Health data: day 8 10.1km walking/hiking over 92 floors climbed... day 9 3.4km around wineries with 4 floors climbed.
Lake Waikareiti
On Day 8 Ron, Megan and I headed an hours drive out from Wairoa - heading inland and up the hills. Our destination was the forested hiking trail leading to Lake Waikareiti ("little rippling waters"). The lake lies 892m above sea level and was formed about 18,000 years ago by one of the biggest landslides in the world. A thick slab of country 10kms wide slid off a smooth slope from the northwest. The debris created a hummocky landscape with hollows now infilled with wetlands and lakes.
The day itself was on the warmer side so having the canopy of the forest shield us from the sun made for a lovely hike. The breezes over the lake at the top of the hike were also very welcome to cool us down as we took in the view and paused before the return to the car.
Onepoto Caves
After returning to the car we leaded back about half an hour to the Onepoto Caves walk. The track starts with a gentle 10 minute climb, through a number of rocky outcrops and over-hangs. It then follows an undulating ridge, branching off at different points, to allow exploration of the various caves in the area. There is a lookout point along the ridge that has a clear view of the stratified layers of rock comprising the "intact block" of rock that slid down from the Ngamoko Range.
The track then descends into a small valley that contains the largest number of caves on the walk.
Cave weta are found in the Onepoto Caves. These harmless insects gather in the caves during the day and venture out at night to feed on plants (we saw tendrils of them hanging in the dark of the caves but not their actual shapes).
Napier Wine Tasting
The next day Sue, Megan and I headed the 2 hour drive to Napier to do some wine tasting and lunch at the Mission Winery. We got part way through the wine tasting at Mission and then broke for our lunch reservation. For you foodies here are photos of some of the items we had:
Starters
 |
| Duck Liver Brûlée, Orcona Chilli & Apple Chutney, Whiskey Caramel, Truffle Brioche Toast |
 |
| Baked Ricotta & Citrus Cake, Semidried Tomato, Grape Salsa, Confit Te Mata Mushrooms, Walnut Crème |
 |
| Cauliflower and blue cheese creamed soup |
Mains
 |
| Beetroot, Chevre & Honey Tart, Caramalised Leeks, Radicchio, Blackberry Gastric |
 |
| Sunday Roast Chicken Supreme, Orange & Cranberry Stuffing, Roasted Carrots, Yorkshire Pudding, Chicken Jus |
 |
| Herb Crusted Ovation Lamb Loin, Minted Pea Puree, Kumara Fries, Celery & Orange Chutney, Summer Greens |
The wine tastings
The tastings here in New Zealand have a fee associated with them. In some cases, like Mission, they give you a lovely red wines glass (or make a donation to charity should you not be able to take the glass). In other cases, you get a credit against purchase made.
The actual wines were all lovely for me. Sue and Megan both preferred the whites by far with only one or two of the reds that were of interest. I did not take notes but did buy bottles from each vineyard (all will be consumed before I fly on down to Christchurch on the 30th...
We took in the following wineries: Mission, Church Road, and Alpha Domus (with their little guard dog schnauzer who barked warning as we approached but then we were in and all was good - ;-> ). The wines in the area that we primarily tasted were Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah (Shiraz).
