While I never had the chance to really get "island fever," I've left Waiheke. It's so wonderful and was such a great time, I knew it'd be a bit tricky to board the ferry and leave it all behind. Alas, I caught the ferry to Auckland and waited for my bus to take me onwards to Naiper.
Naiper is a small city in Hawke's Bay. It burned in the early 30s so all of the building were rebuilt in the Art Deco style. It's pretty interesting to look at and the lights are pretty funky that decorate all the different buildings. I arrived on the bus at about 8 pm, meaning it was dark on the lovely Friday evening. Naiper showed itself to not be to wild of a town on a Friday night, since I didn't see much traffic as I headed to Wally's Backpackers. Wally's is actually nice and clean and I've enjoyed staying here.
Since I had decided to travel to Hawke's Bay to check out some of the wineries produced in this region, I opted to do a bike tour. There are 2 or 3 companies that operate them around here. Bike D'Vine picked me up from the hostel, suited me out in a bicycle with a helmet, and gave me a map. The owner had picked me up along with 3 other Americans, who are studying abroad at Victoria University in Wellington. We ended up all doing the same route, so I sort of stuck with them for the day which might not have been the greatest idea.
Our first stop on the biking tour was The Filter Room. We did veer slightly off course before getting there, but we made up the time and arrived by 12:15 ready to sample some of what they have to offer. The Filter Room is a brewery and a cidery. For $8, you get to sample 6 of their many options and I have to admit that I found them quite delicious. The facility is also brand new, it's only been open for 2 or 3 months and its has a very lovely layout. I'd recommend it thoroughly and wouldn't be disinclined to go back.
Our second stop was not all that far from the first, and we found it very easily. Brookfields Vineyards is nestled nicely amid some of their vines and has a beautiful stone entryway that leads into the tasting room. We were offered samples of six of their different wines. They produce several varieties and we had a Sav Blanc, Chardonnay, Viogney (sp?), Cab Merlot, Syrah, and Malbec. The cab merlot was my favorite... i think.
Next up was Park Estate Winery which had a lovely rustic type feel to it. They also have a fugery, which we got to sample after we tried some of their wines. At this point, Bill, Danielle, Sarah (my traveling companions), and I were feeling quite happy and enjoying the lovely sunny afternoon. I think it was a little after two when we left.
We made a disastorous detour and took a left instead of staying on the road that we were meant to continue upon. The maps that they gave us were a bit too vauge for our crew. This resulted in about an hour of traveling the wrong way and having to correct ourselves. By the time we got to where we were supposed to be, it was already after 3:30 and we were all a bit tired and not quite so happy anymore.
We finally made it to Church Road Winery (at about 4ish pm) which is the 2nd oldest in New Zealand. They have a very lovely facility, but its not really nestled in with their vineyards. It has much more the feel of a wine shop with a cafe, which is nice; but it's in a suburban area and you don't get that lovely vineyard feel to it. Bob, who helped us with the tasting, was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. The kids I was with haven't developed the most sophisticated tastes (which is totally understandable ~ I remember what I was like in college) and so we ended up sampling about 5 or 6 whites and then I tried another to reds. The reserve Cab Merlot that Bob offered me was my favorite red and had a very full bodied and excellent taste.
Feeling the need to complete our tour, we went to Mission Estate Winery. This one is by far the most beautiful of the vineyards we visited. The facility is up on a hill and over looks a large vineyard. This is New Zealand's oldest vineyard and was founded by some French missionaries that were wanting to grow their own scaremental wine. It's still owned by the Catholic Church and overseen by a board of trustees, which I found interesting. We arrived at about 4:45 and they were preparing to close up, so we were rushed a bit through which was our fault for arriving so late. The view was absolutely wonderful and as we were leaving, a wedding party was begining. It was a miraculous sight.
As we left and headed back to Bike D'Vine ... we got off track for the 3rd time that day. We were all very annoyed and exhausted. We did make it back at about 6 pm which is already dark here since fall is almost over and we're headed to winter. Monique gave us a lift back to our respective hostels but all four of us were so exhausted from the ride and swearing under our breath about how sore we were from riding bicycles all day.
I wish I had some pictures from my adventures but like a total space cadet, I took my camera along and forgot to bring along my fully re-charged battery. Better luck next time...
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