November 22 - New Zealand: Rotorua to Napier via Taupo (North Island)
How To Disassemble a Tent in the Rain
It poured rain all night long and we are so proud of our little tent! We woke up bone dry and skeptically eyed the mosquitoes that were hovering outside the tent. They were having a little mosquito party between the tent and the rain cover above the zipper door. We could hear them buzzing, "Heyzzzzz! Look at themzzzzzz! They think they're getting through without bitezzzzz! Silly humanzzzzz." But we had to go to the bathroom so we braved it anyway. Yick.
We made breakfast it the kitchen - running supplies back and forth between the car and the kitchen in the rain. Then, suddenly, there was a respite in the rain so we ran outside and disassembled the tent in record time. After breakfast, we finished cleaning up and got into the car to drive to Taupo.
Skydiving rescheduled (again!)
We drove the hour to Taupo, where we'd scheduled a tandem skydive at 10:30. But the clouds didn't look like they were clearing up and we didn't know what to expect. We drove to the Taupo Airport and found the skydiving company we were scheduled with. When we walked in, the funny girl at the counter said, "Why kind of crazies are you? Skydiving on a day like today!? What a bunch of nutters." So it turns out that they don't do jumps on rainy days. She said that the rain is like rocks hitting hitting you in the face. So she recommended a few places on the South Island we should try. But if they don't work out then we'll go through Taupo on our way back to Auckland at the end of the month.
Drive to Napier
Back in the car, we drove through the rain to Napier - one of the main wine producing counties in New Zealand. Jon is thrilled! He loves this stuff. The weather seemed to be clearing and the sun was actually out when we arrived in Napier. So it's all good.
The drive was lovely, and as soon as we saw the first winery we pulled over to do a tasting. But I'll go into that detail in a bit. Before doing the bulk of our winery visits, we found the Snapper Campsite and set up our tent. Snapper is right on the beach. (Well, up a small hill and right on the beach) But it's a nice little place and the amenities are good. We got everything set up and put out our laundry to dry on the clothes lines. Then we went to a small fish-and-chips place down the road where we enjoyed some yummy fish and chips which was served to us in newspaper.
Jon digs into his Fish and Chips
Then we hit the wineries! Here's where we went, what we thought, and what we bought (if anything):
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Linden Estate Esk Valley RD2 Napier Ph: 06 836-6806 email: lindenwines@xtra.co.nz
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Liked the reds, bought a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon |
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Eskdale Winegrowers State Highway 2 Bay View Ph: 06 836-6302 email: salonius@xtra.co.nz |
Garden work being done out front. Didn't care for the wines much. |
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Crab Farm Winery 511 Main Road Bay View, Napier Ph: 06 836-6678 email: info@crabfarmwinery.co.nz |
Loved the reds, bought a bottle of Chardonnay, wished we had more room for their Reserve Cabernet. |
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Mission Estate Winery Corner Avenue & Church Rds PO Box 7403 Taradale Ph: 06 844-6048 |
Old mission that used to make wine. Bought a bottle of the Hawkes Bay Cabernet Merlot. |
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Church Road Winery 150 Church Road PO Box 7095 Taradale Ph: 06 844-2053 email: chrd@montanawines.co.nz |
Didn't really care for the wines.
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Brookfields Winery Brookfields Road, Meeanee PO Box 7174 Taradale Ph: 06 834-4615 |
Very informative tasting by the owner, John. Bought a bottle of the Merlot, wished we had room for the Chardonnay & the great Syrah, both of which are gold medal winners. Met a couple from Alexandria, VA!
I especially liked this place because of its quaintness and the original "Tasting Notes". Such as: "A rare wine in that it inspires as much enjoyment as it does intellectual consideration". (for the Pinot Gris 2001) Or... "Wine for pasta and lively conversation" (Bergman Chardonnay 2000), "Behold its strength of character, smile at the silk of its tannins, and wink at its charming price" (Ohiti Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2000), and finally "Michael Jackson could have made this" (Syrah 2000). When we asked about the Michael Jackson comment - which was the last comment of the tasting notes - he replied that he had been tasting as he was writing, and just got a bit carried away. :) |
At Mission Estate Winery
Around Napier
After we were all wined out we decided to drive around Napier. Despite the morning and afternoon rains, the evening turned out quite nice. The town of Napier is known for its art deco architecture. The entire town was leveled in 1931 by a massive earthquake, and it was rebuilt in the style of the 30s and 40s. The city has tried to maintain that tradition, although most of the best architecture is in the "pedestrian mall". We walked out to the beach and shivered a bit, but still enjoyed the little rocks on the beach. No sand, just rocks.
Napier Beach
We also strolled around the downtown area and were very surprised that everything was closed at 5:30 at night. Just as well, I suppose. We were hungry and didn't want too many more distractions.
Romantic Beachfront Sunset Dinner
Back at camp, we planned to have the rest of our steak, fresh veggies, and to top it off with our new bottle of Mission Estate Hawkes Bay Cabernet. Unfortunately, the grill next to the kitchen didn't work so the office manager told Jon to go up the hill to one of the cabin grills. We synchronized our watches and Jon walked up the hill with the grill stuff. I stayed in the kitchen and finished cooking the veggies and potatoes. When the time was right, I put the pans and pot in the passenger seat of the car and drove dinner up the hill to meet Jon. It was perfect timing because he had just finished the steaks. We had dinner on a lovely picnic bench overlooking the ocean. The wine was delicious, even if it was served it in cheap plastic cups.
Our lovely post-dinner sunset