The Hits: Night away from home felt like winning Powerball

The Hits DJ Megan Banks.

OPINION

Something very exciting happened in my somewhat mundane life recently.

Something that hasn’t happened for a whole year. My husband and I had 24 hours to ourselves. I know. It’s like winning Powerball, well that’s what the odds felt like, that it would ever actually happen.

I had very generously been given an amazing gift from my in-laws for my big birthday last year of a night at the County Hotel in Napier. I couldn’t wait for some time away from home and family responsibilities.

A night when I didn’t have to take the kids to after-school activities, or wrangle them off a device, or try to convince them that roast beef is actually better than chicken nuggets. A night when we didn’t have to start the bedtime routine at 8 o’clock and finally get them asleep in our bed with us by 10.

From the moment we checked in, it was blissful. The County Hotel was built for the Hawke’s Bay County Council in 1909 and is one of only two significant buildings to have survived the massive 1931 earthquake. So it felt pretty special, as if you were stepping back in time.

My trendy ripped jeans felt a little out of place, but I proved my worth and knocked out a wee number on the grand piano in the foyer before retiring to the library where we were greeted with a complimentary port or two.

After swanning around the hotel and trying out the bathrobes and slippers, we thought we’d better venture out like actual social humans and take in Napier’s nightlife.

It was humming! After visiting Matisse and Rogue Hop, we eventually ended up at one of our fave restaurants, Rasoi, where of course we embarrassed ourselves and ordered the mild butter chicken. But at least I wasn’t making the butter chicken or, worse still, having it thrown back in my face!

Then, just to ensure we didn’t lose too much of our standard mundane life, we headed back at 9pm and settled into our usual riveting night-time activities … we watched a few more episodes of Yellowstone. That’s the brilliant thing about digital TV, you can take Kevin Costner with you wherever you are, even if that is a romantic night away in a beautiful hotel with your husband.

By the way, I’ve ordered him a buckskin cowboy hat so next time we don’t even have to leave the hotel.