This weekend we made the trek down to Hastings in our trusty steed Frank the Tank.  Frank is a 15 year old 3 litre Mitsubishi Diamante Executive Station Wagon.  He ain’t pretty but he is a really reliable workhorse.  Thank goodness he is, because gentle reader it took us 3.5 hours to get from the Auckland CBD to the top of the Hamilton on a Friday afternoon.  We left work at 3:30 and arrived into the Tron at 7:00.  How crazy is that?  Brett and I decided that we will never put ourselves through that again.  If we are heading south again for a weekend, we will take the Friday or at least half a day off.  What an absolute waste of time and energy, I can’t believe that people have to put themselves through that every day.  Blech.

Anyway it only took us 3 and a half hours the following day to get from Hamilton to Hawkes Bay.  Did I mention that is how long it took us to get from Auckland to Hamilton the previous evening?

We have been visiting the Hawkes Bay fairly regularly over the last few years because Brett’s Dad lived there.  It is a long drive, but Brett knows the road really well, and how to keep me amused.  Provide a pillow and a blankie and make sure that there are regular coffee stops.

As we usually do we chose to go somewhere that sounds interesting for lunch.  This time we went to St Georges restaurant, and it was fabulous.  The food was delicious, the staff were friendly and fun, and the prices were very reasonable for the quality of the meal.  A good time was had all round.  And all of the vegetables they served were grown on site.  How cool is that?  The only thing we were disappointed about was that we didn’t order entrees as we are sure they would have been fabbo as well.  So we had to settle for dessert, because we are good like that.

Since I have become a bit more fitness focused, (which means I do some exercise as opposed to none).  I really enjoy getting up and going for a walk or a jog before spending a whole lot of time sitting in the car.  And it is a great way to get to see a place.  In Hamilton I went for a stroll along the river, which was just lovely, although I didn’t take any photos as it was still a bit dark.

But in Hastings I went to Havelock North, where I saw these guys.  I am not sure of the significance but they were kind of interesting.  Although Havelock North to me seems less a home to eels (tuna) and more a home to well dressed middle aged women shopping and eating in packs.

On the way back into Hastings I made a point of taking a photo of some of the Heretaunga Pou.  There are 18 of them and they really look magnificent

Here is a bit more information about them http://www.hawkesbayartguide.co.nz/listings/item/pou-64/

Of course stopping and looking and taking photos of them is a really good excuse to stop running.  Culture trumps jogging.  Just saying.

All too soon it was time to head back home, where we saw lots of vans full of Afghan and Kiwi cricket fans heading to Mclean Park Napier for their World Cup match.

We always enjoy our trips to the Bay, it really does have a lot going for it.  A great climate, lots of beautiful food, wine and scenery.  But seeing as it is nicely placed on top of a nice big fault line, we wouldn’t live there.  Just happy to be visitors from Auckland who come and eat and drink and take photos and stay with special friends.

I am happy too because I know we will be returning on the weekend of June the 25th when my St George-Illawara Dragons take on the Melbourne Storm.  It should be interesting seeing as Napier isn’t exactly known as the home of League.  And both teams are Aussie.  But hey Dragons there will be at least one noisy fan there.  And there is even a great restaurant that I can recommend with your name on it.