Blogs from Napier, Hawkes Bay, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Hi Folks, We’ve been in NZ for 5 days and have a few observations to share with you: ‘give way’ means ‘yield’; ‘way out’ means ‘exit; ‘long black’ means an espresso coffee with hot water on the side – the only way to get what we consider a regular black coffee; ‘white tea’ means regular tea frothed with milk; people thank the drivers when exiting the bus; residential mail is delivered via bicycle to mail boxes located at the edges of sidewalks; speed limits are 100 km/hr on narrow, hilly, curvy highways – we would be used to limits of 70 – 80 km/hr in these situations; Auckland ambulances are Mercedes; there are few flower gardens adorning residential homes – mostly green shrubbery; gas is $2.12/litre – yikes!!! We are currently in Napier – completely destroyed ... read more

Today, it was all go and I was up at the crack of 8am to start (and finish) my packing on the 4 day journey that would lead to Belgium, or ‘Belgique’ as locals call it. The first leg was a very emotional take off from the Napier airport, complete with St John Boys Jack Dillon, Nick Dyne, Regan Mckinlay and Finn Dillon doing a beast of a haka, silencing important business airport conversations all through the Napier airport.. Seriously couldn’t have asked for a better leave, with all the boys, the fam, and of course the girl there. So after some tears, goodbyes, and of course a ton of photos, we (Sammy, Katelyn, Ash and Lisa) Hopped onto the plane to arrive in Auckland airport around an hour away. The take-off was something I hadent ... read more

Wow ! Toute une journée de superbe dégustation ! Une journée magnifique. Pas moins de six vignobles en une journée, oui j'ai bu beaucoup de vin ! Mais dans la région ici il doit y avoir une quarantaine de domaine différent.. C'est vraiment un endroit super pour en profiter.. D'autant plus que Napier est l'une des plus belle ville de Nouvelle Zélande. Je suis juste en face de la plage.. Je dors au bruit des vagues, la porte patio grande ouverte sur ma terrasse. C'est malade ! Alors voici la liste des endroits visité : 1- Silk Oak Chocolate Factory (bein oui à matin je commençais dans le chocolat) 2- Church Road (un gros producteur de vin ici, mais leur produit ne sont pas disponible au Québec) 3- Mission (superbe domaine et j'ai eu droit à ... read more

Sinds enkele dagen zijn we in Hawke's Bay district. Deze streek is vooral gekend voor zijn wijn, fruitbomen en bessen. We volgden vandaag een tocht in Napier want de stad is hier zo supertrots op zijn Art Deco festival in Maart. Het is toch niet zo de moeite om te doen hoor. Hier en daar vindt je wat mooiere en onderhouden huizen terug (meestal van een bank of een keten) en sommige zijn in vervallen toestand. Jammer dat er hier geen subsidies worden uitgedeeld om deze prachtige woningen te onderhouden. Ik ben hier ook al druk op zoek naar werk. Tot nu toe nog geen geluk gehad. In Napier heb ik 12 hotels afgelopen en ben er 1 CV kwijtgeraakt. Het toeristenseizoen is er heel kalm , kalmer dan anders dus de hotels nemen geen extra ... read more

Only an hour left before we head to the airport for the first short leg of the trip from Napier to Auckland. We will be staying at the Kiwi International Hotel, which has a giant kiwi on the roof! We put all my stuff in storage yesterday, and I officially have no address! All I have for 10 weeks is a pack, and I have even managed to leave some space in my packing, which is unusual for me.... read more

Journal day ... Napier rising. April 24 Napier & Hawks Bay. Campervan park. Had a great chat with Murray Fields, owner of the park. Daughter in Wicklow, interested in irish. He told me a bit of the history if the 1931 earthquake that destroyed the entire city of Napier. He was able to speak very well about the history and the exact spot where we were standing in the campervan park field was perfect for a little lecture as he was able to point at areas of the surrounding landscape to describe what had happened. It turned out the field I was standing in, close to the city of Napier, was below water before the earthquake occurred. It turns out that Napier actually made 42sqkm bigger by the quake. This large area of ground was raised ... read more

Nice day today so we will stay in Napier for another day. Di is up early pottering about; I take the opportunity for a lie-in. Di has made breakfast, so we eat and I go to shower rather late at around 10:00. I then fill up the water in the motorhome and do the “slopping out” so we will be in good shape to set off early on Sunday. We then head off into Napier to fuel up again so we do not have to do this on Sunday at our early start. We park-up on the sea front and walk into town. The town had been quiet on Friday, but today there is a real sense of Saturday morning. (Being away for 2 months – tends to make all the days merge, so you are ... read more