Hawkes Bay Wineries

Whilst in wine country in would be rude not to partake, so this afternoon we visited several wineries to sample their wines. First stop was Mission Estate, the oldest winery in NZ which was originally run by monks. Now it is most famous for its annual concert.




Then onto Ngatarawa to get one of our favourite wines, the Alwyn Chardonnay. We also got to sample some of their new wines which can only be purchased at the cellar door which feature some of the local producers - each wine is selected to go with the relevant produce.


The third winery of the day was one of the newest, Salvare, but they had just won cellar door of the year so we popped in to check out their wines and food produce they had on sale.





The final stop was Trinity Hill where we got to taste some fabulous wines, including a $120 bottle of Syrah - stunning but slightly out of our price range! We headed back to the motel with much emptier wallets and lots of wine boxes!

Napier Art Deco Walk

Napier is famous for its art deco architecture, as the city rebuilt following the 1931 earthquake which devastated the majority of the city. The Daily Telegraph building, now a real estate agent, is one of the most famous buildings.




This building is Napier's finest hotel and the extension mirrors the original art deco so well it is difficult to see which is the add on.





The Masonic was once a hotel, but as with a lot of old buildings, this has now been converted to a bar and restaurant.






Near the waterfront, this fountain was built in 1936, and lights up at night.






The bronze statue is of Pania, who according to Maori legend was lured out to sea and when she tried to return she was transformed into the Pania Reef which lies off shore.

Arrival in Napier

Leg two of the tiki tour and we are in Napier. On route we stopped off in Te Mata to visit the winery and the cheese shop - making purchases from both.





First stop in Napier was the Bluff Hill lookout with views down to the port.






We then looked at the regeneration of the harbour with a lot of the old warehouses now converted to bars and apartments. This was our first look at some art deco architecture, now a bar.





This is the view from the motel, the monument represents where the sun rose for the millennium.

Telecom Christmas Tree, Wellington

This evening we headed to Frank Kitts park the home of the Telecom Christmas Tree. The lights are constantly changing colour and light up when the children phone Santa from the phone boxes attached.








Telecom have provided waterproof beanbags for people to lie on under the tree, as can be seen in the picture above. Everyone was lying on their backs looking up into the tree.

Te Papa Museum, Wellington

This afternoon we explored Te Papa museum, set on the waterfront.







The biggest draw is the colossal squid which was captured by a NZ fishing boat a couple of years ago and has been preserved.






There were also areas on earthquakes and volcanoes including a shaking earthquake house, plus a large map of NZ where you could stand on different locations which would light up a photo of the area on the wall sent in by Kiwis.




We then did a bit of the bush walk (not as good as the real thing) but it did give great views back to the city

Wellington

This morning we headed to the Parliament Buildings to do the tour, firstly we explored the grounds to see the iconic Beehive building (more an administrative building) and Parliament House which is the location of the debating chambers.




The Parliamentary Library is also within the grounds. The tour takes you through all three buildings, a high security area so no photos allowed inside.




From Parliament we then walked along the waterfront, Royston spotted a little blue penguin swimming around, must have got a bit lost!





We then walked down Courtnay Place - where all the bars and restaurants are located. At the end of the road is the Embassy Theatre where they were holding the NZ Premiere of Peter Jackson's latest film, The Lovely Bones. We watched them setting up and rolling out the red carpet but decided not to return that evening to watch the stars arrive.


Then back to the waterfront with the NZX stock exchange showing the number of days to the Rugby World Cup rather than the latest share prices!

Wellington Cable Car

Having reached Wellington by mid afternoon, we decided to head up to the cable car as it was a fine day. The top of the hill gives great views over the city but as it was living up to its name of Windy Welly we decided not to spend much time exploring the botanical gardens at the top.



Instead we had a quick wander around the museum showing the history of the cable car (an old example pictured here) before heading back down into town.