A Beautiful Day at Brick Bay

I never imagined that we would spend our 17^th wedding anniversary in New Zealand, but we did!  That might make this year a hard one to top.  Luckily, the weather was fine (that means great here), and so we drove about an hour north of Auckland to Matakana and had a picnic at Snells Beach. Well, all of us except Sedona who was napping in the car after a Kiwi sleepover.

Our destination was Brick Bay Winery and Sculpture Garden, www.brickbay.co.nz. Richard and Christine Didsbury “fell in love with Brick Bay Farm in 1986 and although it had been heavily grazed, it possessed fine stands of native bush, wonderful contours and stunning sea vistas.”  They took on an ambitious plan for landscaping the area to contain lakes, plantings, and a vineyard.  They also engaged with local artists who had difficulty showcasing their works of sculpture in the outdoors.  The combination is a stunning result with a 2 kilometer walking trail to view the sculptures and a glass house to taste Brick Bay wine and other treats.

Even Sedona perked up as we started down the path, and she and Luke both enjoyed taking photographs of all the magnificent sculptures.  A few favorites included Aphasia, Mahoe, and The Choice.  We also enjoyed some audio additions to the sculpture, a kauri grove, and beautiful flowers and birds.  The simple trail map kept us on course and also gave some interesting background on the sculptures, artists, and prices (ranging from $1,200 to $110,000 in case you are interested!).

The walk took about an hour and after that we settled into the Glass House for wine tasting and a platter including gourmet cheeses, venison salami, merlot jelly, olives and prosciutto wrapped figs.  They also offer kids’ platters with cheese and crackers, carrots, raisins and a cookie.  Kevin and I settled on the Pinot Gris, although the reds were very good as well.  The server was proud to share that their wines had just been chosen for the wine list at The Sugar Club, Peter Gordon’s restaurant in the Skytower.

We stopped briefly at Morris and James Pottery, a lovely spot which we had visited before and then came home for a quick rest.  Kevin and I had dinner reservations at Ostro, Josh Emmett’s restaurant in Seafarers right on the Auckland Harbour.  We watched Josh as a celebrity judge on Master Chef New Zealand this year, so it was fun to sample his menu.  After a glass of bubbly, we had a wonderful dinner and dessert.  It will make a great memory to add to many from our time here!