It rained all night at Lake Waikaremoana. Fortunately, bar a few drips here and there, we remained quite dry in the tent. In the morning we skipped breakfast and tidied up as fast as we could. The clothes that had got wet the previous day were put in the tumble dryer. When we had everything bar the tent packed we waited for a lull in the rain to put that away. The flysheet was stuffed into a bin bag and the main tent quickly folded, brushed and put away.
The drive down the other side of the mountain to the east coast very quickly brought us to better weather. We even saw the sun at times. The road all the way to Napier, even the section that followed the coast was very windy taking many more miles than the proverbial crow would fly. This led to some interesting scenery as we wound our way in and out of deep gorges.
We reached Napier around lunch time. First stop was an internet shop where we checked on our mail and uploaded our blogs. Next was lunch and a little shopping. The came a hunt for a dentist. Helen’s crown had come loose and we really wanted that fixed before she accidentally swallowed it. We visited many but only found one with a slot to see here at the end of the day. The dentist hunt allowed us to see much of Napier which is famous for it’s Art Deco themed architecture – preserved through rebuilding after a 1931 earthquake.
We waited for the dental appointment on top of the bluff overlooking the port of Napier taking in the sights and reading. Helen’s appointment turned out to be short but expensive.
Next stop was The Barnz, home of Colin and Judy Barnes who we’d got to know via email and have invited us for a couple of day.
They have a lovely home near the coast and have been wonderful and informative hosts. They shared a couple of bottles of wine with us over dinner – always a way to please us. We then went out to a local winery where they had live music and a nice atmosphere albeit a little chilly. The weather seems to have chased us down the mountain with cold rain being the dominant theme.
Today we’re off to visit some of the local area wineries of which the region is famous. Should be good.
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