Friday 18th April to Sunday 20th April – the Easter weekend
Anne here . . . Sorry we were so busy having a fantastic time with our relatives in the Hawkes Bay Area that we didn’t have time to blog.
The first day or so we were there, a tropical storm came through most of New Zealand and the weather was poor but then thankfully normal weather returned and Hawkes Bay was a lot warmer and more tropical than we expected. By Easter Sunday we needed high factor suncream – yippee.
Some of our highlights were:
– Napier – rebuilt in the Art Deco style after a devastating earthquake in 1931. As well as lovely buildings and Art Deco signs, there were loads of classic old cars. Very stylish.
– Fantastic views of Hawkes Bay from Bluff Cliff in Napier including logs waiting to be exported.
– Te Mata peak near Havelock North – breathtaking views from the top of vineyards, wineries, fruit orchards and a figgery, we went up on three occasions we liked it so much.
– Ocean Beach – rolling Pacific white foamy waves onto soft sand, a safe lagoon for the kids, blue skies, warm/hot sunshine and miles of sandy beach.
– The Keirunga Park Miniature railway trains, there were so many trains and a huge band of train enthusiasts to drive them (all men, funny that). Although one train did have a slight mishap, thankfully not when we were on it and also none of the passengers were seriously hurt.
– Hawkes Bay itself is lovely – wide roads, lots and lots of vineyards and wineries with names I know well, fruit trees, very little traffic and a general feeling that all is right with the world.
It was wonderful beyond words to spend time with all our distant relatives. I wondered whether we were destined never to meet but we have and our lives are very much richer for it. 🙂