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Sat 15.01.11 Whakapapa to Napier:
Left the camp site this morning around 10am, sandwiches made for the journey.How lucky we were yesterday, today the mountains are covered in cloud right down to about 1300m and the wind is really strong.We are both a little stiff in the leg department today, nothing a drive and a gentle stroll won't cure!
We chose to take the scenic route south round the Tongariro National Park, and down to Waiorou and then headed East at Taihape towards the Kaweka Forest Park and down to Napier.At coffee time we stopped at the Military Museum Cafe where we bought the best tasting coffee so far!!!!Superb cafe and toilet facilities..very important for us travellers.
Our drive was through some very hilly and remote sheep farming areas, we passed only 6 cars in around 3 hours.At lunch time we found a spot by a trout river at the Rangitike River Crossing.We parked under the shade of 3 very large trees, paddled in the river and watched the world go by as we ate our lunch.
By mid afternoon we had arrived in Napier, and decided to leave it's exploration until tomorrow.It was very warm, so I popped into the tourist info to find out where there was a quiet camp site with facilities including kitchen and laundry, near the beach and the vineyards.The girl came up trumps, we are now completely settled in at Te Awanga at the southern end of Hawkes Bay near cape Kidnappers.There are 4 Hawkes Bay winegrowers behind the village, so tomorrow morning we will pop back to Napier, and late afternoon we will wine taste and then eat at a winery..ha!!How's that forplanning eh.
Early evening we walked along the beach to the village centre, a bar, a fish and chip shop, and a post office/supermarket.As it is so warm we were compelled to taste the local beer/larger and chat to the locals who told us where to taste the best wine, before buying 2 'bluenose' fish for our supper.We ate them overlooking the Pacific before walking back along the beach to the camp site.At the front of our tent is a hedge then the sea, at the back of our tent is another hedge and a freshwater lagoon which is a bird reserve.We are going to take our binoculars and our nightcap and watch the birds as the sunsets.It's a hard life.Oh, this camp site is $5 a person a night...about a total of £5.00 for the 2 of us each night. We'll stay 2 nights!
Sun 16.01.11 Napier and Wine tasting:
Following our plan, we popped into Napier arriving just before 10am.Parking is free on Sundays, so that was a bonus.Followed the Art Deco Route, looked at the buildings, taking a long coffee and paper reading break en route.Continued our route and ended at Cobb & Co New Zealand's oldest restaurant chain, which began as a stage coach company in 1861 in Dunedin.The significance to us was that on a Sunday they serve a lunch time special menu of the day at the greatly reduced price of $10.00(£5.00) for 2 courses.We indulged, having homemade pumpkin and bacon soup followed by Chicken salad...it was too hot to have the roast beef!
On the way back to camp we took an afternoon of wine tasting(drinking) at The Beach House Winery.We were the only visitors at that time because the 'organised tours tend to do late morning. The couple who owned the vineyard are about our age, with 4 adult children so the wine tasting turned into an afternoon of chatting and tasting before we eventually left with a few bottles and instructions as to which farm to buy a home made strawberry ice cream from...so guess what we did next!!!!I must admit that I had more difficulty than usual reading the map after such a pleasant afternoon!I am sitting under a tree next to the tent on my new $3 caming chair.Damian is swimming in the river or the sea and then sitting on his new chair in the sun to dry off.We bought a real 'billy can' today to add to our camping equipment here.Must stop now so I can position my chair for the sunset, and enjoy a 'sundowner'.
Hey Geoff, there are absolutely loads of fish in the sea here.The men keep coming back with various unknown species.I thought of you yesterday as I spotted 2 canoeing fishermen...I giggled to myself as I thought of your Australian experience.
Monday 17.01.11 Te Awanga
Decided to stay at Te Awanga today and visit Hastings and The Ocean Beach.Hastings has a wonderful opera house, is well preserved art deco and older, with the old style verandas making a shady walkway for visitors.At Ocean beach, which was very remote, about a 15min journey through craggy wilderness, it was strange to see 4 lifeguards guarding a maximum of 30 people who were on the 5 mile stretch of Pacific Beach.We had a late afternoon swim before journeying back to camp.
Cooked lamb on the campsite BBQ hotplate this evening...very scrummy.Must pause now to take my sundowner watching the sunset.It's quite cloudy thisevening, and there is actually rain forecast...the tail end of the weather front that Australia has been experiencing appa
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Alex All sounding very chilled. Love the idea of the wine tasting, hope you didn't drive afterwards?? You seem to be enjoying the sunsets or is it the sundowners, both I expect. All well with Michelle, she had her scan yesterday. G & R must be getting excited now, won't be long! xx