On our last morning in Mahia (Feb 12), we started heading North. Our original plan was to hit Opotiki, then start heading Northwest as far as the kids would allow, finally stopping in Waihi Beach.

One of the sights on the way to Opotiki was the Waoieka Gorge. This was a rainforest to the fullest extent. Steep lush hillsides, crazy twisty road, tight roads, and steep roads. It was also rainy, and very misty through this section of the drive. This was definitely the greenest area we had seen thus far. The hillsides were a little unstable in this area too. The rockfall warning sign mentioned it lasted 46 km, and it certainly didn’t lie. I saw lots of rock on the road, and at least one area where a complete lane was blocked by fallen rock.

So far we had been following highway 2, but just west of Opotiki we jumped on to a smaller highway that followed the coast and took us through Ohope. We ended up stopping in Tauranga for dinner. From Tauranga we called our destination in Waihi Beach only to discover that they had accommodation for us for one night only, not the two nights we needed. Plans needed to be rearranged.

On the road again we saw some amazing coastline. The beach extended as far as you could see and had the gorgeous turquoise colored water that looked very enticing. The huge swells crashing on the sandy beach were picture perfect. Since we were driving and the kids were happy we didn’t stop to take pictures. You’ll have to trust me that it was beautiful.

At the end of the day we made it to Waihi beach. Our place was just fine if not a little pricey.

Last night Sox and I went out for dinner all by ourselves. We went to the Mission Estate Winery. This winery has been around for over 150 years, so you would expect them to know what they were doing. They didn’t disappoint us.

The ambiance and atmosphere was spectacular. The winery grounds are amazing, so anywhere you sit in the restaurant, you are treated to a great view.

For the first time ever in a restaurant, Sox and I ordered a bottle of wine. We got the 2007 Mission Estate Cabernet Merlot (pdf link). I think this was the best wine I have ever had. I am not a wine connoisseur, and I can’t explain why I like a wine, or describe what it tastes like. I can tell you if I like it or not. This wine I loved.

For dinner Sox got a pork cutlet that was excellent. I ordered the Fillet of Beef. It was astounding. When it arrived it was still steaming hot which is something I don’t get at a lot of restaurants I go to. Accompanying the beef was some scalloped potatoes, baby beets, and baby carrots, and drizzled over everything an au jus to die for. The beef was cooked perfectly for me (medium), and was the most tender beer I have ever tasted.

After dinner we grabbed our wines and went for a little walk and let our dinner settle. Looking out over the vineyard after the sun had set was pretty nice.

Back at our table we ordered dessert, maple rice pudding for me and berry crème brûlée for Sox. Mine was good, but Sox’s was excellent. We then had coffee and tea to end the night.

It was wonderful to spend the evening with my wife in a grown up setting with no kids. It was also the first time since we landed that I have worn pants and shoes instead of shorts and flip flops.

The next morning (Feb 11), the Fox family all slept in. It was great to sleep in dark rooms, and we all benefitted from that.

After breakfast we trooped down to the beach to build a sandcastle. Down the beach we could see a group of people in the water all together. It was a little odd so we walked down, and there was the dolphin Moko. I went in to get a close look. I eventually made my way to a spot, and Moko swam right by me, close enough to touch (which I did). I later learned that was frowned upon. Oops, sorry Moko. Sox and Sprout took their turn in the water with Moko as well.

Although it was cool to see Moko, I was very disheartened by the other peoples actions. Lots of little kids trying to get close, and when they did started shrieking and thrashing about. People trying to catch a ride and grabbing on to Moko. I actually saw Moko flail with his/her tail at someone to grabbed the dorsal fin. It was very saddening. Something that could be so beautiful and amazing turned ugly by thoughtless people. It didn’t seem like people were respecting the animal.

Still, Mahia Beach was a wonderful, picturesque location, and it would have been great to spend more time there, but we had more sights to see.

One really funny thing about the place we stayed was in the water closet. The toilet paper holder was a combo unit. A toilet paper holder radio. Weird.

Back on Feb 10 we started a 5 day road trip. The first destination was Mahia Beach. We had heard about a dolphin named Moko that had started swimming with people.

Sox and the kids and I headed up a day early from the rest of our gang, and drove a very, very twisty turny road to Mahia Beach. Thankfully the kids slept most of the way, or I am sure they would have been felling pretty green. It was a warm day, close to 30°, so being in the air conditioned car was a great break for us.

Along pretty much any road in New Zealand you will see livestock; sheep, cows, and goats are plentiful. On the drive to Mahia we actually saw turkeys in a field. Cool!

The highway was inland a little, but when we did emerge back on the coast, it was quite a spectacular sight. The turquoise water sure looked enticing, and the large waves looked fun to try and play in. Since this wasn’t our destination, we kept going.

We found our bach and it was pretty rustic. Particle board floors with throw rugs over top, cupboards stuffed with throwaways from other houses, and not as clean as we had hoped. Still, we were only there for a couple nights, and it was more than adequate. The upside was we were only a two minute walk to a fabulous sandy beach. Yoshi would have loved it!

One interesting thing about Mahia Beach was that there were a lot of tractors parked in people’s yards. There were also lots of boats. The tractors were used to launch and recover the boats from the very shallow entry beach. When recovering the boat, they would come into the bay, someone would jump out, wade in to shore, back the tractor in, then the boat driver would just drive the boat up onto the trailer. Cool.

That night I got out to take some pics of the sunset. It sort of fizzled, and the light was never quite right, but there was a nice rainbow that I took a few shots of.

