Hawke's Bay Visitor Guide

2019 Hawke’s Bay Visitor Guide. Create your playlist at GANNET COLONY, CAPE KIDNAPPERS / TE KAUWAE-A-MĀUI HAWKESBAYNZ.COM Cover image by Richard Brimer Photography kindly supplied by Richard Brimer, Andrew Contents Caldwell, Simon Cartwright, Brian Culy, Suden Lakshmanan, Kirsten Simcox & Tim Whittaker. Welcome to Hawke’s Bay 1 Getting Here 2 As products/offers may change without notice please refer A Short History of Hawke's Bay 3 to operators directly for up to date information on compliance with all Health and Safety and regulatory requirements. Our Māori Heritage 3 Our Seasons 4 Events 2019 5 Napier 6 Ahuriri, Westshore & Esk Valley 7 Hastings 8 Havelock North, Haumoana & Te Awanga 9 Northern Hawke’s Bay 10-11 Central Hawke’s Bay 12-13 Architecture 14 Art & Culture 15 Food & Wine 16 Cycling 17 Walking & Golf 18 Beaches & Fishing 19 Our Visitor Guide Family Fun 20 now includes Weddings & Conferences 21 the Food & Accommodation 22 Wine Guide See & Do 26 Eat & Drink 38 Hawke’s Bay Regional Map Back Stay in touch /hawkesbaynz hawkesbaynz [email protected] Gimblett Gravels, Hawke's Bay Welcome to Hawke’s Bay ‘Te Matau a Māui’ From Māhia in the north to Porangahau in the south, In Māori mythology, the formation of Hawke’s Bay’s Hawke’s Bay’s 360 kilometres of coastline and beaches geography is found in the story of Māui, the most hugs the Pacific Ocean. famous of the Māori gods, who hauled up the North Island while out fishing one day with his brothers. Blessed with fertile soils, an ideal contour, and a warm temperate climate, Hawke’s Bay’s prosperity is Annoyed by the favouritism shown to Māui by the founded on its land-based economy. With thousands other gods, the brothers tried to sabotage his fishing of acres of farms, orchards, and vineyards, and local efforts by refusing him a fishhook or some bait. The industries that have grown up in support, it’s clear why resourceful Māui then produced his own hook, made the region is held in such high regard as New Zealand’s from the jawbone of his grandmother. He punched agricultural powerhouse, and why life here beats to a himself in the nose, coated his hook with the blood that seasonal drum. flowed, and cast it into the depths where it was soon taken by something very large. The forces of nature that gifted Hawke’s Bay its most notable landmarks, including Lake Waikaremoana, Te After heaving the North Island to the surface, Māui’s Mata Peak, and Cape Kidnappers, have also wreaked hook was instantly transformed into the cape that havoc to reshape and define the region we know today. forms the southernmost tip of Hawke Bay – otherwise Most infamous is the Hawke’s Bay Earthquake of 1931, known as Cape Kidnappers. Viewed from above, you an event that changed the cityscapes of Napier and can still see its hooked shape, which is why Hawke’s Bay Hastings, and the lives of their inhabitants forever. is sometimes referred to as ‘Te Matau a Māui’ – The Fishhook of Māui. Hawke’s Bay is a region of diverse and magnificent landscapes, from mountains and hill country to inland and coastal plains, occupying around 14000 square kilometres on the eastern side of New Zealand’s North Island. Central Hawke’s Bay hawkesbaynz.com 1 Getting Here Roads to Hawke’s Bay By Sea Northern Routes: The Napier Port hosts multiple cruise ships throughout the summer season. Tens of thousands of cruise visitors are The Thermal Explorer Highway takes you down the centre of shuttled to and from the Napier i-SITE Visitor Centre, and a the North Island and through the historic geothermal areas of number of tour companies pick visitors up directly from Waitomo, Rotorua, and Lake Taupo. the port. You can take the road less travelled along the Pacific Coast Highway towards Coromandel, Tauranga and Whakatane, around East Cape and down through Gisborne and Wairoa. This is one of the great campervan journeys and is highly Finding your way recommended for anyone wanting to experience some of New Zealand’s stunning and remote coastal areas. Get a map from one of the i-SITE Visitor Information Centres in Wairoa, Napier, Hastings, Havelock North or Waipukurau. Southern Routes: If you’re driving to Hawke’s Bay from Wellington, either take State Highway 1 up the Kapiti Coast and head inland before Getting Around Levin, or head to the Hutt Valley, over the Rimutaka Hill and through the Wairarapa district. This latter route is part of Finding your way around the region is easy. You can catch the Classic New Zealand Wine Trail that runs through the Go Bus, the regional bus service which operates 7 days a region’s famous winegrowing pockets and provides plenty of week, or travel by taxi or shuttle bus. opportunities to stop and explore the