RIBBONWOOD RETREAT B & B ACCOMMODATION
  • Home
  • Your Hosts
    • About
    • Sustainability
  • Our Suites
    • Overview
    • The Waiho Suite
    • The Cottage
  • Breakfast
    • Garden To Your Plate
  • Activities
    • Our Top Picks
    • Hiking
    • Wildlife Tours
    • Birds >
      • Bird List
  • Blog
  • Book
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
Photo credit / Jase Blair / Katabatic Creative Ltd

​Thanks to Glacier Valley Eco Tours

Off on a discovery of the North Island

16/9/2021

0 Comments

 
When chatting with them, it often occurs to me that my guests seem to know the rest of New Zealand better than me! We have always been quick to fly away from New Zealand. Well now seem the ideal time to 'do something new New Zealand!'

First stop was where Jo hails from; Wellington. It is always great to catch up his his sister Sooze. Having my bike was great! Straight off to the cities best viewpoint, Mt Victoria at 196 m. This ride affords a good puff and a reminder of all there is to love about this place. With many hilly walking trails, beaches,  birdlife and the ferry on it's back door to the South Island, Wellington is an excellent place to be.
Picture
Wellington City and Harbour

​Heading North, but which route?

The trouble is deciding which way to go with East, West and middle of the Island all boasting good options for places to see. We hit on Napier and the East Cape so then it became clearer. First stop, Pukaha, Mt Bruce and its Wildlife Centre which is a captive-breeding sanctuary for some of our threatened birds. Located in a pocket of ancient forest, we wandered past rimu, rata, kahikatea and tawa for a couple of hours enjoying lunch with a view. We surveyed the wildly playful kaka tearing strips off the tree, takahe, monster eels and brown trout that live under the bridge; as well as saddlebacks, stitchbirds and resident kokako. The park also includes a kiwi house and a wetlands area with pāteke or brown teal. This cute dabbling duck was a highlight to see for the first time with its narrow white ring around the eye.
Kokako sings to Jo
Pateke
Kaka

Napier; warm and full of character

A landmark of Napier is Bluff Hill this is where we stayed for the next few nights in what was once the fam­ily home of one of Napier's finest Art Deco archi­tects. We overlooked the Port of Napier, one of New Zealand’s busiest ports, transporting timber, local fruit and meat products to worldwide destinations. The scenic ride on our bikes started in Napier, following the coast before heading inland and south into rural wetlands that used to form part of the inner harbour. The trail wound round the airport, through wetlands where viewing hides encourage bird spotting – around 70 species live or visit here. ​
Our unique AirBnB
Napiers quirky possum goods shop
The mighty Pacific

Art Deco Napier

The 1931 earthquake saw Napier rebuilt in line with the times. New Zealand’s largest earthquake of the 20th century shook the centre of Napier to rubble. Fires then burned out of control. Out of the ashes, Napier’s citizens built what they hailed as “the newest city on the globe,” modelled on the latest architectural fashions: Stripped Classical, Spanish Mission and, most notably, Art Deco. When I was growing up it seemed Napier’s heritage was not really appreciated but since the 1990's the town has enjoyed a tourist boom. We discovered the fascinating story of Napier’s heritage with the Art Deco trust's walking tour.  Our enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide gave us an insight into the history of Napier and the characteristics of the Art Deco style of architecture. 
The Public Trust building is neo classical style built in 1922. One of the few buildings in central Napier to survive the 1931 earthquake.
You can get a sense of Art Deco Napier by wandering the streets of the city centre
The ASB Bank features a beautiful kowhaiwhai pattern.

