Hawkes Bay

We caught the Interislander ferry to the north island and spent three nights in the Hawkes Bay area. Hawkes Bay itself is a beautiful Pacific Ocean bay that is anchored by the city of Napier. This leads out to a huge agricultural area (vineyards, fruit trees, market gardens, dairy, sheep, and the list goes on) that runs through and past the city of Hastings to the bottom of a high mountain range that leads back to the port at Wellington. 

I know I have talked about NZ mountain roads before, but the mountain pass from Wellington to Hastings was the worst so far. Steep grades, 70 and 80 percent side slopes, endless curves and barbed wire guard rails for 26 kms.

Loreen said this stretch of road makes the Rogers Pass look like it is on the prairies! New Zealanders, when I make some idiotic statement like, "that sure is a tough piece of road", they always tell me, "oh that road is really good compared to some other places"! They are a patient bunch, as at times I or other camper vans have had up to ten cars behind us, they just wait for a passing lane and away they go. I get a kick out of the curve sign that says "25kms" while right beside it is the 100km speed limit sign.

Schools on the motorways put up signs to thank drivers for not exceeding the 100km speed limit while within the school zone! Oh yes, and pedestrians have "NO right of way". I am adjusting well to all the rules of the road while driving (i.e. driving on the left, the mountain roads, strange road rules, etc.), with the exception of being a pedestrian and trying to cross streets or roads. The only place a pedestrian has the right of way is at light controlled intersections and other than that pedestrians have to "give way" to all vehicles. We read in the paper yesterday of two separate accidents in Wellington where tourists were hit by bus drivers on "uncontrolled" cross walks! Crazy!

I digress, one of the reasons we went to Hawkes Bay was to visit the north island wine region and one of Loreen's favorite Kiwi wineries, Kim Crawford Wines. After picking up a winery guide in Hastings, we find a winery called Te Awanga, formerly site of Kim Crawford wines. Unlike Oyster Bay winery, Loreen's second favorite Kiwi wine and also a must see, Te Awanga at least had a tasting room. We found out that Oyster Bay in the Marlborough Valley has no tasting room. So off to Te Awanga we go to find out what has happened to Kim Crawford wines.

Similar to Oyster Bay, Kim Crawford has been bought out by an international corporate company that has a multitude of alcohol brands all over the world. They have kept the Kim Crawford name and still market wine under that brand, but the wines are no longer made as they were in the past (at a private winery with Kim Crawford being the winemaker) but are now part of a long line of Kim Crawford vintages, some of which are certainly no longer to our taste! Oyster Bay has met a similar fate and although the company still owns the original Oyster Bay vineyards, the original Kim Crawford vineyard is now owned by Te Awanga. Te Awanga has some very, very good wines of their own, but as a small batch winery they do not export to Canada. So sad!

Loreen at Te Awanga, formerly Kim Crawford Wines

Then we were off to Napier where we visited a couple more wineries.

We visited another Catholic sect that had started the vineyard for sacramental wine and then progressed to a corporate entity. We thought we might have lunch there and were quite perplexed at the amount of people in the car park dressed in 1920 and 1930 style. There are numerous dress and antique shops in the downtown that specialize in flapper dresses, hats and 1920 style suits. You can also buy this type of clothing in almost any shop except for the brand name and department type stores.

Napier was destroyed by an earthquake in 1931and was reconstructed in a 1930's style of Art Deco architecture - both the downtown business and residential districts. An art deco celebration is held every year, where people from all over the world come and spend the four day festival in dress of the thirties. They have a large antique car rally and it is strange for me to see a 1957 Ford or Chrysler driving down the road with right hand drive.

We met two really nice New Zealand couples at the campground so we spent a lot of our time visiting and just relaxing. We have seen some special places in NZ and this is just another. The climate in the north island seems similar to San Diego, with little difference throughout the year. Warm, but not overly hot during the days, low humidity and warm nights. Beautiful scenery, great climate, maybe a place to spend our winters on the ocean!