Maraekakaho

After harvest finished up I decided to take a quick trip down to Wellington, where I went to the Alice in Wonderland bar.  It was pretty cool, with the bar really low and the bartenders seeming small due to a lowered floor behind the bar.  They had cool cocktail names like “down the rabbit hole,” and “drink me,” and served some in tea pots with little tea cups so you could have a cocktail tea party.  It was fun and really well done.  

After Wellington I went wine tasting in Martinborough for a day.  Martinborough is tiny, with tiny little wineries, but is possibly better known than Hawke’s Bay internationally.  It was fun to explore, but there wasn't much going on... Then I came back to Hawke’s Bay, back out to Maraekakaho where I decided to stay a while longer with the same couple I lived with during vintage, since they needed some help around the property, and offered to put me up and feed me in exchange for a few hours of work each day.  This sounded like a great deal to me and it has turned out amazingly.  Work has included weeding, digging holes for trees, planting trees and vegetables, moving enormous sheds (took 4 people, a forklift, logs to use as rollers like they used for the pyramids, and 4 hours), cleaning a grill (mostly so that we could have burgers for dinner upon my request), cleaning the garage and the house, feeding the big pigs, the baby pigs and the baby cows (so cute!), baking banana bread and carrot cakes, other cooking for lunch/dinner, and various other things around the house and property.  I visited Corner 50 one day to pick up my vintage t-shirt and was offered a few more weeks of work for them since one of their permanent staff had just left, so I’m back at the winery!  For another 3 days now before heading to Tonga for a month!  It is cold and wintery here now so a tropical island is sounding better by the minute.  I can’t wait!  A few pictures from around the farm / of the cats on my bed:

Havelock North

This post is not in chronological order… since it was so long in between them I forgot about this cool part of my NZ travel but it was fun so I thought I’d mention it.  When I first got to Hawke’s Bay I stayed with Kate and Anna’s parents in their amazing house with a beautiful huge garden and awesome view of the hills.  Jane and Brian let me relax at their house and on their back porch in the sun with the great view while they were out playing golf, bridge, and other various activities people do once retired.  I also spent some time exploring the surrounding area, including the Havelock North Village, Hastings, Napier, and Waimarama beach, half touring and half searching for places to live during vintage.  I may have been influenced by their opinions on different parts of the area, as I was warned to not live in the Maori areas, or too far away from the winery.  In the evenings after a home-cooked dinner we usually watched tv and they would serve a “cuppa” (cup of tea) and an Afghan (a delicious chocolatey “biscuit” (cookie) that I’m pretty sure was also home made).  They gave me tea with milk and said they would Anglicize me while I was staying there.  It was great fun.  They also had a little high-energy little dog, Susie, that made friends easily and loved to go for walks, so that was one of my daily activities.  She also liked to sprint around the yard with limited provocation, and then to sit in your lap on the couch or outside on the porch.  Although if it was too hot she would lie in the shade with legs stretched out in all directions.  She followed me around the house when no lap was available, and even seemed to remember me when I came back to visit a couple months later.  Unfortunately I don’t seem to have any pictures of this time.  I’ll have to visit again and snatch a couple. 

My parents even liked Susie, and they usually don’t like small dogs.  My parents visited New Zealand, supposedly to see me and what I was up to, but they mostly toured around in other areas, and visited Hawke’s Bay at the end of their trip for a few days.  The James’s had them over for dinner one night, and I started work a day late so I could hang out with them during their first day here.  Unfortunately it rained during most of their stay so my dad didn’t get to golf at Cape Kidnappers, but it was good because as I mentioned before they were able to fix my busted tires while they were here.   Mom and Dad stayed in Ahuriri, north of Napier, and somehow got lost each time going back to the hotel until the very last day.  Their hotel was cute, very close to the water, and apparently near some of the best restaurants.  We went up Te Mata peak, which has great views of the whole Bay, and I took a couple pictures: