Gannets galore: Cape Kidnappers

Up early this morning as my shuttle driver was picking me up at 7:15 a.m. to drive me the half hour out to Te Awanga to the parking lot where the Gannet Beach Adventures company starts their tractor-pulled wagon trips along the beach to Cape Kidnappers. They run the trip once a day dependent on the tides as the beach is inaccessible during high tide. It is an eight kilometre trek out to the cape and you can walk it if you want (based on tides) but the wagons seemed a good choice. (You can also go overland -- with no worries about tides -- through farmlands and the new high-end golf course -- but the wagons looked more fun.). There were enough people to run three tractor wagons so we all loaded on. There is probably no better job for grown men than driving tractors pulling wagons along a rocky half-water-covered beach. Clearly they all loved what they were doing and they went out of their way to go over every rock they could and joked with each other and the passengers. Roaring out to sea. Then turning around on the beach to lap each other.


Riding on the wagons you get a very good view of the cliffs and the beach. The geological history is all there to see in the layers seen in the cliffs, the earthquake faultines, the volcanic ash and the fossils in the rocks. As well as some social history as you can see Maori middens -- where they embedded shells and bones from fish they ate in the cliffs above the high tide line rather than throw them back in the sea for spiritual reasons. Some of the cliffs are a couple hundred thousand years old and the ones right out at the Cape are millions of years old.


After about an hour and a bit we got out to the gannet colony and started to see them on some rocks. They are quite pretty sleek birds. There were lots of babies as this is the time of year for rearing and feeding of the young. The babies are all the size of adults but they have fluffy feathers and look slightly silly. We stopped the wagons so the driver could pick up one young one that had fallen down from its nest and put it back -- apparently once a baby moves out of the nest its parents stop feeding it. Other gannet info -- they mate for life, they can live up to 25 years and in February/March they fly to Australia (I don't know why) and return to Cape Kidnappers to breed in future.



Once the wagons had got to the very end of the beach they parked and you could walk the 25 minutes uphill to the top of the cliff to the main gannet colony where you literally get right up next to them.


Very cool (if a little stinky on a very hot day!) The 25 minutes back downhill to the beach was less of an exertion and there was some time to paddle in the ocean before loading back on the wagons for the return trip on the beach. Very glad that I did this. It was a lot of fun and incredible to see the cliffs and gullies up close and to get right up to the gannets. (They don't act like sea gulls and pigeons and other birds in that they won't eat food if you give it to them. They only eat what fish they catch. So they aren't as susceptible to humans as other birds are. Interesting.)

My shuttle driver was waiting for me when the wagons returned to base about four and half hours after heading out. He dropped me back at my motel and I freshened up (put on some more sun lotion) and headed back out. There was a festival on the beach across from my motel so I went to check it out. It was a festival for Napier's youth with bands and dancing contests etc. I watched for a bit and then headed into town and had some lunch at one of the cafes. Had some area goat feta in olive oil and fresh herbs with flat bread and a side of fresh watermelon. Along with a glass of Triplebank "Awatere Valley" savvie it was a nice light late lunch and I could just relax and enjoy it. Afterwards I looked around the shops a bit and then headed back to my room to relax and read on the balcony until dinner time.

And then it happened. I went out for dinner. It had to happen sometime. I had my first bad meal of the trip. I went to a place down the road called "Cobb & Co". It has been busy every night I have walked so I thought I would try it out and I saw they had lamb shanks on the menu. The lamb shank was fine -- it was braised with fresh rosemary which you could taste and the meat fell nicely off the bone. But the "creamy" mashed potatoes were certainly not creamy unless I have completely misunderstood the meaning of that word. There was no taste to them at all either -- no butter or olive oil added. The gravy or "jus" as they called it was separating on my plate -- "jus" in my experience doesn't separate. The "seasonal veggies" were shredded carrot, cauliflower and broccoli. It is the height of summer here so none of those things is "seasonal"! And it would have been fine if they were steamed or something but they were boiled and covered with a white sauce that was just flour and water. Truly horrid. The place was full and people were eating their food so I guess it was just me but I prefer nice simple freshly cooked food with flavours. I had some sort of sav to drink but even that was blah. Since I was having lamb I would have ordered a syrah or a merlot but they were imported from Australia!!!!! Prime wine country and they had imports. I graciously paid for my meal and headed back to my motel. I decided to pop into my motel's restaurant for dessert to try to get rid of the memory of my dinner. I ordered the manuka honey creme brulee and it was very nice indeed with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. That helped. Made myself a nice cup of tea in my room which also helped.

