God’s Own Brewery

If that name sounds familiar, it is.  We visited this place about a month ago on another trip.  And here we are again, the first stop on Bill and Val’s three week long “ICA Art Deco to the Capital Rally”.  God’s Own Brewery is run by Godfrey and Rachael and is a fully licensed Brew Pub in rural Maraekakaho, south of Hastings.  Godfrey’s motto is “Everyone has to believe in something, I believe that I will have another beer”.

The paddock accommodated 17 motorhomes and 2 caravans.  Robin and Martin did a great job of getting these vehicles parked up. 

After a great deal of meeting and greeting, we all gathered in the safari dining tent, or outside at the picnic tables for Happy Hour.  This gave everyone a chance to try some of Godfrey’s beer – or if beer was not to your taste, locally made cider or wine was available, along with soft drinks or coffee.  Bill and Robin decided to tackle the Tasting Ark, a selection of six different beers.

Robin, Val and Bill in the Safari Tent

Pizza was on the menu for dinner, and Rachael was kept busy cooking and serving a variety of pizzas for us to try.  The trays with pizzas just kept coming and coming, there was plenty for everyone.

Pizza ovens

“Look outside” someone exclaimed, and what a sight it was.  There was a rainbow hovering over our vans – we took this to be a sign of good luck for our rally, with exciting times to happen.  Out came the cameras and phones, clicking away madly.

Our lucky rainbow

It had been another scorching Hawkes Bay day, so we sat outside in the cool of the evening.  As the sky darkened there was a glorious sunset, just beautiful.

Sunset at God’s Own

Morning Tea the next day was in the shade of a handy group of large trees.  Followed by a boomerang throwing contest by a few keen blokes – it was too hot for most of us to be running about in these sort of temperatures.

Morning Tea in the shade

We enjoyed a selection on nibbles at the next Happy Hour, provided by our hosts, and giving us a taste of South African cured meat.  Later on Godfrey took several  groups through his brewery, and explained how his beer is made.

Godfrey and his Brew House

We had a lovely time here, it was great to be back again with our friendly hosts.  Tomorrow we head back to Napier it experience the Art Deco celebrations, which will be a first for us, and something we are looking forward to.