cafés, antique shops, and galleries. Hawke’s Bay is on the Intercity national coach route with daily services from Auckland, Gisborne, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Taupo and Wellington. Drive Times If driving, here’s how long you By Air can expect to be at the wheel: Auckland – Napier Auckland Hawke’s Bay Airport is 10 minutes from Napier's city centre 5.5 hours and 25 minutes from Hastings. Air New Zealand operates daily Rotorua – Napier flights from Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. Jetstar 2.5 hours offer daily flights between Auckland and Napier. Sounds Air Rotorua Gisborne operates five flights a week between Napier and Blenheim, Taupo – Napier and Origin Air offer flights from New Plymouth, Nelson and 1.5 hours Taupo Palmerston North. Gisborne – Napier Napier The airport is well serviced by rental car companies, shuttle 3 hours Hawke’s Bay buses and taxis. Wellington – Napier 4 hours Wellington 2 Hawke’s Bay Visitor Guide 2019 A Short History Our Māori of Hawke’s Bay Heritage Hastings Otatara Pa, Taradale Hawke’s Bay’s first inhabitants were Māori, who Hawke’s Bay is known to Māori as Te Matau-a-Māui The arrived here somewhere between 1250 and 1300 and Hook of Māui, in reference to the early navigator Māui, who established coastal settlements from Māhia through bestowed the first place names to the region over 1000 years to Porangahau. ago. Following Māui was successive migration from Polynesia to Aotearoa and intermarriage with the people of the land. The first European to arrive was probably Captain Cook, who sailed into Hawke Bay in October 1769 and Today the iwi tribes that inhabit Te Matau-a-Māui are Ngāti again in 1773. He named the Bay after Sir Edward Rongomaiwahine of Māhia and Ngāti Kahungunu united through Hawke, First Lord of the Admiralty. It was on his first the marriage of the eponymous ancestors Kahungunu and voyage that Cape Kidnappers was named, after an Rongomaiwahine in the late 1400s. Their descendants now incident involving Tupaea, the Tahitian servant boy number over 60,000 and are a united confederation of hapū who was seized from his ship by Māori, but was later sub-tribes that extend from Wairoa to the Wairarapa. returned. By the 1830s, Europeans were emigrating to Aotearoa in large The first of many traders arrived in 1831, followed numbers, and on arriving to the Māhia Peninsula found a people soon after by a succession of Anglican and Catholic in exile, escaping inter-tribal warfare exacerbated with the missionaries. After the arrival of the first flock of introduction of the musket. With the introduction of Christianity sheep in 1849, the early pastoral run holders began and European security, chiefs began the process of establishing to establish vast sheep stations that were to form the peace and repatriation of their lands across Te Matau-a-Māui. backbone of the Hawke’s Bay economy. Many grand Returning to their ancestral lands, certain chiefs signed the old homesteads built by these early pastoralists are Treaty of Waitangi and adopted European practices, dress, still standing today. The first successful orchard was and language. Chiefs were quick to commence farming, food planted in 1892, which marked the start of the local production, and building of European style villages. Gisborne horticultural industry. Mythical legends play an important role in the transmission of The Hawke’s Bay Earthquake of 1931 led to the oral histories in Māori culture. One of the most famous is the creation of the Art Deco style that now defines story of the iconic 'sleeping giant', we know as Te Mata Peak. Napier. Other benefits of this serious seismic event It is said Māori Chief Te Mata fell in love with the daughter of included Ahuriri Lagoon rising by over two metres his rival. He accepted a series of near impossible challenges, to provide much needed space for expansion. choking and dying while attempting his final task to eat through Today, Ahuriri is a sought-after location to live, the rocky range. Te Mata Peak now depicts the outline of his work, and play. prostrate body. hawkesbaynz.com 3 Our Seasons SUMMER AUTUMN When summer swings in, locals head out. Longer days and Autumn is a photographer’s dream. The landscape is ablaze as warmer temperatures bring fresh offerings – think outdoor deciduous leaves turn gold, red, yellow and brown and there’s concerts, twilight cricket, and sand between toes at the region’s no better way to witness the magic than an early morning or many beaches. There’s the Christmas and New Year influx, late afternoon hike along the tree-lined trails leading to the with a well-spaced succession of long weekends to follow.

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