Napier and Staying with Craig and Kim

While we were in Ohakune, we did our active stuff, but the kids also did a lot of school. After that, we were off to Napier, and we were going to spend two nights staying with Craig Morley (who you’ll recognize from a long-ago prior post) and his partner, Kim. Craig was stuck on Palmerston Island with no way off since the supply ship was not working, and consequently, was not going to be arriving at the island. So Craig sailed with us from Palmerston to Niue, where he could then fly home to NZ. Craig and Kim were so nice to let us stay with them, and they have a great place! The evening we arrived, we all went out for some yummy Indian Food. We ate so much…

Craig and Kim (and their dog, “SD”)

Craig and Kim’s Cool Place–The Deck

Their View

While Kim had to work, Craig acted as our tour guide for the day. He drove us out to Te Mata, which is a great observation point about 30 minutes outside of Napier. The weather was gorgeous and the views were spectacular. It reminded me of a cross between California and Nevada.

Te Mata with Craig

The Views One Way

And another view…

This view is out to a winery.

Afterwards, we headed through wine country and stopped at two different ones. The first was Black Barn Vineyards and the second was Clearview, which had a fantastic Chardonnay. Then we went for lunch and enjoyed views of the ocean while we dined on salads and pastas.

Heading to a Napier Area Winery

Why did the Pukeko cross the road?

Our Spot for Lunch

That evening, when Kim came home, we chatted and ate the many snacks Kim put together. We stayed up late talking and enjoying Kim and Craig’s company. The next morning, we walked to their favorite Saturday haunt, which was a little farmer’s market-slash-get a good breakfast sandwich place on the edge of a downtown park. We had fresh squeezed juice and eggs and cheese on fresh baked toast. This was a great way to spend our morning before we headed out to Hamilton for the night. We had a great time hanging out with Craig and Kim!

Napier is a great city. If we were move to New Zealand, we would most likely live here. It is a mid-sized city that is generally warmer than other parts of New Zealand, has palm trees, and beautiful hills with art deco architecture. In 1931, Napier had a HUGE earthquake that caused so much damage. When the residents decided to rebuild, they built in the style at the time, which was art deco. It was really neat to see and we were happy we had planned to come back to this area when Dan’s mom, Corinne, and her husband, John, came to New Zealand.

Downtown Napier