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Jackman Travels
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Location Date Europe 1322524800 Africa 1322352000 Asia 1268179200 Oceania 
1263686400 South America 1258934400 -
Location Date New Zealand
1263686400 New South Wales 1262044800 -
Location Date Christchurch 1263686400 Aoraki/mount Cook 1263600000 Queenstown 1263427200 Fox Glacier 1263168000 Nelson 1262908800 Picton 1262822400 Kaikoura 1262649600 Taupo 1260144000 Napier
1259971200 Rotorua 1259798400 Whitianga 1259625600 Paihia 1259366400 Auckland 1259193600
So... We didn't really intend to come to Napier yet, but we got to Taupo (our intended destination) and the weather was so rubbish that we decided it wasn't the right time to be staying in a resort which is all about the views so carried on down the road to beautiful Napier.
(We should note that we went to the Craters of the Moon park between rotorua and taupo, another thermal park which was worth the $6 but not really the place to be in the rain).
Napier is famed for it's Art Deco architecture which dominates the town following an earthquake in the 1930s. It's lovely just to stroll around, soaking up the architecture. It is also in the heart of the Hawkes Bay wine region, one of the main reasons for our interest. We stayed at a really good hostel with very helpful owners (and an extensive DVD collection), Archie's Bunker.
The clear highlight of our time in Napier was our wine touring - one day in the car and a second on bikes. In the car, we could explore far and wide, checking out some views of cracking landscape. We could also take in a spot of strawberry picking (and eating fresh strawberry ice cream, of course), cheese tasting as well as sampling a couple of wineries - Matariki and Black Barn. At the latter we were smitten and were FORCED to buy a lovely bottle of pinot noir - well, we had to buy something to go with the cheese we'd bought earlier!
The wineries are set up in such a welcoming way - you just stroll up to the 'Cellar Door' (basically the shop) and say 'we'd like to do some tasting' and they start pouring you wine. Wonderful wine.
On our second day, we used pedal power to get round the wineries and luckily the weather was beautiful. The Hawkes Bay region is very flat... which is good as it means there are no hills to cycle up... but it is also bad as it means there are no hills to freewheel down!. Our legs got so sore that we had to make unscheduled stops at a chocolate factory (liquid chocolate - yum), and a microbrewery. You can imagine our horror. To make things right, when we got home, we HAD to go to the spa over the road and lie in jacuzzis etc for a while. As a side note, we really did cycle quite far - we were on the move for at least half an hour between each of the four wineries so actually didn't end up all that tipsy. See - sensible drinking as ever.
(We should note that we went to the Craters of the Moon park between rotorua and taupo, another thermal park which was worth the $6 but not really the place to be in the rain).
Napier is famed for it's Art Deco architecture which dominates the town following an earthquake in the 1930s. It's lovely just to stroll around, soaking up the architecture. It is also in the heart of the Hawkes Bay wine region, one of the main reasons for our interest. We stayed at a really good hostel with very helpful owners (and an extensive DVD collection), Archie's Bunker.
The clear highlight of our time in Napier was our wine touring - one day in the car and a second on bikes. In the car, we could explore far and wide, checking out some views of cracking landscape. We could also take in a spot of strawberry picking (and eating fresh strawberry ice cream, of course), cheese tasting as well as sampling a couple of wineries - Matariki and Black Barn. At the latter we were smitten and were FORCED to buy a lovely bottle of pinot noir - well, we had to buy something to go with the cheese we'd bought earlier!
The wineries are set up in such a welcoming way - you just stroll up to the 'Cellar Door' (basically the shop) and say 'we'd like to do some tasting' and they start pouring you wine. Wonderful wine.
On our second day, we used pedal power to get round the wineries and luckily the weather was beautiful. The Hawkes Bay region is very flat... which is good as it means there are no hills to cycle up... but it is also bad as it means there are no hills to freewheel down!. Our legs got so sore that we had to make unscheduled stops at a chocolate factory (liquid chocolate - yum), and a microbrewery. You can imagine our horror. To make things right, when we got home, we HAD to go to the spa over the road and lie in jacuzzis etc for a while. As a side note, we really did cycle quite far - we were on the move for at least half an hour between each of the four wineries so actually didn't end up all that tipsy. See - sensible drinking as ever.
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