We had a great day today. For starters, we slept in this morning much later than we have in years, waking after 7 am. It may have had something to do with the Dramamine patches we used for seasickness. But what a treat to sleep so soundly and well!
We're falling into a nice routine here on the ship. Each morning, we start with shower, then buffet breakfast, then exercise class, followed by the day's activities. When we signed up for this cruise, we learned that there were a variety of extra excursion options to choose from in each day's docking location. In today's port of Napier, we chose a tour and luncheon at the oldest winery in New Zealand, Mission Estates Winery. We met our tour group by the gangplank at 10:30 and were shuttled off to the winery. Incidentally, all of the shuttle drivers we have had have been super friendly and knowledgable. In addition to schlepping us to and from activities, they also act as tour guides along the way.
The town of Napier had a run of bad luck in 1931. In that year, there was a massive earthquake close by, and the town of Napier was devastated - first, by the two minute earthquake, and, to add insult to injury, by the subsequent fires caused by the quakes. The entire city was left in a shambles, and the city fathers decided to tear down anything left and rebuild. The prevailing style during that era was Art Deco, so most of the city is designed in that style.
One good thing did come out of the earthquake - extra land! The level of the land rose nine feet from what it had been before the quake, and there were literally 9,000 acres of extremely fertile ground added to the town.
The Mission Estates Winery we visited used to sort of be on a peninsula prior to the quake, but when the new terrain appeared, it joined the existing land mass, and there is now no water divide between the town of Napier and the Mission.
The winery is called The Mission because it was originally founded in 1851 by a group of monks from the Catholic Church. The monks were looking for a place to harvest grapes into wines to be used for their Sacraments. As a matter of fact, the Catholic Church still owns the winery, and their influence can be seen all over the property. Here is the winery, the grounds, and a pic of David sitting by their fountain.
What a wonderful time we had there! The staff gave us a very generous tasting experience, a full recounting of the history of The Mission, and many other associated historical tidbits.
After the tasting, we were ushered into a beautiful upper room that had once served as a bedroom for the Brothers (monks). We were then served a five course, elegant lunch. With each course, we were served a different wine from their collection and a fascinating story behind it. The grand finale was a very delicious dessert wine blend based on the Guvertzaminer (not sure of the spelling) wine. We enjoyed it so much we bought a couple of bottles to bring home. Hopefully you can come and enjoy it with us!
On the way back to the ship, the driver took us along the beautiful golden sand beach that borders the town. I for one surely hope we get to come back here someday to enjoy that beach.
So, we are now back on our home away from home. Every time we get off the ship, we have to show our ID. When we get back on the boat we have to show ID and go through a metal detector and our our belongings through the X-ray machine. They take security seriously, but they are extremely good natured about it. Not like our TSA, who seem to act like the Gestapo at times!
They also take the spread of disease very seriously. At every door, there is a hand sanitizer prominently displayed, and you are strongly encouraged to use it. They also discourage hand shaking to avoid the spread of disease.
After a nice dinner on board (food, food and more food!), we went to one of the stage areas where we sat spellbound watching a mind reader do his act. He was REALLY good!
Now off to bed for hopefully another good night's rest.
Love to you all!
David and Karen
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