If you’ve ever been to a cocktail party before, then you know the benefits of showing up on a full stomach. Our focus was initially elsewhere; on simply having the proper attire to attend. We had discovered Hastings Epicurious weekend; celebrating wine, food and entertainment. Really, it was another good excuse to welcome spring into Hawke’s Bay, the Okanagan of New Zealand. It all started in Hastings with HOT PINK and the launch of iconic rosé wines. Joseph was decked out in all black with a glitzy dollar store hat, while I had managed to scrounge up a fake orchid belt. We were amongst a myriad of pink wigs, painted nails, feather boas and pink ties. An eclectic couple on stilts welcomed us to the event while commenting on Joseph’s less than formal footwear. We weren’t insulted; only flattered that they’d agree to pose with us for a picture.
Eying everything from mini quiches and spring-rolls to mini cupcakes and kebabs, we quickly formulated a plan for obtaining hors devours. You might say that we had kebob lust. With servers scurrying past us, en route to the masses of people, we were unable to secure any sort of eye contact or manage polite small talk. We’d have to resort to more aggressive means in order to satisfy our appetites. And so it became a mad dash for food, a situating of oneself just outside the kitchen, a matter of politely reaching over the shoulder of a stranger. Sinking our teeth into succulent chicken, we breathed a sigh of relief. Yum! We spent the rest of the evening people watching, visiting with winery reps and enjoying the live entertainment.
The fun didn’t stop there. The next morning, we found ourselves at Seleni Estates for their first ever annual Olive Festival. We sampled a host of tasty products; olive oil, saffron jelly, damson plum jams, date chutney, port blue cheese, etc. Salivating? Next on the list and not an official part of Epicurious’ weekend; Napier’s National Aquarium. We arrived for 2 o’clock feeding time after a nice stroll along the rocky beach. Joseph was in heaven in the oceanarium, as sting rays glided overtop and sharks unassumingly grinned at us. We enjoyed an up-close view of a kiwi-bird, my first ever. Humorous antics of sea horses managed to capture our attention for some time, but then again we weren’t in any hurry to leave. It was fun to take a stroll in the downtown and check out some of the buildings. A 1931 earthquake had left Napier devastated and resulted in a mass 2 year reconstruction, meaning that most of the buildings are built in the Art Deco architectural style.
What would a visit to Napier be without a picture beside Pania of the Reef? She’s rivalled second only to Copenhagen’s Little Mermaid. Pania seemed to boast larger feet, but who am I to judge? Legend tells that Pania lived in the sea but left to dwell on land with her human beau. When called by her people to return to the sea for a final visit, Pania was trapped and unable to return to her love on the land. How terrible! Joseph stepped in as her crush for long enough to get a picture.
We found ourselves back at the Opera House for Saturday night’s OpShop concert; one of New Zealand’s best loved bands. We had never heard them before, but would describe them as the Kiwi version of Coldplay. Their opening act, The Early Birds, proved entertaining. While we didn’t entirely love their style of music, we did have fun renaming members of the band based on their appearance. Little Chimp and Big Chimp were our favourites, on bass and guitar.
Sunday rolled around too quickly and we were on our way to the Farmer’s Market. Tell me what’s better than buying heaps of fresh asparagus and tamarillos?
If I could build a house out of artisan bread
If I could make a chimney out of cheese
With chutney as my mortar
Now that would be the bee’s knees!
The steps would be fashioned out of bread loaves
Of whole-wheat, spelt and rye
We’d sit ourselves upon them
And dream of tamarillo pie!
Our wonderful weekend in Hastings only wetted our appetite for more! We are loving every minute of our time here!
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