Booze and Birds

Booze and Birds
Napier, New Zealand

Napier, New Zealand

We had heard so much about Hawkes Bay the home of Napier that we really were excited to arrive here, the first thing that we noticed as we drove into the area was that for the first time in weeks the roads were flat and straight and we could actually see more than a mile ahead of us. The roads were lined with vineyards and orchards and the sun was shining. Not only was the sun shining it was actually hot, hot enough to remover our coats and jumpers and even to wear shorts and flip flops, ahhhhgghh now that it more like it.

Having been camping for a couple of weeks we decided to set up a couch surf in Napier, they could only take us for a night but that is good enough to have a bit of a rest and a bathroom in the house is such a treat after weeks of trudging through cold wet fields to the toilets in the dark.

So we set off to find Terry’s house. We knew that Terry lived out in the sticks on a vineyard but we thought that it would be fun, we put our trust in Tom Tom and just for a change Tom Tom had no idea where we were or where we were going. We pulled into one drive and we faced with an angry looking man and an even angrier Rottweiler, he begrudgingly directed us 3 doors down. Sadly three doors down on a dusty farm lane littered with old sheds is not the clearest of directions and yet again we pulled into a drive and were faced with another angry man and an even bigger angrier Rottweiler. They directed us one stop next door and eventually we got to Terry’s house and were faced with the biggest most terrifying German Shephard barking at the door. I wound up my window and refused to get out.

Surprisingly Tim was a lot braver than me, possibly because he didn’t have a huge dog at his door looking like it wanted a Pom for dinner. He got out and when Terry appeared and assured me that the dog was not going to eat me I also got out. It turns out that Tia is an amazing guard dog when it comes to scaring people but she is actually just a huge cuddly bear and was as soft as can be.

Terry was a great host, he sent us out for a walk in the vineyards, had an entire lamb in the oven for Tim and even cracked open some of his bootleg wine which he had made with his neighbour, it was 20% Pino Gris and 80% sauvignon and it was STRONG! We spent the evening chatting and putting the world to rights over glass after glass of Terry’s wine and eventually it was time to call it a night.

After the first warm night we had experienced in NZ we already loved Hawkes Bay and we hadn’t even seen the beautiful Napier yet.

Terry sent us on a little side trip up Te Mata peak to get some great views over the city. We were a bit concerned about the steep and narrow road so didn’t take Blondini all the way up but we had a walk and sure did get some great views back over Napier and Hastings.

Despite our wine hangovers we had a tour booked for the afternoon to Cape Kidnappers to see the Gannet colony. Recommended by our friend Susan we hopped on the back of a big trailer which is pulled by a tractor along the beach to the colony.

The journey along the beach was just amazing, the cliffs had fault lines galour, you could see the different sedimentary layers from old rivers, old leaves and even the old eruption of Taupo. As amazing as it was it was equally terrifying as there were fresh landslides everywhere and at the top of the massive cliffs you could see trees holding on with just the smallest of roots.

Cape Kidnappers was named by yes you guessed it, Captain James Cook. Endeavour made landfall at the Cape on the 15 October 1769. A young Tahitian crew member was in the water near the Endeavour when a Maori fishing boat came over and dragged him aboard. Sailors from the Endeavour opened fire killing two of the fishermen and enabled the young crewman to escape. So that is how Cape Kidnappers got its name.

Nowadays Cape Kidnappers is famous for its amazing gannet colony which is home to over 3000 pairs of breeding Australasian Gannets.

We didn’t quite realise that it was still a massive hike from the beach up to the gannet colony and leaving our water on the tractor was a terrible idea especially with the cotton wool mouth we both had after a night on Terry’s wine. But once we were at the top it was so worth it. The wind was absolutely wild, we dare not go near the edge of the cliff as we were in real danger of being blown off. But the benefit of this was that the gannets were just hovering above us in the wind making for the most perfect photos. We were at the colony just before the chicks were hatching but just watching these incredible birds sitting on their eggs was a sight to behold.

We were tired, we were sun burned we were wind lashed by salt and sand having been on the back of the trailer for hours so all we wanted was a hot shower and dinner. We headed to our campsite in Hastings, parked up Blondini and set off to the shower block. I genuinely have no idea what Tim does in the shower but he just always manages to take twice as long as I do. Unfortunately in NZ on so many of the campsites regardless of how much the pitch is they still make you pay a dollar for a 4 minute shower. For me a 4 minute shower is fine, for Tim he always needs 2 dollars so I set him off with his 2 dollar pocket money and went for my shower.

I got back to Blondini and unbelievably Tim was already there, I made a joke as this is almost unheard of and the poor boy looked like he was fit to cry. So it turned out that these showers have the money box to start the hot water outside the shower. So as I had done Tim got everything unpacked and ready to make the most of his shower, he put on his towel opened the door, put in the money and got in the shower ready for hot water. But there was no hot water. He let it run and run and yet still no hot water. So he put on his towel to check the box outside and realised that the box he had put his money in was for the shower room next door, ha ha ha. What a plonker. So Tim had to struggle through with a 4 minute shower than still cost him 2 dollars, he was not a happy boy.

Thankfully dinner was all set to cheer him up, we had read online that Hastings has a Dairy (a corner shop that sells takeaway food) called the Lantern Light Dairy, which is renowned for selling chicken and chips which is so loved by the locals they sell more than KFC, in NZ this is something to be proud of, so we headed over to see if the hype was true. By the look of glee on Tim’s face this was pretty good chicken and the chips were pretty good too.

Our last day and we just had time for a tour of the city of Napier. Hit by a massive earthquake on the 3 February 1931, most of Napier and the neighbouring Hastings was levelled and when it was rebuilt they used the Art Deco style that was popular at the time. This has left Napier as one of the best preserved Art Deco towns in the world along side Miami Beach in Florida.

We absolutely loved the vibe of Napier, the op shops were filled with 20’s clothing, it was warm and calm and just a great city. Every February it holds an Art Deco festival where everyone brings out their old restored cars and dresses up, we are so gutted that we are going to miss it.

Any excuse to go to Napier again and we are there.

However we have no time to spare as we need to get to Wellington to undertake a very important cat sitting job!

Owl and Piglet were coming!!