An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
We had a lovely breakfast in the renouned (at least in Napier) Anatole’s Cafe, served by Jill, the most harried waitress in Hawkes Bay. We took a quick walk around this Art Deco City, snapping a few photos. We drove away, with a quick stop to admire the view of the bay and the endless beach.
We took a short detour to the Te Mata Winery to admire the pretty setting and architecture and to taste some of their notable selections. Though a bit early, we had established enough of a base at breakfast so we didn’t have to spit. If we lived here, we would probably have bought some of their whites; the reds were too young. Next stop was the Te Mata Peak lookout, which was atop a large hill and afforded a wonderful panoramic view of Hawkes Bay, the surrounding vineyards and towns, and the bare rolling hills to the north. It was then off for today’s long drive to Wellington.
The drive was first a few hours through farmlands, looking much like the fertile agricultural valleys of California or South Africa. Then across a small mountain range, where we got rained on just while we were in the woods. As we emerged from the mountains and drove south, we stopped at the Mt. Bruce Nature Preserve. It’s not a zoo (as we were admonished upon entering), rather a breeding place and project for endangered aviary species of New Zealand, including their beloved Kiwi - the flightless bird.
We had neither the time nor desire to exercise the necessary patience to locate all the birds within their aviaries, but we did see many of the more readily visible (and vocal) ones. The loop walk itself, though, was just fabulous, as the air was cool and crystal clean and the forest though which we walked was lush and lovely, filled with ferns, palms, and even some large transplanted redwoods. (they were planted in the 1950s to see if certain non-native species could be introduced here. Though these did indeed flourish, the sign said “fortunately no more have been planted”. We’ve learned that this country is quite xenophobic, even regarding foreign plant life!) Then back in the car for the remaining drive to Wellington.
We crossed a mountainous pass, with a great view of the valley that funnels into the southern tip of the North Island. We finally arrived at our hotel for the night, and unpacked everything from the car. We settled into our room, Milton went for a workout, and we then enjoyed a delicious room service dinner of a grilled chicken sandwich, a mediterean vegetable terrine and some salmon tartar. We then watched the movie “The Ice Storm” (geez, if they would only communicate the whole movie could have been 20 minutes long) and called it a night.