Auckland to Hawke’s Bay

Monday morning in Auckland, and of course it is raining again.  I was really hoping to get an early start and squeeze in a trip to the top of the Sky Tower this morning before my flight to Hawke’s Bay, but with the low clouds and poor visibility it just isn’t worth it.  I can barely see across the harbor from my hotel room!  With no time left in this city, it looks like Auckland is going to remain on my list of places to explore and give me a reason to return to NZ someday.

Things were a bit different when my delayed flight finally landed in Hawke’s Bay – sunny, hot and humid.  Hello, summer!  This is more like what I was expecting on this part of the trip.  Perfect weather for sipping some NZ wines from this region for the next two days.  My first stop was Mission Estate Winery, New Zealand’s oldest winery. 

Mission Estate was started by French missionaries in 1851, for sacramental and table wines.  Today they produce some pretty tasty wines, and also have a fabulous restaurant on site where I grabbed lunch.  I like this about the NZ wineries I’ve visited – a large number of them have really yummy restaurants or some kind of food service available on site.  More CA wineries could take a page out of this book.  It’s been so convenient to be able to combine both lunch and a tasting in one stop as I’m planning which wineries to visit, and so far the food has been superb!  Also, in case you were looking for yet another excuse to visit NZ, Mission Estate hosts a big concert each year drawing some pretty famous names over the years, including Sting, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Barry Gibb, and Carole King.

My next stop was just down the street at Church Road Winery.  This place had the vibe of a smaller, boutique winery.  When I pulled in they were in the middle of crush, and I had to maneuver my car around a truck delivering freshly picked grapes and avoid the forklift moving the bins off the truck.  

Hand-picked Chardonnay grapes, ready to be crushed and destemmed:

I really liked this winery.  One of the benefits of travelling solo is that people are pretty good about chatting you up, and the friendly Kiwis have been particularly good at it, and as the only person in the tasting room I got to ask a ton of questions and learn a lot from the guy who was doing the pouring here.   Plus, they did some off-the-beaten track varietals, which are always fun to taste:

Conscious of my blood-alcohol content and NZ’s ridiculously low 0.04 BAC limit, I decided my next best move would be to go check in to my hotel in Napier and do a walking tour around this Art Deco town.  Napier was pretty much destroyed in 1931 by a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake and a resulting fire which tore through the city.  At the height of the Depression, the city was rebuilt in a 2-year period in the then-fashionable Art Deco style, and there is an Art Deco Weekend here every February celebrating the style and times.  T&G Building:

Tom Parker Fountain:

Soundshell:

Daily Telegraph Building:

Emerson St:

And then I saw this in the sidewalk in front of me.  Say wha’?????:

That’s right, this city has enacted a permanent liquor ban prohibiting the consumption, bringing in or being in possession of any intoxicating liquor in public places from 8pm to 6am, every day of the year.  Obviously I’m not intending to stay here very long!  I did find it strangely ironic that this building was right across the street, however:

So maybe I just don’t get this whole Art Deco thing (or maybe the liquor ban just doesn’t register with me), but this city just looked tired and run down.  Kinda like that beautiful woman who was really fashionable 80 years ago, but now is in dire need of some updating and a face lift.  I was doing my walking tour at around 5pm and you’ll notice in the pictures – the city center was deserted and the area seemed rather down on its luck.  All the stores close at 5 pm, and it was like they'd rolled up the sidewalks.  No one other than tourists were out at this time of day.  Also, all of the Art Deco architecture is on the second story of these buildings.  The street level mostly looks like storefronts you would find in any other pedestrian mall.  So to really get that Art Deco appreciation, you have to be sure you are constantly looking up, plus you then have to look past the wear to these buildings that come with 80 years of age and inconsistent upkeep.  Maybe this place feels different during Art Deco weekend, but frankly it wasn't for me.  Good thing I had a bottle of wine and an ocean front view to enjoy in my hotel room, because nothing was happening in this town.