Well, must pack up the suitcase again. Tomorrow I fly to Auckland to get my connecting flight to the Bay of Islands airport in Kerikeri and from there I will get a shuttle or taxi to the town of Paihia. Hopefully flights are all on time as I have a very tight window to get my connector in Auckland. It doesn't look like there is a lot of wireless in Paihia so will have to suss that out when I get there. Will update as soon as I can.

A walk to Ahuriri

After my tea and yogurt this morning I put on my swimming cozzie under my tank top and light nylon capris and headed out to walk to the seaside village of Ahuriri along the coastal path around the bluffs.


It took me about an hour and took me past the port which is located outside the main part of Napier. It seems to be quite a busy port with lots of containers being loaded on and off ships and trains. A massive Holland America cruise ship was just docking when I was walking by. Crikey, those things are huge.

On the way into Ahuriri there is a spot where you can see where the old wooden docks used to be. There are old posts sitting out of the water and lots of rusting ship parts.


The tide was out at this point -- when I walked past later in the day you could hardly see the top of the posts as the tide was in. I thought that was really cool -- sort of haunting to see a bit of the nautical past peeking up.

Ahuriri has a lot of holiday homes -- many new ones but a lot of lovely old wooden ones as well...


There is a nice little harbour area filled with pleasure craft as well as fishing boats.


I went to the restaurant "Shed 2" (located in a row of old storage sheds now converted to restaurants and offices) for my lunch. Since I was sitting on a patio right on the harbour quay where the fishing boats were docked, I figured I should order the fresh catch of the day -- pan-fried John Dory served on a bed of fresh yellow beans and sweet peas with a butter/olive oil/saffron sauce. It also came with a huge baby crayfish on top of the John Dory which I promptly shuddered at and moved aside (sorry, shellfish lovers but I just can't do that!). The fish was lovely and the fresh sweet peas and bean were so good -- the beans slightly crunchy and the fresh peas just slightly blanched and served in the pods). I had a glass of Hawke's Bay region Esk Valley Sauvignon Blanc with it. For dessert I ordered the chocolate biscotti napoleon with chocolate ice cream and a small wedge of chocolate torte. It was terrible! Just kidding -- it was heavenly, really nice dark chocolate so not too sweet. It came with a big sprig of fresh mint so you could chew on a piece of mint between glorious chocolate bites. Kiwis seem to love their desserts ("coffee and a cake") and you cannot get bad coffee here anywhere. It is all pretty much espresso based and even the dingiest of places serves up a fabulous latte.

After lunch I went to look at the National Tobacco Company building which is one of the area's best art deco buildings. Ahuriri was wrecked by the 1931 earthquake as well and rebuilt. It hasn't kept its wealth of art deco like Napier city centre has but this building remains. It is now the offices for a furniture company and they let people into the foyer to look at the decoration and oak woodwork. The building has a lot of art nouveau influence in it as well as the Chicago style of architecture.


Then I went to lie on the beach for a couple of hours and read before walking the hour back into Napier. I went to the grocery store, Countdown, and picked up some Indian butter chicken and rice for my dinner tonight. I am just going to eat on my balcony tonight since I had that lovely leisurely lunch out. (Last night I just ended up picking up a lamb burger at a local takeout spot and bringing it back to my room.) I have a bottle of Dusky Sounds "12 degrees" sav from Marlborough region chilling in the fridge. "Coronation Street" is on tonight so I will watch that and just read and relax tonight. Have to be up early in the morning as I have a 7:15 a.m. shuttle pickup to take me out to meet the tour to the gannet colony -- you go via the beach and have to go while the tide is out.

It's amazing how tiring a lazy day in the sun can be. They are predicting another scorcher for tomorrow. I hear it's gotten a bit warmer in Toronto and Windsor as well!

