Today was going to be our slow drive from Napier down to Wellington. If we did it straight it’d be around 4 hours, but we decided to take our time and see things on the way down. We started off by swinging into one of the wineries in the area before heading out, they were the only ones who opened at 9AM. About ½ way down the drive was a town called Woodville, we stopped there for a short 30 minute hike to just stretch our legs. They had a long hiking trail along a gorge and we just did the beginning portion of it.
We also drove through a town called Dannevirke, which surprised me because it was a Danish town in the middle of New Zealand. Just thought I’d mention that.
Just south of Woodville we stopped at the Tui brewery for lunch. We’d seen signs for this type of
beer for a while but hadn’t been able to find it on tap anywhere. It was actually pretty good and brewed in the middle of nowhere. Turned out to be a good stop for lunch.
From here we headed out to Martinborough, which is basically a wine territory. We were having trouble because we rolled into town at 3PM and many of the wineries closed during the week at that time. We ended up finding 3 of them that were opened, which was plenty since we still had to make the drive into Wellington. Most of the wines here are Pinots, and some were pretty good. We bought one bottle and figured we’d end up drinking it in our Bed and Breakfast on some rainy day over the next two weeks we’re here.
We then took a straight shot to Wellington and got in around 5PM, right in the middle of rush hour, which is significantly lighter than what we’d see in the states. Wellington is the capitol of NZ, and is a legitimate city, nothing like the towns we’ve stayed in so far. We found our hotel, checked in, and headed out for dinner. Turns out our hotel is 1 block from the main strip of bars and restaurants. We had some fancy schmancy pizza which turned out to be good. You know I actually did something I’d never thought I’d ever do….I ordered a pizza that had sour cream on it, I had my doubts, but it was really good.
We then just took a walk down by the waterfront, nothing too special. Turned in early since we had to be up early to catch the ferry to the south island.
We also drove through a town called Dannevirke, which surprised me because it was a Danish town in the middle of New Zealand. Just thought I’d mention that.
Just south of Woodville we stopped at the Tui brewery for lunch. We’d seen signs for this type of
beer for a while but hadn’t been able to find it on tap anywhere. It was actually pretty good and brewed in the middle of nowhere. Turned out to be a good stop for lunch.From here we headed out to Martinborough, which is basically a wine territory. We were having trouble because we rolled into town at 3PM and many of the wineries closed during the week at that time. We ended up finding 3 of them that were opened, which was plenty since we still had to make the drive into Wellington. Most of the wines here are Pinots, and some were pretty good. We bought one bottle and figured we’d end up drinking it in our Bed and Breakfast on some rainy day over the next two weeks we’re here.
We then took a straight shot to Wellington and got in around 5PM, right in the middle of rush hour, which is significantly lighter than what we’d see in the states. Wellington is the capitol of NZ, and is a legitimate city, nothing like the towns we’ve stayed in so far. We found our hotel, checked in, and headed out for dinner. Turns out our hotel is 1 block from the main strip of bars and restaurants. We had some fancy schmancy pizza which turned out to be good. You know I actually did something I’d never thought I’d ever do….I ordered a pizza that had sour cream on it, I had my doubts, but it was really good.
We then just took a walk down by the waterfront, nothing too special. Turned in early since we had to be up early to catch the ferry to the south island.
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