Napier, Hastings, Havelock North - Hawkes Bay

It's took me ages to get the Auckland post done and now I have some more spare time and a computer at home (our Apple Mac is currently incapacitated - potentially expired) I seem to have a lot of catching up to do.....

A couple of weekends ago we decided that because we are running out of time we HAD to race up to the Hawkes Bay. It's allegedly one of the sunniest places in NZ, it's full of wineries and the scenery is supposed to be spectacular - so we shot off straight after work on the Friday and headed North East.

We were staying with a colleague of Katie's from the Tennis world - Trevor, and his wife Meryn. They were really really nice and welcoming and we had a lovely time staying at their house in the town of Clive. Trevor is a tennis coach who has a tennis court in his back garden with a small shed with a fridge, kettle etc for mid-coaching drinks and snacks for player and parents, what a great idea. Trevor is also really into his football so there was a lot of chat about tennis and football over the weekend. Trevor and Meryn have a couple of kids but they were also looking after their daughter's friend and they were also hosting a German exchange student - they certainly have a busy old house.

After a late one on the first night chatting sport we got up and went for a wander around Napier. It's an interesting place - it's predominantly Art Deco stylee since they had to rebuild the whole place after a devastating 7.8 earthquake in 1931 reduced pretty much the whole town to rubble.

This photo montage isn't my creation - my photos are on my camera and I can't process them due to the condition of the Mac. ;o(

It is funny though because as with most things in period styling, the buildings look really dated - truly old buildings are timeless but Art Deco just looks out of place these days. (in my opinion - pictures to follow) But it's certainly very unique - an Art Deco town. (as far as I know)

So after a bit of sightseeing on our own, Trevor took us a wee trip up the local big hill called Te Mata Peak.

Stunning views all the way to the Centre of the North Island by the way and it was a glorious day - we just missed on on seeing all the way to Ruapehu however (where we went skiing).

Katie and I then went on a quick tour of some wineries.............

Sileni Estate

hmm, Church Road...

Mission Estate

The other thing we did in our short stay in Napier was to head out for dinner and afterwards we were able to catch up with my best friend from primary school - Neil McGinley.

We basically got in touch via facebook a while back and realised we were both in New Zealand and this was an ideal opportunity to get meet up. We met in a pub and reminisced about the good old days over a few beers - it was certainly a blast from the past! It was really interesting hearing all his news and Neil's been a busy guy since moving here, he has a wife and a son now and is a qualified electrician. Who knows when we will catch up again - in another 20 years?

             

On the way back to Welly we took an alternative route and ended up driving past the Tui brewery which is a New Zealand icon.......here is what the brewery looks like in the adverts...

Unfortunately the girls weren't at work on the day we visited so I had to settle for a couple of less exciting photographs....

Tui are also well known for their controversial adverts which are actually quite funny and generate the desired media attention.

Here's one of our own......

So that's that.....we now have two weeks left in New Zealand and our travels around the country are now at an end. Next Friday we both leave our jobs, hand our car, laptops, keys and everything back and we will offically be unemployed travellers again. Scary stuff!