Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Imagine breathtaking vistas, sparkling water, and picture perfect trees. Or just look at this:

Hawke's Bay

Now imagine hopping on a plane, getting there in 45 minutes and not having to go through security. When did Katie acquire a private jet you might be wondering? Well I didn't, I just stumbled upon a little something called flying domestic in NZ. We saw some amazing stuff this past weekend in Napier, but the one thing I can't get over is air travel in this country. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that we walked into the airport ten minutes before our flight, printed our boarding passes, and walked onto the plane. I'll wait while you let that sink in. I know. Really hard to comprehend. I couldn't believe it myself. I gotta say it was nothing short of awesome. I was able to keep thoughts of 6oz liquids and live animals at bay but  the occasional "this would be an amazing opportunity for a terrorist" did creep up now and again. However, my positive thinking prevailed and we were there before I knew it.

Hawke's Bay is spectacular. Adam had some business to attend to in the area and since it looks like the above picture I figured I should probably go too. We ended up being there during the busiest time of the year, as it was the annual Art Deco Festival. The town of Napier prides itself on being the Art Deco capital of the world. So while Adam was at work on Friday, I booked myself on a guided tour to learn all about the decorative art style of the 1920s and 30s. The town was crawling with people dressed up like this:

There was an entire parade full of old cars that looked like this:

And one of my favorite parts was the airshow where the planes were doing things like this:

Mostly all of the festivities just made me want to read the Great Gatsby, be in a cute flapper dress doing the Charleston, and carrying one of those long cigarette holders. I mean we all know smoking is awful for you but why do those holders have to be so alluring...

We ended our weekend with a trip to New Zealand's oldest farmers market, some wine tasting, and a big lunch at Craggy Range Winery:

This was the view from our table:

 

Wow is right. Until next time Hawke's Bay.