Hawkes Bay & East Coast
This is wine country on the sunny eastern coast of the North Island, where you’ll find some of the country’s top wineries all over the Hawke’s Bay area and around Gisborne, to the northeast.
After its devastating 1931 earthquake, Napier was rebuilt in the Art Deco style of the 1930s, an intriguing architectural conformity throughout this vibrant city. The Hawke’s Bay has other population centres in Hastings and prosperous Havelock North and not only an abundance of wineries, but orchards too.
Cyclone Gabrielle caused havoc in the Hawkes Bay in February 2023 and ‘the Bay’ is still in recovery mode.
Gisborne, 215km to the northeast, is the region’s other city. As well as its excellent wineries, it boasts gorgeous beaches and nearby hikes such as Cook’s Cove Walkway.
Pacific Coast Highway