I finally found work 2 weeks after Rachel started a Waterside. During my unemployment, I was a man of leisure and found a couple occasions to drive an hour north to Rotorua for some of the best mountain biking in the Southern Hemisphere. The vast network of trails was reminiscent of our epic mountain biking journey through British Columbia last summer. I also spent several lazy afternoons reading on our deck and looking across the lake towards the mountains. Jon and Amy’s deck is a perfect spot to watch the sun set over the hills. They laughed at me during our first week living with them as I scrambled on railings and hung on to the gutters to get the best sunset shot I could. I tried to capture the perfect sunset to show Rachel how amazing the sunsets were…until I found out her view of the setting sun was even more spectacular and panoramic from her restaurant. 
Eventually, I found work with one of the skydiving companies in town. I was hired as part of the ground camera and video editing crew. It is a ton of fun and involves lots of interaction with the passengers before they go up and I am the first to welcome them back to earth, so I see a huge range of emotions with every group. It has been a perfect job, full of excitement. The employees are from all over the world and most have left a previous career to become full time skydivers.
Eventually, I found work with one of the skydiving companies in town. I was hired as part of the ground camera and video editing crew. It is a ton of fun and involves lots of interaction with the passengers before they go up and I am the first to welcome them back to earth, so I see a huge range of emotions with every group. It has been a perfect job, full of excitement. The employees are from all over the world and most have left a previous career to become full time skydivers.
Our first free weekend, we drove 2hrs east to the Hawke’s Bay region to visit the coastal city of Napier. Hawke’s Bay is known as the fruit bowl of NZ because the terrain and climate make a perfect growing location. In addition to growing the most fruit and vegetables in NZ, Hawke’s Bay is one of the finest wine growing areas in the country. There are nearly 40 wineries within a few miles of Napier’s city center.
Napier is unique because the whole city is designed in Art Deco style. There was a tremendous earthquake in the early 1930s and when the time came to rebuild, they decided to do it in a uniform contemporary architectural style, which happened to be Art Deco. The bright colors also help accentuate the beach atmosphere.
It is about 70 miles from Taupo to Napier, but the drive takes about 2 hours because the road twists and turns through hills and along ridges as it passes from the central plateau down to the east coast. You can see the ocean about 40 minutes before you arrive to Napier’s sunny beaches. (Hawke’s Bay receives over 2200 hours of sunshine a year)
The highway drives by several vineyards and ad hoc fruit stands. We stopped by one of the stands to get some fresh golden kiwi fruits, apples, and vegetables. The highway passes over a flat stretch that used to be under water, but the 1931 earthquake exposed more than 200 square miles of sea bed. The relatively new land is actually where many of the vineyards and apple orchards sit.
After grabbing lunch at a café on the promenade, we went for a stroll on the beach. The beach was a little unusual because there was no sand to be found. It was full of smooth, tiny, black rocks that were perfect for skipping across the calm ocean. We tried digging to find any trace of sand, but all we found were small stones.
Next, we drove up the very steep roads to the top of the Bluff Hill for look out over the port and straight down the beach to Cape Kidnappers, home of the world’s largest gannet population.
Napier is unique because the whole city is designed in Art Deco style. There was a tremendous earthquake in the early 1930s and when the time came to rebuild, they decided to do it in a uniform contemporary architectural style, which happened to be Art Deco. The bright colors also help accentuate the beach atmosphere.
It is about 70 miles from Taupo to Napier, but the drive takes about 2 hours because the road twists and turns through hills and along ridges as it passes from the central plateau down to the east coast. You can see the ocean about 40 minutes before you arrive to Napier’s sunny beaches. (Hawke’s Bay receives over 2200 hours of sunshine a year)The highway drives by several vineyards and ad hoc fruit stands. We stopped by one of the stands to get some fresh golden kiwi fruits, apples, and vegetables. The highway passes over a flat stretch that used to be under water, but the 1931 earthquake exposed more than 200 square miles of sea bed. The relatively new land is actually where many of the vineyards and apple orchards sit.
After grabbing lunch at a café on the promenade, we went for a stroll on the beach. The beach was a little unusual because there was no sand to be found. It was full of smooth, tiny, black rocks that were perfect for skipping across the calm ocean. We tried digging to find any trace of sand, but all we found were small stones.
Next, we drove up the very steep roads to the top of the Bluff Hill for look out over the port and straight down the beach to Cape Kidnappers, home of the world’s largest gannet population.
Our last stop in Napier was supposed to be a winery tour at the Misson Estate winery, which originally started as a French mission and is now the oldest winery in NZ. However, on our way we mistakenly turned into one of the other wineries on the same street – Church Road Winery. We walked in hoping to get on the last tour of the day, but it was overbooked so we settled for a wine tasting in the restaurant. This was only our fourth wine tasting ever, so we appreciated the sommelier helping us identify the flavors we were tasting while giving a very detailed history of the winery and surrounding area. After our tasting, we decided we’d try for a tour at our original destination at Mission Estate Winery. The winery is perched on a hill overlooking the Bay with a spectacular entrance passing between two plots of vines along a tree lined drive. Mission Estate didn’t host tours, but we guided ourselves through the historic building and gardens..JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
We got back in the car and meandered through the streets of Napier while eating our fresh fruits before heading back to Taupo.
No comments:
Post a Comment