Te Mata Peak

Where there's a hill we have to climb it. We admired the 360° views of Hawke’s Bay and the Heretaunga Plains from the summit. The highlight though was the walk through the majestic hundred-year-old giant redwoods.
Great view from the summit!
The giant Redwood forest

Heading to the East Cape we found a treasure - Mōrere Hot Springs

The pools are set in 364 hectares of rainforest, run by the Department of Conservation staff who were as enthusiastic about the hot springs as we were. What makes this place unique is its water. Ancient seawater bubbles up, some 250,000 litres a day, which makes its way to the surface through a fault line. It is then cooled and pumped into the pools. A beautiful short walk through native rainforest to the Nīkau Pools, through thick strands of these favourite palms to arrive at the pools, was a delight. 
The Nīkau Pools
Gisborne where the sun is the first to rise
A beautiful walk through native rainforest to a hot dip

A Flying Visit to East Cape

 Onward to the East Cape with Gisborne the launch for the trip. This was to be a taster of the area, because as it was August, accommodation options were very slim. The coffee in the caravan en route took over half an hour to eventuate (surprisingly good!) That sort of speaks of the attitude on the Cape! It was a fantastic day as we headed north to a couple of obvious stops. The historic longest wharf in NZ at Tolaga Bay wharf. It still exists thanks to restoration efforts that began in 1999 by locals of the Tolaga Bay Save The Wharf Charitable Trust.
Picture
A long walk to the end of the historic Tolaga Bay Wharf
Picture
Typical of the wide deserted East Coast beaches
Picture
St Marys Church, a special place to be
Our next stop was in Tikitiki to see the nicest church I have ever been to in NZ, a Maori church called St. Mary’s. It was built in 1924 to commemorate the fallen Ngāti Porou soldiers during World War I.  It sits up on a little hill, surrounded by flowers and trees. We met one of the locals who was replacing pieces of paua shell and had an interesting chat with him. The Maori architecture, stained glass, and carvings in this building are beautiful and it was a privilege to be here.

Opotiki and the Dunes Trail

Picture


​With great views across the eastern Bay of Plenty and back across the East Cape Raukumara Range this was a fun filled cycle after yesterdays long day in the car. 
​

Lockdown at Papamoa!

We arrived at our friends who live near Tauranga. With excited chatter of how we were going to go here and there and an all too brief taste of the area, with a drive to the Mount and an op shop, shop, lockdown effective almost immediately was announced. Our mates were so good! Not feeling able to face jumping in our car to retreat home for what google maps shows to be a 1,141 km journey they agreed to let us stay. What timing, what friends aye!  It is possible that anxiety and uncertainty, especially about the time when lockdown would end, might have given us the odd negative feeling but largely focusing on the simple pleasures of the present moment and trying to find interesting activities was not hard.  We enjoyed taking turns at cooking up a storm at the end of each day.
Masks from Lucies Reusies
The beach was my main stamping ground
..along with the Papamoa Hills
Picture
The grapefruit trees were quite a find. We did have to rescue them from the cows and horses.

The Coromandel, The Pinnacles, Historic Karangahake Gorge  Waitomo and Peka Peka

Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Keen on the outdoors, we often hike around our local area so we can pass on all our knowledge about Westland Tai Poutini National Park.

    Categories

    All
    Explore New Zealand
    Ribbonwood Retreat
    Sustainability

    Archives

    December 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    September 2021
    May 2021
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020

    RSS Feed

Our Location
​Corner Greens Road and State Highway 6
Franz Josef Glacier
+64 3 7520072
​

stay@ribbonwood.net.nz

Your Hosts
Sustainability
Tiaki
The Waiho Suite
​
The Cottage
Garden to Plate
Adventure
Blog
​Contact
​Privacy Policy

Qualmark logo
Covid Clean by Qualmark
Committed to Sustainable Tourism
Trees that Count Native Tree Supporter
Ribbonwood-Retreat-TIA - Member
Ribbonwood Retreat supports Tiaki Promise
Picture
Picture
Bed and Breakfast Association Ribbonwood Retreat
We are proudly a quality assessed Bed and Breakfast
Website design by Ribbonwood Retreat 2019​
  • Home
  • Your Hosts
    • About
    • Sustainability
  • Our Suites
    • Overview
    • The Waiho Suite
    • The Cottage
  • Breakfast
    • Garden To Your Plate
  • Activities
    • Our Top Picks
    • Hiking
    • Wildlife Tours
    • Birds >
      • Bird List
  • Blog
  • Book
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy