Gisborne and Napier

We stayed one night in Gisborne, and from the looks of the place, one night is enough.  The town seems to be mostly industrial, and even then hanging on its last legs.  The place we stayed, the Senator Motor Inn, is right on a very busy street.  Unless you are upstairs, I wouldn’t recommend it.  If you stuck your hand off of our balcony you would likely get hit by a passing cars side mirror!

The restaurant we had dinner at, the Ussco Bar and Grill, was really quite excellent, and it’s right next to the hotel.  It’s the home of a former shipping company, the Union Steamship Company.  I used to work for a steamship company, but we didn’t deal with many steamships.  There are still steamships in the trade though, Matson sails several of them between Hawaii and the mainland, at least for a few more years until new rules will make them obselete.

We did take a walk down the waterfront, and found several historical markers along the way, including this statue of Captain Cook.

This was the first spot Captain Cook landed in New Zealand in 1769, seeking food and water.  As the sign on the statue indicates, one of the Maori natives was killed due to confusion over traditional challenges from the Maori.  Cook and his crew had to withdraw back to his ship after only being able to acquire a few herbs to combat scurvy.  This encounter was the first time the Maori had ever experienced musket fire.  Cook named the bay Poverty Bay since they couldn’t get any provisions….a name that still remains.

The next day we drove south to Napier, and stopped at Matawhero winery along the way.

Beautiful spot, but the wines were just ok.  We are hoping for better wines in the Hawke’s Bay region, just outside Napier.

The drive from Gisborne to Napier is about 3 hours, and it’s more of the same twisty up and down stuff, but the countryside is beautiful and nearly untouched.   If you like driving in the country, this is for you!

Our hotel in Napier, the Pebble Beach Inn, is much nicer, maybe the nicest place we have stayed in New Zealand so far.  The beds are super comfortable….I felt like I was waking from a coma this morning!  The views from our glassed in balcony are excellent.

That grass across the street is likely normally green, but New Zealand is experiencing a terrible drought right now, so a lot of places that are normally green are looking a bit burnt.  The golf courses in particular are looking quite sad!

We walked around town, and it’s definitely more scenic than Gisborne, but it’s still quite crowded, particularly with a cruise ship in port.  Napier is known for their Art Deco style of architecture.  Following an earthquake in the 1931, most of the town was leveled, so they had a clean slate to build something new.  Not really our style, but the locals seem very proud of it!

They even offer tours around town.  We saw a bunch of people taking pictures of a staircase.  I looked at it and couldn’t figure out why, but then I wasn’t wearing the fancy headset that explained it all.

We had dinner at Pacifica, and they offer a 5 course seafood menu with paired wines for $115 each, which is really quite a bargain.  Keep in mind that’s about $70 US each, and that included 5 glasses of pretty damn good wine!  Definitely a must visit if you come to Napier.

The next day we had booked a wine tour with Prinsy’s Tours.  Ian was our guide for the day, and he did an excellent job.

We hit 5 wineries, had an excellent pizza lunch at the 2nd winery, and went to the top of Te Mata Peak all between 10:30 AM and 5:00 PM.  The wineries we hit were:

1. 1. 1. Linden Estate Winery – we bought a bottle of Port, really excellent!
      2. Moana Park – excellent pizza!  We bought a bottle of Sauv Blanc here…very good.
      3. Trinity Hill
      4. Ash Ridge Wines – see note below
      5. Pask Winery

At Ash Ridge Wines they have a label called Alti, which is short for an “alternative” style of wines.  Their Riesling was the best wine of the day for me, so we ordered a case and will have it shipped to the US.  Truly a “wow” wine!  If you have any interest, check out the link.

Here was the lineup at Linden Estate….all of the wineries were pouring a lot of wines.  I’m not complaining since Ian is driving!

The tasting room at Trinity Hill.

The winery region directional sign outside Ash Ridge.

Our small group at Pask Winery.  There were only 4 of us with Ian, versus some of the other groups that were far too many.

The view from Te Mata Peak.  Unfortunately it was a bit of a hazy day.

If you come to Hawkes Bay, make sure you contact Prinsy’s Tours and ask for Ian!  Here is the link.

Next up, Martinborough and Wellington.