The sun rises over the Pacific on Napier and me...

A sunny day in the art deco capital of the world

Just a perfect lovely summer day here in Napier. And, as this blackboard at one of the local cafes stated, a lovely day for another reason...


Went to the visitor's info centre this morning to get some info on one of the trips out to the gannet colony and booked myself for that for Friday morning.

Then I went to the local museum, the Hawke's Bay Museum and Art Gallery. The exhibit about the 1931 earthquake was quite interesting. The day of the earthquake the city actually rose up 7 feet and most of the flat land that I noticed coming in on the plane yesterday was basically underwater prior to the earthquake. The airport itself is built on land that was underwater previously. It was all pushed up by the quake. Very interesting to learn how the earthquake changed the city by destroying it but also totally changed the landscape and provided more land for the city to be rebuilt on. The museum also had an exhibit on called "A Kiwi at Brideshead" and it was an exhibit of work by a New Zealand artist, Felix Kelly, who moved to London, England at 21 and had a career as an illustrator and cartoonist. He did a lot of book covers and artwork for magazines and advertising but also did some amazing illustrations of country houses with slightly surreal touches. His work was absolutely amazing and I will have to order a copy of the book about him when I return. His life had a lot of parallels with the character of Charles Ryder in 'Brideshead Revisited' (one of my favourite books ever) -- he even knew the Howard family and painted some murals in the garden rooms at Castle Howard (like Charles does in the novel). Anyway, I was fascinated and totally captivated by his style.

I stopped for some lunch at one of the cafes. Had a leek and mushroom filo pastry pie with roasted red peppers and salad and a glass of lemon-limeade. After lunch I went to relax at one of the parks. Big tall palm trees always make me think of that movie "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World". (double uuuuuuuuuuu) double uuuuuuuuuuuuu double uuuuuuuuuu)...



I had booked for the 2 pm art deco walking tour conducted by the art deco trust. The walk/talk was two and half hours and was very informative about the art deco, spanish mission and modern classic styles that the city was rebuilt in after the earthquake. The styles were chosen mainly because it was cheap (the depression was starting) and fast to build (as opposed to rebuilding in Victorian and Classical styles). Also the decoration was simple and flat -- nothing to fall of and kill people during a quake!





This bank building was particularly interesting as it details (inside and out) are Maori motifs.



After the walk I went to a few of the shops to look around. Found a nice gallery and bought a print by a local artist called "Lococat" -- his coloured etchings all featured cats -- and I look forward to getting it framed when I get home.

Now back in my room. Glad to see my nose is only slightly pink. I had loaded up on sunscreen this morning but that sun was quite intense today. Going to have a glass or two of wine -- trying a Wishart "Te Puriri" chardonnay from the Hawke's Bay region -- on my balcony and read for a bit. Then will head out for a bite to eat and a walk along the oceanfront. It gets dark here earlier then it did down south in Dunedin but it is still light until after 9.

Tomorrow is supposed to gorgeous again so I plan to load on the sunscreen and spend the day at the beach.

Yum Yum, Happy Happy

Just back to my room from my wonderful dinner at Pacifica.

The chef's complimentary taster was a chilled watermelon soup with a touch of chili. Very nice palate cleanser and I really liked the hit of spice with the chili.

I started with the John Dory sashimi with New Zealand wasabi and pineapple wasabi foam and soy dipping sauce. It was very nice and light -- the fish was just gorgeous and fresh (which you, of course, want in raw fish!!) and the texture was very nice. (My other choice for a starter was the duck and bacon terrine but I am glad I went for the sashimi.) The wine I had with this was an Esk Valley Chenin Blanc (a Hawke's Bay region wine).

My main was the venison loin, grilled very rare, on polenta with venison jus and goat tortellini (bits of goat shank used to stuff the tortellini). I like game meat and this venison was very nice and tender and grilled just the way I like meat -- very rare. The polenta was very creamy and only reinforced my wish that I could cook polenta so lovely (whenever I try to make it, it is thick and lumpy). My side veggie dish was fresh organic corn on the cob with a light hollandaise sauce. Fresh corn - how wonderful, how summery! The wine with the venison was an Esk Valley Merlot Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon blend. (I had to give up my savs for tonight's meal asking the waiter to pick something regional to match the dish -- also, Hawke's Bay is not really prime savvie territory.)

