We arrived mid-afternoon to a completely dead Wellington. As it was New Years Day, everything bar Borders Bookshop and a couple of restaurants was closed. So we headed up to the Wellington Botanical Gardens via the cable car and had a quick peek before taking a walk around the harbour. Before we knew it, dinner had arrived and we decided on an early night considering there was nothing open....
The next morning, we headed off on the so-called "State Highway 2", which I can only say is definitely NOT a highway. About 20km in, the road started climbing up in the Rimutaka Ranges, one of the few mountain ranges in New Zealand and with the thin, narrow roads cut into the side of the mountains, this made for an epic (and somewhat dangerous) drive through hairpin turns and steep overhanging cliffs. A rainstorm had somehow founds it way into the ranges at the moment we were driving through, so it was a bit scary!
We've driven through some mountainous regions in Japan, but this takes the cake for the scary factor.
300km and 4 hours later, we found ourselves at our first destination, Cape Kidnappers. Popular with the Kiwis, this is a camper caravan's haven:
The cliffs looking out from Cape Kidnappers...
Our main reason for visiting Cape Kidnappers was actually to have a look at "The Farm", a resort owned by Tiger's Julian Robertson and occupying the land above the cliffs that you see above.. Known for its world class golf course and surreal cabins, we couldn't resist to have a look. http://www.capekidnappers.com/
The view from the entrance of The Farm.
After going through some security gates and driving for 8km up into the cliffs, we arrived at the main lobby area. Some of the 2-bedroom cabins overlooking the coast:
Looking down towards the golf course and the edge of the cliffs. While we were there, someone landed in a black helicopter with their golf clubs... now that is arriving in style!
The main reception area:
More views of the golf course.. too bad I didn't bring the telephoto lens for this one.
Leeann roaming around the grounds..
After half an hour of getting excited about a resort we were not staying at, we made a move to finish up the last 20km of driving to our hotel in Napier, the Crown Hotel... view from the room:
I've been using the word understated a few times recently, but the exterior of the hotel epitomises understatement, however the rooms itself were definitely not! Superb hotel (far better than the Swissotel Sydney), and with some good views of the bay...
More of the bay..
Leeann found herself some of the famous fresh fruit icecream nearby..
That evening was the meal which we had been most excited about.. With Hawkes Bay known for its numerous vineyards and wineries, we decided to take it a step higher and found one with a well known restaurant called Terroir, located inside the Craggy Range vineyard about 15km South of Napier in Havelock North:
Sitting towards the end of all the vineyards along Te Mata in Havelock North, it is hard to miss Craggy Range with its imposing front gates and long driveway into the parking area:
Stunning views of the surrounding mountains:
As dusk started to set in:
The main buildings of Craggy Range. The left on which looks like a big vat is the Terroir Restaurant and the right one is the wine facilities (which can only be visited with an appointment).
They even have their own mini-lake:
You can't make wine without Grapes!
The interior of the restaurant:
Not that it makes a difference, but their 2006 Pinot Noir:
The restaurant wine cellar:
As a single vineyard, they had a host of amazing wines to choose from:
Leeann's provencal fish soup, a deep, rich seafood bomb with a touch of Pernod and saffron:
A thing of beauty: lightly peppered venison carpaccio with pomegranate, macadamia nuts, juniper cream and some baby cress. Paired with their 2007 'Block 14' Syrah. Venison was stunningly fresh and the flavours were immaculate. The wine comes from Gimblett Gravels and has a nice peppery, and a subtle floral tone to it.
Split vision drunkenness!
A bit of normality:
Dusk is really setting in now:
This is Leeann's beef fillet with potato and truffle gratin, some bernaise sauce and a Merlot wine jus:
The star of the day for Kevin was the roasted rabbit leg served with pancetta, endives and onions. This was paired with a 2006 Craggy Range Pinot Noir, a deep red toned pinot with a great spicyness to it and rounded fruit flavours:
Leeann's favourite Pavlova's:
Kevin could not resist the awesomeness that is this Kaimai crumbly blue cheese served with quince jam. An intensely matured blue cheese paired with a 2007 Craggy Range Pinot Noir from Martinborough, stunning...
