The stretch from Queen's Birthday at the start of June to Labour Day at the end of October is always a long one, since there are no public holidays between those days. As such, we often plan a short getaway when Labour Day hits so we can enjoy the extra time off. This year we trekked over to Napier to visit Troway's oldest sister.
A benefit of going to the East Coast is the incredible amount of sunshine they get. It is always a few degrees warmer than our tumultuous West Coast. Of course, this does mean you need to plan ahead if you intend to be active outdoors. We almost got caught roasting in the sun, but luckily had gotten an early enough start on the day that we managed to avoid turning into lobsters.
My goal when we travel is to always find at least one place or thing we have not done/seen previously. For this trip, the 'something new' was climbing Te Mata Peak. I did my research, we plugged in the GPS and away we went for couple of hours of fresh air. According to my research, we could enjoy a nice stroll around the park area, get a nice view of the Hawek's Bay area, feel like we had been laid-back adventurers. Well, haha. We did get to feel like adventurers. And we got to see incredible views. But we had to work for it!
When we looked at the map, we found a trail that was a bit over 5 kilometers in total. It offered a walk through a redwood forest, some undulating farmland, and stunning views. "That sounds like fun!" we thought to ourselves, and off we went. Little did we know that by halfway through the 5 kilometers, we would be winding up our way up a very steep hill, but it was undoubtedly worth it in the end!
In Maori legend, Te Mata peak is 'The Sleeping Giant.' The story goes that Te Mata, the leader of the Waimarama tribes, fell in love with the daughter of a rival tribes' chief. He was given a series of tasks to complete to prove his love for her. The last of these was to eat his way through the hills between the plains and the coast. He died trying to complete this task, and his prostrate body forms this peak.
Read more about it here: https://www.hawkesbaynz.com/see-and-do/art-design-and-culture/the-maori-culture-guide/local-legends/the-sleeping-giant/
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| Yep, we climbed all the way up! |
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