For dessert I had the lemon bavarois coated with praline and accompanied by apple chips with cream and a bit of mixed berry sauce. I had to ask what a bavarois was but once the waiter described it as like a panna cotta (Italian for 'cooked cream') but much lighter, I knew I was in. Lemon desserts are a big favourite with me (as are cream desserts to be perfectly honest!) The light praline coating added a nice texture. The dessert wine to accompany it was a late harvest riesling from Cloudy Bay Vineyards in the Marlborough region.

Just a fantastic meal. The restaurant was very casual despite its fine menu and wine list. In fact, some reviews I read of it had complaints about the decor and its blue indoor/outdoor carpeting and moulded plastic chairs. It does have the feel of a beach shack (being in an old bungalow right on the Marine Parade) but that casualness is so appropriate here in New Zealand and helps to take away from any pretentiousness of a top restaurant. I am a good solo traveller and don't mind eating alone but sometimes pulling out a book in a good restaurant is a bit uncomfortable so I usually seek out more casual spots. Pacifica, to me, was the perfect mix of fine food and welcoming staff. There were people there who were clearly foodies and wine lovers but everyone got the same attention and warmth of service.

And I should also report that on my way to dinner I had a little meeting with a sweet little grey kitten. Most of the Marine Parade is made up of motels, B&Bs, backpacker hostels or restaurants but there are a few wooden bungalows that are lived in and one of them had its front window open and the little one popped out on to the window sill to say hello when I went by. The window is right along the sidewalk so easily got a little pet in and will be sure to walk by there again during my stay in the hopes of seeing little 'Pacific Smokey' again.

Now it is time to settle in for the night. I have my window open so I can lie in bed and listen to the ocean waves rolling up on to the beach. How perfect.

And now for something completely different -- Napier

Flying into Napier I was immediately struck by how flat the Hawke's Bay region is. Flat. Flat flat. Southwestern Ontario flat. Sure there are some hills around the region but it's flat. Sure the plane flew in over the usual farmer's fields, vineyards and flocks of sheep but it was flat. After all of the mountains and hills that have been in view (or under my feet) in my kiwi travels so far it looks and feels quite different. It also has a very beachy feel to it which is no big surprise given that it is right on the Pacific ocean. And the architecture of the downtown area is quite different as well -- on February 3rd 1931 Napier was destroyed by an earthquake. Few buildings survived and the city was rebuilt in the art deco style so that it is now the art deco capital of the world. Like Miami but without so many bad sunglasses and the Gloria Estevan music.

Upon arrival I took one of the shuttles to my motel -- The Nautilus. It is a motor hotel located right on the Marine Parade (hello beach!!). My room is on the third floor (the top floor) and there are amazing folding doors out to my balcony overlooking some trees and the ocean. Basically the whole width of the room opens up ...


And from out on the balcony I can sit and look out between the trees at the ocean ...



And if cross the street I am on the beach looking out at the ocean ...


My room has a little kitchenette and, as well as a bathroom with a shower, this massive jacuzzi tub in the corner ...


I dropped off my bags and went for a walk into the city centre (it's about a 10 minute walk along the waterfront). I stopped in at Pacifica, which is supposed to be one of New Zealand's best restaurants, and booked myself a table for 8 pm tonight. There seems to be a number of good shops around so tomorrow will check those out. I popped into the organic grocery shop and picked up some yogurt and juice for tomorrow morning and a bottle of organic savvie (from Sunset Valley Vineyard which is in Upper Moutere, just down the road from where the yoga place was) and some handcrafted manuka smoked gouda cheese. Just going to have a little snack to tide me over until my dinner. Also picked up some brochures so I can decide what to do over the next three days that I am here. Will peruse those now.

Was sunny earlier but some clouds are rolling in now and there is a chance of showers tonight but the forecast for next few days is looking good.

The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra

I love things that make me smile. Even when your heart breaks you need to smile. Gentle reader, I give you The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra.