A Little Family Time--Part 2

Ok--it is now time for the second part of my post about Becky & Charlie's visit to New Zealand...



While Becky & Charlie were experiencing Wellington, Drew & I were back here in Auckland going about business as usual. Wednesday night, our good kiwi friend, Craig, had a going away party as he was preparing to ship out to none other than North Carolina! He's worked at an outdoor camp there for a few summers and decided to go back again this year--there's a chance he'll stay longer and still be there by the time we move home next August! Small world, huh?

Anywho--Thursday was ANZAC day (similar to Memorial Day in the US) so we packed up and headed to the airport to head down to Hawke's Bay. Now, we've flown domestically in New Zealand before, but this was a whole different experience! We went to a different part of the domestic terminal where there was literally no security. They just scanned your ticket and you walked out on the tarmac and onto your plane. 'Plane' is a generous term, however, as it was more like a Mini Cooper with wings--yowza, that thing was small! So small, in fact, that our carryon bags didn't even fit in the overhead compartments. Oh well--it was only a 45-minute flight!



So we arrived and Becky & Charlie were already at the airport waiting with the rental car (which we were fairly sure was the EXACT same car we had in Queenstown!) We drove through Napier and up to Cape Kidnappers--when we arrived, it literally took us 15 minutes to get from the road up to the main lodge. When we finally got to the lodge, there were staff members standing outside holding umbrellas for us since there was a slight drizzle. They escorted us inside, greeted us by name, offered us drinks and informed us that we were literally the only guests on the property for that night.

We sat by the huge fire and avoided what they called the 'divorce couch' which actually belonged to Demi Moore and Bruce Willis and that the resort's interior designer purchased at an auction when the famous couple got divorced.


Then they showed us our rooms--and by 'room' I mean an individual cottage that was easily 3 times the size of our whole apartment. Such amazing little touches like heated floors in the bathroom, complementary beer/wine/snacks in the minibar and a flat-screen TV that was hidden in the wall behind a piece of artwork.




We regrouped and then headed back up to the lodge for pre-dinner drinks and hors d'oeuvres. Since we were the only ones there, we got to sit in the private dining room that was covered in candles and nestled next to a huge stone fireplace. Becky & I tried the 5-course tasting menu and it did not disappoint! Drew & Charlie opted for the regular 3-course menu, but I think we all agreed that the food was stellar!



Friday morning, we got up and had breakfast out in the sunroom--I got the banana pancakes with crispy bacon and caramelized bananas...oh.my.gosh...those things were to die for!

Then we were driven down to the golf course so Becky & Charlie could play at one of the top courses in the world. Drew & I had our own cart so we followed along and got to see some stunning scenery!


The golfers said that it was a tough course and as the wind picked up throughout the day, it didn't make it any easier! We stopped at the clubhouse where our lunch was waiting for us when we arrived and then headed out to take on the back 9. The sun faded behind clouds around hole #14 so Drew and I peeled off after seeing the views on #16 and waited in the clubhouse for Becky & Charlie to finish.

That afternoon consisted of tea in the lodge with amazing brownies and chocolate chip cookies, followed by a bubble bath, some reading and some TV watching before heading up to the main lodge again for dinner and drinks. That night there were a few more guests there, but it still felt very secluded. 3 of the 4 of us opted for the tasting menu that night and it did not disappoint once again. Dinners usually took about 2 hours, but they were lots of fun so time seemed to fly by!

Saturday morning, we got up and had delicious breakfast again before heading down to do our ATV tours of the 6,000-acre property. I rode with Drew, Becky rode with the guide and Charlie had his own. We debated on whether or not Becky & I should drive our own, but after seeing all of the gears and buttons and everything else, we opted not to :)

It was a really cool tour...we got to see the sheep farms, the cliffs, the Gannet colony, Flat Rock and a lot of other really cool scenery. There were a few treacherous roads, but all in all, it was a great excursion!



 



We came back and had lunch at the lodge before changing clothes and heading out to do some wine tastings.

Hawke's Bay is a very popular wine region in New Zealand so we had lots of vineyards to choose from, but we opted for Craggy Range, Black Barn and Elephant Hill. They were all very different, but all very good.

Black Barn

Craggy Range

Elephant Hill

After returning, we had tea in the lodge and caught up on The Voice Australia before heading back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. (Can you see a theme here that we ate and drank constantly over this weekend?!?)

We all got the 5-course tasting menu for dinner that night and everything was just marvelous. I just wish I could remember every single thing that we ate because it was all so good! Again, we had a wonderful time eating, drinking, chatting and laughing for a few hours before heading to bed.




Sunday morning was our last day there, so we enjoyed one more breakfast before packing up. However, we saved our spa treatments for that day so we had one more thing to look forward to. Becky & Charlie went first to have a facial and massage, respectively, and then Drew and I both opted for massages a little later. Then, the staff had packed up sandwiches, fruit, cookies and drinks for our road trip to the airport.


We got to the airport with all of our luggage, dropped off the rental car, again didn't have to go through security, and hopped on our tiny little prop plane to head back to Auckland (more about that portion of the trip coming soon!)

That was definitely one of the most relaxing, fun, luxurious weekends I've ever had. We are so blessed and so grateful that Becky & Charlie were able to come visit and include us in such an unforgettable weekend.



Cheers!