The Road trip: Day 4 More Napier
The weather so far has been very kind to us, not too hot but pleasantly sunny with a bit of a breeze. Our luck today ran out and we woke up to a grey sky and rain. Being an adopted Londoner I immediately felt at home and was ready to “grab the day by the horns” as Blair would have it!
After a brief trip to the supermarket for food supplies we headed to the Art Deco shop (housed in the old Fire Brigade building) to get a driving map of all the major Art Deco buildings in the area. Our first destination was Bluff Hill, the highest point in Napier were you can look across the other side of the Bay.
Next up was the National Tobacco Company at the south side of Napier. This was one of the most beautiful Art Deco buildings I have seen and the fact that it was only meant to be a factory entrance made it even more unique. Once again, as a result of the earthquake in 1931 the outer walls of the National Tobacco Company had to be rebuilt. Despite being in the middle of the economic depression Tobacco proved to be a steady source of income and no expense was spared on the new design. The result was an opulent entrance that would not look out of place in an opera house.
Next we drove through Napier’s art deco suburbs and finally headed for the promenade by the sea where the Masonic Hotel, the Sound Shell theatre, the Tom Parker fountain as well as the statue of Pania of the Reefs were situated.
After our cultural tour of Napier it was time to investigate exactly how good Hawke’s Bay wine is! There is a plethora of wineries near Napier but we decided to go to Mission Estate, the oldest winery in the area. The winery was originally run by priests and the main estate used to be a seminary. We were fortunate to get there in time for the tour of the cellars and the grounds and once again the earthquake was pivotal for the development of the Estate. With the tour over it was time to taste the wine in style! Blair had the Merlot and I tried the Riesling (as well as half of Blair’s Merlot – he was driving so I kindly helped out!) and we both devoured a huge wine platter overlooking the vineyards below!
After a brief trip to the supermarket for food supplies we headed to the Art Deco shop (housed in the old Fire Brigade building) to get a driving map of all the major Art Deco buildings in the area. Our first destination was Bluff Hill, the highest point in Napier were you can look across the other side of the Bay.
Next up was the National Tobacco Company at the south side of Napier. This was one of the most beautiful Art Deco buildings I have seen and the fact that it was only meant to be a factory entrance made it even more unique. Once again, as a result of the earthquake in 1931 the outer walls of the National Tobacco Company had to be rebuilt. Despite being in the middle of the economic depression Tobacco proved to be a steady source of income and no expense was spared on the new design. The result was an opulent entrance that would not look out of place in an opera house.
Next we drove through Napier’s art deco suburbs and finally headed for the promenade by the sea where the Masonic Hotel, the Sound Shell theatre, the Tom Parker fountain as well as the statue of Pania of the Reefs were situated.
After our cultural tour of Napier it was time to investigate exactly how good Hawke’s Bay wine is! There is a plethora of wineries near Napier but we decided to go to Mission Estate, the oldest winery in the area. The winery was originally run by priests and the main estate used to be a seminary. We were fortunate to get there in time for the tour of the cellars and the grounds and once again the earthquake was pivotal for the development of the Estate. With the tour over it was time to taste the wine in style! Blair had the Merlot and I tried the Riesling (as well as half of Blair’s Merlot – he was driving so I kindly helped out!) and we both devoured a huge wine platter overlooking the vineyards below!Labels: Travel
posted by Blair & Grigoria at 10:31 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home