Tuesday morning we got up and took off for the National Aquarium of NZ. It was conveniently located just down the street from our motel, right on the beach. Afterwards, we trekked over to a beautiful winery, Mission Estate, for a fab lunch.
"Kia Ora" means, literally "be well/happy" and informally means "Hi" in Maori.
MaeMae was too scared to take a pic in the gigantic jaws.
Taking a ride on the moving sidewalk through the fish/shark tunnel. Caroline was intrigued with this moving contraption.
We made it in time to watch the diver feeding the fish. He put on a fun little show for the kids.
A kiwi! You can't use a flash in the kiwi house. They are nocturnal so they have the kiwi house set up in the dark with special lights so you can spot them. We saw 2 that were feeding then they started to chase each other. They are really interesting little critters.
Family photo!
The driveway to Mission Estate Winery was paved with these beautiful English Plane trees and were planted in 1911. There's the ol' Cherry Bomb ahead.
Mission Estate - a little history
"Our story begins with a group of French Missionaries who sailed to New Zealand in 1838 with little more than their faith and a few vines. Mission Estate was established by these Missionaries in Hawke's Bay in 1851, where vines were planted to produce both sacramental and table wine and New Zealand's first winery was born. The first record of a commercial sale dates back to 1870 when a parcel of mostly dry reds was sold.
Mission has never lost sight of its French heritage, as over the years Brothers of the Order have traveled to France to study and learn viticulture and winemaking skills. Our current winemaker Paul Mooney has been at Mission for over 30 years, and was originally trained by the Fathers.
If visiting La Grande Maison of Mission Estate, as you progress down the driveway, there is still one row of Muscat grapes that have been grafted over the years from the very original stock bought to Hawke's Bay by the Marist Fathers.
Today Mission Estate sources fruit from several sub-regions, including its own well-managed vineyards, blending old world artistry with the latest technology, to produce an award-winning range of distinctly New Zealand wines."
"A wooden Chapel was built and still exists today, and by 1935 there were 80 students in residence. Since 1991, all seminary students have moved and are now in residence in Auckland.
Today, Mission Estate is Hawke's Bay's oldest winery, with a well-respected reputation in the New Zealand market as a producer of consistent quality, value for money wines."
www.missionestate.co.nz
The fountains on the grounds (2 of them) drew the kids in like a moth to a flame.
We were seated for lunch in the gorgeous gazebo. We felt like royalty sitting here to eat while the other patrons sat at "normal" tables. Either that or they wanted to set us apart from the others b/c of the kids. :) It didn't matter either way b/c we had a lovely semi-private lunch with a spectacular view of the grounds. :)
Thank you for a fine lunch, Mimi and Papaw!!
After lunch we picked up just a few bottles of fab wine in the shop. Next stop, the grocery store to grab some rations for the motel room and then off to another meal!
The motel recommened a pizza place called Antonio's. It was great! Nice cozy atmosphere, great food and a small local business. Awesome!
Our first day in Napier was wonderful! On to more exciting adventures!
No comments:
Post a Comment