Tom On day 6 of our New Zealand travels, we made our way from Taupo to Wellington – a full day’s drive with several rest stop along the way. This morning, we started the day watching Botched (where surgeries go wrong) and had breakfast by Lake Taupo. We then started our drive from Taupo to Wellington, starting with our first stop at Napier…
New Zealand Travel Itinerary Day 6 – Driving from Taupo to Wellington
New Zealand Travel Itinerary Day 6 – Mission Estate Winery
Our first stop of the day was Mission Estate Winery. Yes, the famous wines of the same name that you can get from Singapore…
Unfortunately, we were not able to secure any seats for the wine tastings that day at Mission Estate Winery. Fully sold out. Nonetheless, we were able to take some cool shots of the premise before leaving with a bottle of Shiraz Reserve for $29…
The word “Reserve” came from how wineries would set aside or “reserve” their higher quality wines. It could mean a better vintage year, better tasting wines or aged wines. The Shiraz we had was excellent. For gifts, if you’re not sure what to get, going with a “reserve” wouldn’t go wrong.
New Zealand Travel Itinerary Day 6 – Te Awanga Estate Hastings
Even though we were not able to try out the wines at Mission Estate Winery, we did manage to get our lunch at another winery – Te Awanga Estate…
There was a long gravel road that led to the restaurant (aka Cellar Door) of Te Awanga Estate. Weather was awesome at Napier this afternoon. After settling in and browsing through the menu, we decided to go for the Wildsong Sauvignon Blanc ($33) and Maltese Falcon Pizza ($25)…
We took a seat outdoors and before long, other visitors came streaming in as well. Glad we were slightly early to avoid the lunch crowd. Outdoors, you’ll be able to choose from sheltered seats, patio seats or even sitting on the green lawn next to the vineyards. Before long, our food and drinks arrived…
The Maltese Falcon Pizza was delicious. It was simple but had all the fresh flavours from olives, parmesan, capers, caramelised onions and pepperoni. When the ingredients are fresh, pizzas taste great! The Wildsong Sauvignon Blanc had the passion fruit flavours along with guava aromas and citrusy notes. A perfect accompaniment to a freshly fired pizza. For drivers though, remember to limit your intake as Tom did!
Continuing our journey, we stopped by Dannevirke to refuel ($15 for about 1/8 of our tank) and a quick bite at McDonald’s. We tried out the McBites (something like a popcorn chicken) but was definitely not worth it. Not much meat within. Got a latte for $4.9 to perk up for the next leg of drive.
New Zealand Travel Itinerary Day 6 – Remutaka Crossing
Some information that we took off the poster at Rimutaka Crossing…
“Remutaka (also known as Rimutaka till 2018) Hill Road is a crucial and historic transport link between Wellington and the Wairarapa. The 13.7km section of State Highway 2 traverses steep and rugged terrain and extends from the twin bridges at Featherston to the Pakuratahi Bridge at Kaitoke. The area’s climate can be severe, with heavy rainfall, high winds, ice and snow during the winter and very changeable weather patterns in the summer – all impacting on the traveller’s experience of this winding road.
The Remutaka Hill Road on State Highway 2 forms and important part of New Zealand’s state highway network and is managed by the NZ Transport Agency. The road was first marked out in 1843 from the Pakuratahi River to Featherston by surveyor Samuel Brees of the NZ Land Company. Early settlers described the track as a narrow and dangerous bridle path with high rocks above and below and thousands of dead trees hanging down. It was a dangerous journey, particularly in windy weather. The Remutaka Hill Road was opened on June 10, 1856. Wagon traffic over the Remutaka Hill was the start of Wairarapa’s great shipments of primary produce. The wagons carried salted butter in kegs for export, bacon, wool and animal hides. All wagons had rollers behind the back wheels as an emergency brake when going uphill.
Since those early days, vast improvements have made the road safer and easier to travel. Road sealing began in 1935-36, when approximately 2km of road on the Featherston side was sealed. Road widening and realignment, as well as safety barriers, passing lanes and special skid-resistant road surfaces, have all improved the journey for travellers. The peak known as Remutaka Pass is 555m above sea level. While it no longer takes four days to cross, the road still requires concentration and care to drive. Today an average of 6700 vehicles travel over the Remutaka Hill Road each day. On weekends when major events occur, the number of vehicles can increase to over 14,000 a day.”
As for the Remutaka Crossing, it was a 3-day trek that soldiers had to complete before they were sent to the Western Front during WW1.
New Zealand Travel Itinerary Day 6 – Hey Day Beer Co
We eventually reached our AirBnb in Wellington at about 5:30pm – located at Ellice Street…
Kate chose this AirBnB hosted by Chris because it was still somewhat located in the city. Most of the attractions in Wellington City were about a 10 minutes walk away. Just that you have to navigate some slopes which was somewhat challenging. Before heading to our final stop for the evening – Hey Day Beer Co, we walked past Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington…
As it was still raining when we arrived in Wellington, we did not manage to sit outdoors at Hey Day Beer Co. and enjoy the fairy lights in the evenings. However, we did manage to try out the beers and toasties this evening…
The food were all pretty good. This time, we ordered the IPA, PA and the Stegosaurus/T-Rex Toasties. Everything came up to about $50. We particularly enjoyed the Stegosaurus Toasties which had pesto and dried tomato that came together nicely – much like a spaghetti but in toasties (crispy) form.
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Stay tuned as we check out the rest of the attractions in Wellington city centre on Day 7 of our travels in New Zealand!
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