and Hawkes Bay

Cape Kidnappers Golf Course

Great fun getting together with Jeff and Beverly who we met in Tonga

Fun to find a Starbucks - coffee was twice as expensive as at h!ome; no wonder there where no lines out the door

Our refurbished Art Deco hotel - The Masonic

Another of the many Art Deco buildings in downtown Napier

Hawke's Bay area, Wine Country and Art Deco in Napier

Sept 15-17,  2015

Tuesday we took a relaxing drive to the east coast, over the Tararua Range and into wine country. A lot of it reminded us of the Niagara area only more extensive. With the mountains blocking the NW prevailing winds and the sea to the east the climate is warmer than in Wellington, about 20C. It felt like we drove into spring for a few days with the daffodils, magnolias, and fruit trees in bloom. We stopped occasionally along the way and found a hotel along the ocean in Napier.

In 1931 a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit central Napier. Besides 7000 acres of land lifted from the seabed, massive fires finished the destruction of the downtown area. In 2 years it had all been rebuilt, all in Art Deco, the style of the 30's. Nearby areas that survived are mostly from the inter wars years and also tell a story of the mood of the times. There is an info building offering walking tours, movies, and self guided booklets. We staedy at one of the classic hotels downtown, the Masonic, with a balcony looking out over the beach, for a reasonable price in low season. The land for the beachfront and road along it were all created by the earthquake. Not all bad!

On Wed we drove out to Havilock North. We were tracking down Jeff Whittaker and his wife, Beverly, who we met on their sailboat in Tonga. He has a pharmacy there and we were lucky enough to catch them at work. Lucky also to get an invitation to dinner and to see their beautiful new home up on a hill overlooking the bay. Jeff did most of the building and landscaping himself in a modern style. It was hard for me to believe what 7 years of growth can look like compared to Toronto. With the moderating effect of being on an island the winters rarely get below freezing so there is a long growing season. The evening was a chance to swap more sailing stories and to hear about the passages we each had done since leaving Neiafu. Our sail to Fiji was fine compared to Jeff's with 3 days of winds about 65kn! And then ending their trip with going on a reef near Musket Cove. Repairs are being done near Vuda Point Marina and then Jeff and his son will fly up to sail it back to NZ for the cyclone season.

There is a high mountain in Havilock North, Te Mata, that was worth the drive to view the sights from above. The hills remind us more of Scotland or Ireland. Lots of sheep and cattle as we had been told, about 7 sheep for every inhabitant. Another good viewing spot was at the end of Cape Kidnapper's which is the home of a world renowned golf course by the same name and ranked number 22 in the world by Golf Digest recently. We had to go see it even though we weren't going to play. Green fees are $349 in low season, over $500 in summer. We also needed to stop at, at least, one winery for a tasting. Thurs we returned along the west coast for a change of scenery.

We wanted to be back for Thursday night when Becky teaches swing dancing. A new session for beginners was starting and Rob and I decided to try it. We survived! Dan was in a more advanced class. He has kept at the practicing to be able to do it with Becky for fun. And it did look like fun in the social dance time following classes.

There is a cable car that you can take from downtown up to the university. Friday we took a ride on it, and spent some time browsing through a museum for the cable car and others like it over the years. It gets a lot of use. We also returned to Te Papa, the national museum. Today, Saturday, we are having dinner with Becky's family in Upper Hut, about a half hour from here. We are looking forward to meeting them. It is raining for the first time this week and a number of spring flowers have come out around the house. Sunday we fly back to Australia and back to summer. Looking ahead we see the temperature in Singapore and Jakarta is 34C. By then we'll be wishing for some of this cool air.

Thanks to Dan and Becky for letting us take their car for a few days.