Tomorrow we embark on a 5 day road trip through some of the more northern parts of this island. The first destination is Mahia Beach, where we will be for a couple days. After that we are off to the Coromandel Peninsula, then down to Rotorua, Lake Taupo, then back to Napier. Adios for now.

We made it to Waipatiki beach yesterday. It was everything it was hyped to be. I think this is now my favorite New Zealand beach. It didn’t hurt that I enjoyed the drive on the gravel road that was twisty and swoopy.

The beach is located in a little bay, surrounded by cliffs. On the beach the waves were perfect for playing in, the sand decent enough for sand castles, and the temperature just perfect to make you want to enjoy the water. I swam, bogey boarded, body surfed, built sandcastles, and buried Sprouts legs many times.

This past weekend was the Harvest Hawke’s Bay Wine Festival. We decided to take advantage of this and visit a few of the wineries.

On Feb 7th, the first we went to was the Black Barn Winery. We explored the farm market where I bought myself a tasty pastry, the looked around the vineyard and winery. We tried a glass of their Savignon Blanc, which was superb. I should have bought a bottle but didn’t 🙁

Next up was Askerne. It was blazing hot here (35°) so we didn’t stay long. We took a horse drawn wagon ride through the vineyard, watched the band a little, and tried a sample of something that was on sale. I didn’t care for it, so we didn’t buy anything there either.

On the 8th, Sox and I were sans kids for part of the afternoon so we took advantage and visited 2 more wineries. Mission Estate was a fabulous place, and we plan to go back for dinner before we leave. They have an obvious history there, and even had a mini museum inside. We tried some white wine there, a pinot gris if I recall that didn’t sit well on my palate.

The last one we visited was Church Road. This place was right next to the road, and didn’t stand out to me in any way. I tried a white and a merlot there, but didn’t care for either. We didn’t stay long.

If was fun visiting a few of the wineries. There certainly are a lot to visit in the area.

On our last morning in Wellington we decided to visit the Te Papa museum which is a national museum. This was a gorgeous museum that I would have loved to spend a lot more time in. We saw the colossal squid, read some books in the kids area, and visited Bush City (a collection of gardens).

We then had lunch in the cafe before loading up the van. I actually got to be the guy carrying their screaming child out of the museum. Sprout was tired and had had enough. Once he screamed loud enough right next to someone (who wasn’t looking) to make them jumped. I almost laughed.

In the car we headed for home, but we took a much different route. This time we ended up in a cool gorge instead of going back over the crazy mountain pass. I got to drive this time which made me happy.

The windmill farm (windwheel as Sprout called it) was pretty cool to see too.

Nearer to home we got back into the brown rolling hills.

After close to 6 hours in the car, and another stop in Donnevirke, we arrived back in Napier. We ordered fish n chips for dinner again, and it was absolutely delicious, and every bit as good as the first time.

After the zoo visit we wanted to have a quieter afternoon. We had decided to take the cable car to the botanic gardens.

Driving through downtown turned out to be a nightmare. It was gridlock for a very long time, and took us close to an hour to get close to the cable car, and to find parking. We did it though, and bought our tickets, and headed up.

At the top there was a spectacular view of Wellington’s port.

There was also a cable car museum at the top, with an old car to play around on.

Then there were the gardens.  They weren’t in full bloom any more which would have been spectacular, but the gardens are still beautiful. I would have liked to spend more time walking and taking pictures, but Beet was napping in her stroller, so I took her for a walk around, stopping at the observatory and planetarium at the top of the hill.

At the top there was a cool sundial.  It works through human interaction where you stand on the correct date, clasp your hands together and point them directly up in the air.  Your shadow points to the correct time.

It was a very hot day to be out in the sun, but Sprout still had a good time. He played lots on the awesome playground while Beet napped. Thankfully there was a breeze that day that helped cool us down. No breeze and the temp sky rocketed.

After collecting our car again, we set out for the hotel. We got a little lost, and in the time it took to get us back on track, both kids fell asleep in their car seats. To help them sleep and to help us see more of the area, we went for a drive along the coast. We followed the road along Oriental Bay, then into Evans Bay. Such beauty in this area. Hills across the bay, clear crisp looking water, blue sky.

We got back to the hotel after 5:30 so we went to München Burger across the street. It looked like a quaint, local greasy spoon burger shack. It wasn’t that good and was a big disappointment. Sox ended up having something else at the hotel bar.

That night while the kids slept we watched a movie, then called it a night. It was a fun filled day that tuckered us all out.

Morning on Feb 5 came and we hit the hotel’s buffet for breakfast. After getting fueled, we headed over to the Wellington Zoo to see the sights.

The zoo was awesome. The walk through it wasn’t too bad, but it was beautiful. The gardening was nice, the animal enclosures looked nice, and we actually got to see a lot of the animals. We saw gibbons, tamarinds, baboons, chimps, giraffe’s, a zebra, an ostrich, dingo’s, otters a meerkat, and lots more. The one animal I was really wanting to see was the Red Panda, which is a relative of the raccoon. They are also nicknamed firefox 🙂 Alas I caught a glimpse of one scurrying through the bush, and never got to actually see it.

Below is a Malayan Sun Bear, also called a honey bear. Gorgeous animals that seem very curious.

The zoo had a bunch of hilarious signs like this scattered throughout the zoo.  This was my favorite. Another good one was “If you feed the animals they will get sick and may die.”.

The giraffe enclosure was my favorite. Their were three giraffes there, and the way their pen was set up, they could get close to you. Very close to you.

We had lunch at the zoo. Sox and Sprout had hotdogs, and I found a panini in the cafe (I didn’t feel like anything on the menu inside the zoo). Sox was a little surprised at the color of her hotdog. Sprout found a new favorite juice drink too!