Our ship arrived in Napier escorted by a bunch of local boats and when we arrived at the pier at around 1pm, the adjacent pier was crowded with local people waiting for our arrival. They were crowded on the bluff overlooking the bay also. It turned out that February 16th was an annual Napier celebration of the rebuilding of the city after an earthquake in 1931.
We went down to the pier and joined our Virtuoso travel group. There were people dressed in 1930s clothing and dozens of old automobiles lined up along the ship.We were escorted to a beautiful resort called the Farm at Cape Kidnappers with a view of the ocean and surrounding area that was just spectacular. It was located on a working sheep and cattle farm of 6000 acres and our group was their first guests.
On the bus to the lodge, one of our guides included a Maori woman who explained how we would be greeted by a Maori group and that we were expected to sing a greeting back, which we practiced. The Maori group entertained us during the afternoon tea that was held in the owner’s lodge. After the tea they held a wine tasting of their local wine – a Merlot and a Pinot Noir. When we got back on the bus we found that, as oen of the guests remarked, “the wine fairy” had left us each a bottle of their wine as gifts. It was a wonderful excursion.
Since I knew we would be back late I had made reservations for the ships special restaurant called Todd’s English. We had a superb dinner – lobster, rack of lamb and a bottle of Asti Spumante. The evening entertainment was also good, a female jazz pianist and singer who was enjoyable.
We went down to the pier and joined our Virtuoso travel group. There were people dressed in 1930s clothing and dozens of old automobiles lined up along the ship.We were escorted to a beautiful resort called the Farm at Cape Kidnappers with a view of the ocean and surrounding area that was just spectacular. It was located on a working sheep and cattle farm of 6000 acres and our group was their first guests.
On the bus to the lodge, one of our guides included a Maori woman who explained how we would be greeted by a Maori group and that we were expected to sing a greeting back, which we practiced. The Maori group entertained us during the afternoon tea that was held in the owner’s lodge. After the tea they held a wine tasting of their local wine – a Merlot and a Pinot Noir. When we got back on the bus we found that, as oen of the guests remarked, “the wine fairy” had left us each a bottle of their wine as gifts. It was a wonderful excursion.
Since I knew we would be back late I had made reservations for the ships special restaurant called Todd’s English. We had a superb dinner – lobster, rack of lamb and a bottle of Asti Spumante. The evening entertainment was also good, a female jazz pianist and singer who was enjoyable.
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