Meal for 2 with 3 glasses of wine cost just under US$140, even with the 15% holiday surcharge. We would recommend this restaurant and vineyard in a heartbeat and if you go, definitely order game meat as the wines go extremely well with their fresh produce. To top it off, the surrounding landscape and natural beauty is absolutely stunning. http://www.craggyrange.com/
After our extremely good meal the night before at Terroir, we headed downstairs from our hotel to Milk and Honey, a popular brunch spot for locals, famed for their decently sized fryups and waffles:
Leeann got scared of the three slabs of waffles just presented to her:
The Crown Hotel where we stayed:
Continuing on our road trip took us along the Thermal Highway of New Zealand towards Taupo and the Rotorua region (think Lord of the Rings):
Another famous export from NZ, honey...
After a couple hours of driving North, we arrived in Rotorua and headed first to the blueberry vineyard... yes, you read correctly, blueberry wine!...
Leeann prowling around in the blueberry restaurant.
Samples of blueberry wine (sorry for the blurry photos, we were excited to sample some)
The sheep outside:
Some fresh blueberry icecream:
We then headed back to Rotorua, but not before stopping to try another NZ invention, the Zorb. If you're as old as we are and you've watched Jackie Chan's old movie called the "A-Plan", there is a scene where he rolls down a hill in a giant inflatable ball... this is it!
Kevin rolling and rolling and rolling...
Next door to that was the cable car and mini-kart ride:
Leeann is ready to race!
Kart downhill, chairlift back up!
A view of Rotorua from above:
For dinner, we headed down Tutanekai Street nearby our hotel in search for some food!
Leeann's seared scallop salad:
Followed by her steamed mussels:
Kevin's monstrous rack of lamb:
More Pavlova for Leeann:
The next morning we were supposed to take a helicopter trip out to an active volcano (White Island)... unfortunately, the weather was really not that good, so reluctantly the trip was scrapped. Instead, we went over to Te Puia, a geyser/volcanic mudpit area in Rotorua:
Te Puia is also known for its display of Maori culture:
After exhausting most of the major sights in Rotorua, we completed our drive to Auckland and headed for our hotel at Lighter Quay:
The hotel lobby:
Leeann is eating something....
The city of sails as Auckland is better known as... there really are a lot of boats and yachts!
Hotel lobby:
We took a drive out Mission Bay to have a look:
A view of Auckland city from Mission Bay:
More of the docks outside our hotel:
A super yacht hoisted up for display at Lighter Basin:
Kevin looking fat after eating for a week non-stop:
We opted for an early dinner since we were getting hungry and made our way to the Harbourside Grill & Restaurant which is in the Auckland Ferry Building (Above).
Kevin's appetizer of a half-boiled egg served with Serrano ham:
Bird watching:
Leeann's crayfish:
Kevin's pasta marinara
Auckland doesn't have too much to offer in terms of sights, but they do have a lot of food!
The next lunch we went to the Soul Restaurant along Lighter Basin where Leeann dug into her asparagus and Kevin had a seafood bouillabaisse :
MORE Pavlova for Leeann:
We drove up to Mount Eden after lunch for a view of the city:
And with a late night flight, we thought we could have one last vineyard experience by having a few drinks at the Villa Maria Estate.... unfortunately, as with all things down under, it was closed by 6pm! How unfortunate
It was too bad we only got to see a glimpse of the North Island, and as we had expected although NZ is generally a quiet and more chilled out place than most countries we had been, the food, wine and scenery are excellent here. Would we come back? Yes, but most likely to go and see South Island...
1 comment:
Wow the trip looks AMAZING!!! Now please hide this link from Dr Chan otherwise I will have a very very envious Dr Chan to deal with...
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