Napier Wine region

We had found a campsite back along the main road, at the start of a short waterfall hike. Unfortunately, it turned out to also be a popular local hangout. Teens drove into the gravel parking lot and "drifted" into a parking spot on their e-brakes. It kicked up a huge dust cloud where we were cooking. Just ignore them...

Another, more welcome visitor joined us well. Hopping between flax plants, the famous NZ bird, a Tui, joined us for supper. It was enjoying the sweet nectar from the flax plant's colourful flowers. It has a beautiful distinctive call!

The following morning, Mats did a quick jog to the two waterfalls. But we didn't hang around long because we had a long drive ahead of us. We did stop in at a local market, their annual fair. We admired the crafts, confectionary and games put on by locals. Beside the elegant wood-carving of sacred animals, we found flavoured olive oils, honey, lavender products, home-brew organic fertilizers, a smash-a-car contest, a baseball water-dunk tank and go-karts. But most notable was a flower shop that made funny funeral flower casket bouquets. Such as a manly one, complete with beer cans and tools propped between cacti.

But instead of trying local produce here, we were excited about sampling some wines. We visited the oldest estate, Mission Estate Wineries, which now ownes a large share of other wineries in the region. It was interesting to see some of the old equipment used here. They also had a nice cabinet of very old wines, sherry and port, with labels coloured and peeling. We felt way underdressed at their elegant tasting room and restaurant. So we did our tasting at Ngatarawa winery instead. A very friendly and knowledgeable somalier took us through a wide range of wines that they made. Tasting different wines side-by-side, along with a good explanation, opened our taste buds to the wide range of tastes and smells. It was in the same way that exiting the Waipu caves had opened our eyes to the wide range of colours.Read more