Lauded by the upmarket food and travel magazines Craggy Range has been our regular Easter treat since arriving in New Zealand. So last week it wasn't cheese batches for lunch but rather a long leisurely stroll through the Craggy Range menu.
Somehow the food tastes better when you have a fantastic view to admire at the same time and the sun is shining. Luckily for us we got both and had some nice things to eat too.
The winery is located looking at the Te Mata Peak. A stunning mountain surrounded in Maori Folklore. The story goes....
Centuries ago the people living in pa (fortified villages) on the Heretaunga Plains were under constant threat of war from the coastal tribes of Waimarama.
At a gathering in Pakipaki (5km south of Hastings) to discuss the problem, the solution came when a wise old woman (kuia) sought permission to speak in the marae. "He ai na te wahine, ka horahia te po, " she said. (The ways of a woman can sometimes overcome the effects of darkness).
Hinerakau, the beautiful daughter of a Pakipaki chief, was to be the focal point of a plan. She would get the leader of the Waimarama tribes, a giant named Te Mata, to fall in love with her, turning his thoughts from war into peace. The plan succeeded, but she too fell in love.
Hinerakau, the beautiful daughter of a Pakipaki chief, was to be the focal point of a plan. She would get the leader of the Waimarama tribes, a giant named Te Mata, to fall in love with her, turning his thoughts from war into peace. The plan succeeded, but she too fell in love.
The people of Heretaunga, however, had not forgotten the past and with revenge the motive, demanded that Hinerakau make Te Mata prove his devotion by accomplishing seemingly impossible tasks.
The last was to bite his way through the hills between the coast and the plains so that people could come and go with greater ease.
The last was to bite his way through the hills between the coast and the plains so that people could come and go with greater ease.
Te Mata died proving his love and today his half-accomplished work can be seen in the hills in what is known as The Gap or Pari Karangaranga (echoing cliffs).
His body forms Te Mata Peak, the legend says. At sunset one can often see, in the mists which stretch from the crown of Kahuraanake, the beautiful blue cloak with which the grieving Hinerakau covered the body of her husband before leaping to her own death from the precipice on the Waimarama side of the peak. The gully at the base of the cliff was formed when her body struck the earth.
Pity my photography skills just can't do it justice!
So here's some professional ones....Views from Te Mata to Hawkes Bay Coast
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