Monday, May 30, 2011

The priests that run the winery...

Hello everyone, (Well anyone who reads my blog!)

Sorry its been like years since I have posted... I was crazy busy with work,  worked like 92 hours in two weeks.. yes... crazy.. but I love it, it was all winter fashion and running around and telling people what to do and coordinating different things and planning! But once I finally finished all of that I got two days off work.  So off Colin and I went to Hawkes Bay for 4 days and we had soo much fun!

On Saturday Morning we woke up and got our little blue car to take on our adventure.  We started off a little rough, somehow got on the wrong highway a few times.. but eventually we made it to Napier.  Napier is a beautiful town right on the east coast of the north island and it was so warm (No wind!)  We got some lunch and did some walking around.  Our first big hike of the trip was up to a place called Bluff Hill.  There is where New Zealands oldest prison is, (Wanted to do a tour but it was expensive) and from there, there are really pretty views of the city.

Below:  - Napier central city area,  us on the beach,  a view from Bluff Hill, and the major port in Napier.





So then we went back into town and got some dinner and headed back to the hostel.  The people staying in the same room as us were from Washington state!  he guy grew up in Mt. Vernon and the girl went to Evergreen, how crazy is that!  We are going to meet up with them in Wellington when they make it down here.

Sunday morning we woke up and headed down to Hastings for their farmers market.  It was super cute with little stalls all having samples.  I got a very good waffle and colin got a good sandwhich.  We then headed to Te Mata Peak which is a big mountain ish type hiking area that overlooks the water and other parts, basically its beautiful... here are some photos! (and introducing to my blog... a VIDEO!)




So after our beautiful 2 hourish hike we headed to this little down called Havelock North which has super cute shops and cafe's.  We went to a fun organic store and they had all my favorite organic brands from back home... expect it was 15.00 for a jar of pickles... but we had lunch and an amazing coffee at this little cafe' and then jumped in the car for our drive to Gisborne.  But first stopping at a chocolate factory! YUMMY, except it wasn't what we thought so we just got a truffle and headed back towards Gisborne.

The drive is only 216K but its SOOO windy it takes forever!  when we finally made it we checked into our little hostel and went down to the beach to catch a little bit of the sun set. 
Gisborne is where Captian Cook landed in New Zealand discovering the country in 1769.  so naturally we got a photo with the statue, and it is located where he actually set foot in NZ!  Also Gisborne is the first place in the world to see the sun each day... cool huh!

 Photos below: - sunset, Captain Cooks statue, the clock tower in town and me on the beach.





On Monday morning, we walked around town and stopped at this little cafe' and bookstore for a coffee up on the deck which overlooked the main city street.  We then headed to a brewery called Sunshine brewing company and got a personal little tour.  They were even brewing at the time and we got to see some of the process.  Colin naturally bought some beer and we got to see their little bottling line as well.  After saying our goodbyes we were off back to Napier, while stopping along the way for some pretty pictures and a hike... except they were doing some construction so we didn't get to hike...

We made it back in the afternoon and then walked around by the water and made our way back to the hostel and then down to dinner. 

Our last day, today (Tuesday)  was spent going to a winery and a brewery.  We went to a place called the Misson winery and it was amazing!!  Basically, back in the day there were some priests in Europe who came to do their thing in NZ.  Yet they also brought along some vines to start their winery.  They built this house with the help of the Maori and then years later realized there was this river that continued to get bigger... so they moved the entire house! They split it up in 11 pieces and moved it up this hill to its current location.  and through the years they added onto the house in different sections.  It even withheld the huge 1933 earthquake.  During our tour they showed us pieces of furniture they have photographs of them savaging from the destroyed parts from the earthquake.  it was so cool to see! Not to mention it was beautiful!  The priests now don't work and learn here anymore, but all their profits go to them.  The man who did the tour was great, he had a wonderful sense of humor and we tasted some great wines.  I even bought a bottle!  (which is odd for me since i don't usually like wine and I don't know much about it.)  He then suggested for us to go to the Roosters Brew House.

'tell them Trevor from The Mission sent you' he told us.  How Kiwi!  It is what you hear about, how people just say tell them so and so sent you and go to this place, they'll love you and show you around. etc.  So we made our way there had a delicious lunch and some great beers.  They were amazing!  and so cheap! so we bought a litre of beer and once again were on our way home.













We are now back home in Wellington and came home to a heat pump in the house!! YAY!!!  Next week we are off to New Plymouth to camp on the beach and some hiking! so I will write another post soon!

1 comment:

  1. Love reading your blog, Sorry you weren't home when we skyped with Colin tonight, We miss you both so much......all our love OXOXOXOXOX

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