Sharks and Wine

The New Zealand National Aquarium in Napier turns out to be a good visit. We've had mixed results with aquariums in the past, and although the Napier one is small, it is well done and has an excellent shark and stingray tank! Much like the larger one in Sydney, you walk through a glass tube and can watch the sharks, rays, and other fish swim all around you. At one point, I just about needed a change of underwear when a dark mass floats over my left shoulder only to realize it was a stingray passing over me, it's mouth gaping. All behind the glass thankfully!



We see school sharks, bronze whalers and a seven gill shark. We also watch a diver from the aquarium feed the coral fish (and the very large crayfish).









The aquarium also has a nocturnal kiwi house. We enjoyed watching the pair waddle about - being able to observe them more closely than we could at Trounson forest. I think both Jenn and I wanted to say to anyone clustered near the glass habitat "We saw one...IN THE WILD!"

But we were able to keep our mouths shut!

Hawke's Bay is known for it's wineries so we needed to see what all the fuss is. Our campsite out on Cape Kidnappers (could there be a cooler name?!) is near a couple of them - one being Elephant Hill which we hit first. There we meet Nicola who, in a laid-back cruzy way, takes us through their wines. So much fun, the three of us are having, that Nicola's manager comes over at one point to see what we're up (well, really just to try to get in on the fun we're sure!!). Oops! We sing Nicola's praises and the manager floats off...and...after a few glasses of wine, so do we!



Up next is Black Barn (a good Chardonnay but a bit of a hoity-toity place). Then Salvatare, where the wine is so-so, but the olive oil and spreads are quite tasty. There we are introduced to dukkah which is a seasoned dry roasted seed and nut mixture used for dipping. Very tasty!


TeAwa winery has another good Chardonnay (several in fact) and an excellent Syrah...plus a pretty nice lunch menu. So we take a seat out on the lawn and do some food and wine pairing. No dinner needed tonight...









Our final stop is at Clearwater Estates, back near the campsite, where they are known for their Chardonnay (they have a great Cab. Franc there too!). We have to pick up another bottle of Chardonnay to add to our collection. They also introduce us to a local brew called "Rooster Ale". Too bad it's only a sample as it is pretty good!

All the wineries offer free tastings and the people manning the tasting bars are very knowledgeable. They can talk at length about their various wines. We have lots of questions and enjoy trying to guess the subtle flavours in the wines we try. "Ummm a little bee pollen, a touch of candy floss, and just a hint of day old Chinese Food in the finish?"

We weren't always their favorite guests!

Wine tasting can be such a ridiculous thing all that swirling, slurping, swishing, and spitting. We tried to ride that line between "new-bies" and knowing the basics. Jenn says you get better service (and more free samples) when you pretend to know nothing but ask lots of good questions. The bartenders like your questions and feel like they are teaching something (which they usually are!).


And she's right.