Stunning Te Mata Peak & Pekapeka Wetlands HAWKE'S BAY NEW ZEALAND | NORTH ISLAND NZ TRAVEL VLOG 3/5

Continuing on from our previous Napier NZ road trip vlog, we made our way over to Te Mata Peak, still in the Hawke's Bay region (and North Island) of New Zealand.

Te Mata Peak is south of Hastings and behind Havelock North. We drove to the summit of Te Mata Peak to enjoy spectacular 360 views of Hawke's Bay but there are also various walking trails if you want to explore more of Te Mata Park.

The next morning we went back to the heart of Napier city to visit MTG Hawke's Bay. MTG Hawke's Bay is a museum, theatre and art gallery that occupies 3 floors. MTG is home to Hawke's Bay region's taonga and other treasures. It's a great place to learn about Napier's history as well as Maori arts and culture. Entry is free and they're open everyday (except Christmas Day).

MTG Hawke's Bay
Address: 1 Tennyson Street, Napier 4110
Hours: Monday–Sunday 9:30am–5pm

The National Aquarium of New Zealand (formerly known as Napier Aquarium) was a very short drive away. It isn't a massive aquarium by global standards but it is a really awesome place packed with lots of intrigue.

We got to see a penguin feeding as well as shark and stingray feeding but unlike other aquariums, the National Aquarium of New Zealand also had a nocturnal enclosure that housed kiwi birds (the national bird of NZ) and also the endangered tuatara (a reptile endemic to New Zealand). Tuatara are very rare (even more so than kiwis) and they're the last survivors of an order of reptiles that thrived in the age of the dinosaurs. Super cool!

The National Aquarium of New Zealand
Address: 546 Marine Parade, Napier South, Napier 4110
Hours: Monday–Sunday 9am–5pm

The last stop for us was Pekapeka Wetlands. Tip, if you're looking for this place on Google maps, don't forget to add in "walkway" because if you just use "Pekapeka Wetlands" you'll end up in a random place like we did at first! The walks around Pekapeka Wetlands is pleasant and on a nice weather day like we had, the waters are very still and glass-like. NB: there aren't any toilets here so prepare ahead.

Pekapeka Wetlands Walkway
Address: State Highway 2, Hastings 4178

*EDIT 8 July 2020*
Please note that when we made this vlog we didn't realise that an approval form was required for recreational drone use at Te Mata Peak and Pekapeka Wetlands. We didn't see any no drone signs at either location and also the NZ Airshare map showed both those areas were ok to drone in.

We are always cautious to check if droning is allowed but unfortunately didn't realise with these two places so we sincerely apologise for our oversight on this occasion! As always though, we were respectful to drone away from people and abided by regular drone rules.

You can apply for drone permissions here:
https://www.tematapark.co.nz/visit/
https://www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/assets...

In our next vlog, we head to Gisborne! Don't forget to check out our other vlogs from this NZ road trip if you haven't already :)

North Island NZ Road Trip Vlog 1 of 5:
   • Pristine Blue Spring Putaruru & Cambr...  

North Island NZ Road Trip Vlog 2 of 5:
   • Art Deco Capital NAPIER and The Oldes...  

North Island NZ Road Trip Vlog 4 of 5:
   • Railbike adventure & feeding wild sti...  

North Island NZ Road Trip Vlog 5 of 5:
   • Redwoods treewalk and geothermal hot ...  

#temamtapeak #hawkesbay #pekapekawetlands #mtghawkesbay #napier #nz #newzealand

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VLOG DATE: 5 & 6 Jul 2020
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