We had 24 hours in Hawkes Bay this summer to explore with the kids.
They say location is everything when you only have a short amount of time so we booked a night for the 5 of us on Marine Parade at Pebble Beach.
Those of you with families bigger than the standard two adults, two children will appreciate how hard it is to find accomodation for 5 (I need to write a whole blog post on this one) so we appreciated them squeezing in an extra trundler bed for us in the second room while James and I had the room with the spa pool and views out over the waterfront all to ourselves at night (bliss!)
We arrived at about 5 so after the kids had raced around the hotel room madly checking every little thing out we decided to explore on foot so the grown ups could try a little of the local wine and not have to worry about driving.
Napier’s waterfront
We headed down Marine Parade to Emporium Eatery and Bar. Far enough from the hotel that it gave us a good look at Napier’s Art Deco buildings and stunning waterfront, but not too far that the kids complained.
There is so much to do on Napier’s waterfront. There is the stunning art deco design – echoed in the many fountains and buildings on the waterfront, an absolutely huge playground which is all fenced off for extra safety and a beach with large pebbles that feels absolutely divine if you go walking on it at the end of a long day!
Our pick of the top 3 things to do in Hawkes Bay
The next day dawned and after the kids had their second spa in the room (what is it about kids and pools in hotels) we set off to explore in the 8 hours left of our 24 hours in Hawkes Bay.
First stop was the National Aquarium of New Zealand which was conveniently located right across the road from Pebble Beach Motor Inn. This was so much more entertaining and engaging than I thought it would be and at $60 for the 5 of us was really good value. If that sounds like a bit of you, you can read more about it in our blog post here…
Next stop was the grown up stop – Mission Estate Winery. I was determined to visit a vineyard in Hawkes Bay and Mission Estate Winery was top of that list. I loved every little bit of Mission Estate Winery. From the $5 wine tastings, to the exceptional food, to the lavish surroundings. It was bliss and I can honestly say I would fly to Hawkes Bay just to come here again (sorry kids, next time we are coming without you). You can read more about out visit to Mission Estate Winery here…
Last on the agenda was Splash Planet in Hastings.
After lunching at Mission Estate we weren’t too keen to throw ourselves down the slides so James and I paid for a swim pass only and the kids got the full pass so all up it cost us just under $100.
With a scorching 31 degrees that day we spent most of the times in the pools and everyone loved it – you can find out more about them here.
We spent 3 hours there and could easily have spent longer but we had to get back on the road to our next destination – Palmerston North.