STOP !! ………… WINING !!
After our stop in Napier it was time to move on to our next – Martinborough. So after breakfast we packed up and set off on one of our longer driving days.
First stop though was not far away – to Hastings and the Hawkes Bay Farmers Market. It is on every Sunday and obviously pretty popular. It is mainly a produce market and many of those moving into the market from the carpark had numerous bags tucked under their arms so the pickings must have been good. As we wandered around, the queues to the coffee vans stretched out but most of the other stalls were pretty well occupied as well. Even though it was Father’s Day, Adrienne wouldn’t let me have a go at the ride on mower stall so after a stroll around the stalls we set off again.
We spent most of our drive on State Highway No 2 but it was more reminiscent of the Pacific Highway in the 1970’s as it wandered through every little town along the way. Along the way we came to Norsewood, a town settled in the early 1870’s by mainly Norwegian loggers and it retains its heritage today. It is also home to the Wop Wops Wetlands, a rehabilitated area of natural springs – and also home to the native long fin eels. The nearby shop provided eel feed and tapping on the timber deck above the creek brings in the eels to get fed. They nearly take the feed out of your hand !
Further on we stopped at the Pukaha National Wildlife Centre. This centre is a captive breeding facility for a number of the endangered NZ wildlife. Amongst them are Kiwi, the Kaka (Bush Parrot), Kakariki and Whio (Blue Duck). They also have a number of skinks and gecko and also the long fin eel. The area around is also natural forest which is helping with the process. We managed to get a glimpse of most of the main wildlife including a couple of kiwi.
The weather for the day was very mixed – we started out in glorious sunshine and as we made our way further south we could see very grey skies ahead. It was also very windy which probably accounted for us driving along at stages in perfect sunshine but with rain pouring down as well. Luckily we managed to avoid the worst of the rain when we were looking to stop.
As we got closer to our destination, the grape vines returned as Martinborough is another area famous for its wineries. We arrived around 3pm and after sitting in the car for a few minutes when we pulled into the hotel carpark as another downpour hit, we checked into the Martinborough Hotel for tonight’s stay.
The hotel was built in 1882 on the entrance to the large town square. In its early days it was described as one of “the finest hostelries ever erected in any inland town in New Zealand”. With the flourishing wine industry bringing in more tourism it was fully restored in 1996. And Martinborough Brewery is right next door !
We went for a walk around town – not very big at all – and settled into the Brewery for the Father’s Day entertainment – and a couple of drinks of course ! The sun had returned and it seemed the place to be in town as there was quite a crowd. We managed to grabe a table and were “entertained” for an hour or so by the Dusty Needle band – a bit more like a Rusty Nail I’m afraid as they butchered many a Rolling Stones number. The rather glum barmen was a bit unwelcoming to start but all became clear when I overheard that the lead “singer” was dad and mum was playing the bass 🤣🤣🤣 But the good crowd was right into it and they were probably boosting the beer sales ! Tried a couple of the hazy IPA’s on offer which were pretty good so an amusing time was had.
We strolled back up the main street and decided to have dinner at our hotel. Food was great again, Adrienne had the Sunday Roast (Lamb) and I had an excellent anchovy fettuccini. It is a great area – only an hour or so away from Wellington so it would likely be drawing a good crowd for long weekends or even daytrippers.
Certainly a good stop on our way to Wellington tomorrow.