With Jenny at the wheel of her and Doug’s hired Hyundai Tucson – a little more butch than our Nissan Tiida – we headed off from Parihoa Farm in Murawai to the nearby wine country of Matakana. On an apparent whim (so unlike my own, strictly destination-focused husband), Doug spotted a sign for the historic village of Puhoi – and then actually turned off and stopped the car!
Puhoi translates as “slow water”. Its first settlers were German speakers who arrived in 1863 from Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic), attracted, so the local librarian Sandra tells me, by the government’s offer of 40 acres for each adult and 20 acres for each child. The village still holds a festival on 29 June each year to commemorate the event.
Descendants of the Bohemian settlers are still to be found in Puhoi – that’s got to be one of them in the right hand corner of the photo below, at a table for one outside. His facial hair, at least, was identical to one in an old photograph in the hotel pub.
Stained glass windows in the Catholic Church (built 1881) reflect the Germanic names of the settlers. It’s dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul because their Feast Day in terms of the Catholic calendar falls on 29 June.
For more, see www.puhoihistoricalsociety.org.nz.
Lunch at Brick Bay Wines
Whether you have lunch or nibbles in the Glass House, overlooking the waterlily pond, or at an alfresco trestle table under an archway of leafy vines, Brick Bay is a good place for lunch.
A walking trail around the property takes in the ponds, birdlife, vineyards, outdoor sculptures – all with a view of the blue, blue sea. A fee applies if you’re not a guest at the restaurant. (Fair enough.)
Home by Another Way
While I snored gently in the back seat, Doug (or was it Jenny?) stopped for photo-opportunities at Snell’s Beach, Sandspit and Omaha.
After a night in Auckland, we say goodbye to North Island and head to our lakeside apartment in Queenstown, South Island for a week.
