Greenhill Lodge

Hawke's Bay Wine Country is New Zealand's leading food and wine region. With over 2200 hours of sunshine, Hawke's Bay is a year-round holiday destination with an eclectic mix of visual and sensory experiences.

Located on the east coast of the North Island, the landscapes of Hawke's Bay begin with the high forested Ruahine and Kaweka Ranges. From the mountains the land sweeps down towards the coast, flattening out to become the Heretaunga Plains. A number of wide rivers, excellent for fishing, run swiftly to meet the blue Pacific Ocean and glorious beaches that stretch from Mahia in the north to Porongohau in the south.

MAORI CULTURE AND PRIVATE TOURING
The shape of the Hawke's Bays coastline resembles a fishhook. According to Maori legend the hook - or matau - once belonged to Maui, the legendary seafarer who used it to haul Te Ika a Maui, the Fish of Maui, from the inky blue depths of the adjacent Pacific Ocean. Matau-a-Maui - Hawke's Bay, a gift from the sea.

Learn more about Maori culture by spending time with local Maori identities in their own environment, visit a Marae, take a walk along Waimarama Beach. Find out about the legend of Te Mata Peak or the story of Pania of the Reef or perhaps visit Taumata whakatangi hangakoauau o tamatea turi pukakapiki maunga horo nuku pokai whenua kitanatahu, the longest place name in the world.

FLY FISHING
Hawke's Bay has fishing equal to the best in New Zealand, offering a variety of angling from spinning through to nymph, lure or dry fly fishing. There are five primary local rivers: the Esk, Mohaka, Ngaruroro, Tutaekuri and Tukituki.

All localities are readily accessible within an hour of Greenhill, and in most cases the only footprints you will see will be your own. These rivers offer both rainbow and brown trout and a massive variety of different waters from the fast and rugged Mohaka to the more sedate Tutaekuri River.

Helicopter access from Greenhill to the most remote Hawke's Bay back-country rivers can also be arranged for the ultimate fishing experience. There are a number of local guides who operate and Greenhill would only be too happy to assist with your arrangements.

ART DECO
Far from the European and American cities where 20th century design evolved, lies a small city that is unique. Napier, in Hawke's Bay, was rebuilt in the early 1930s following a massive earthquake which destroyed its commercial heart. Nowhere else can you see such a variety of buildings in the styles of the 1930s.

Napier's Art Deco is distinctive, reflecting the indigenous Maori culture in its motifs, and featuring the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Chicago School in the buildings of local architect Louis Hay. The Art Deco Trust operates a variety of guided walk tours on a daily basis. Self guided walks or self drive tours are additional options and the Trust provides maps packed with information that will assist you.

GANNET SAFARIS AND WILDERNESS SAFARIS
Known in Maori mythology as the hook with which Maui fished the North Island from the sea Cape Kidnappers received its modern name from Captain James Cook after local Maoris attempted to kidnap a young Tahitian boy from his ship Endeavour.

The dramatic promontory of Cape Kidnappers is home to the largest and most spectacular mainland colony of gannets in the world. The 20,000 gannets are members of the Booby family with distinctive black eye markings and a pale gold crown. Visitors to the colony will see adults and young nesting in serried rows. In the air birds swoop and dive as they bring back fish. On the ground, the pairs preen and perform the dance of the gannets' recognition ritual.

GOLF
Hastings (Bridge Pa) Golf Club
The Hastings Golf Club (commonly known internationally and in the New Zealand golfing world as "Bridge Pa") was established in 1898 and has been developed to become one of the leading clubs in New Zealand.
The course is located less than ten minutes drive from the lodge. Tee reservations are essential. Golf clubs and electric carts are available for hire.

Cape Kidnappers International Golf Club
This recently opened Tom Doak designed course continues to rack up international plaudits. Golf Magazine ranked "Kidnappers" number 27 in the top courses for 2005. This makes it the highest debuting course to feature in this prestigious magazine. Travel and Leisure magazine also nominated the course as the best new golf course of 2004 and described it as the eighth wonder of the World. Cape Kidnappers is about a 45 minute drive from Greenhill. From the entrance almost at the end of Clifton Road one still has a drive of almost 8km through a gorge and pine forest with glimpses of the surrounding hills as the private road climbs to the clubhouse.

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