Whakatane to Wellington

On Saturday 10th May, although the rain had stopped, the sea was still too rough so we gave up on White Island and retraced our previous nights journey directly back to Gisborne. This took us through a couple of gorges that we hadn’t seen yesterday because of the weather. We nearly didn’t see them this time either because halfway along the rain started again and continued right through to Gisborne. We had a walk round the town & had a bite to eat and decided that we would continue on to Napier. Again there were gorges & hills which would have been great had we been able to see them but the rain continued on into the night.
Sunday we woke up to sunshine & went to Napier Info Site & found that there was a farmers market in nearby Hastings so we decided to have a look. The market was held at the local showground & was well attended. We sampled & bought some of the cheeses that are made locally as well as tasting the fruit which along with wine making are the main industries in this area. After the market we went to Cape Kidnappers which houses a large gannet colony & on to Havelock North a well to do town again involved in the making of wine. On returning to Napier we booked a guided tour for the next day & had a wander round the town a lot of which has been built in Art Deco style following an earthquake in 1931 which destroyed a great part of it.
After reading about them the previous day we woke on Monday to hear that there had been a small earthquake off shore during the night. This was not the first in our time here but, of course, was nothing compared to the events in China.
We met our guide and went over much of the ground that we had travelled yesterday, but this time with a commentary, taking in honey, cheese, schnapps & chocolate producers as well as an olive orchard and a couple of wineries including Mission Estate, NZ‘s oldest winemaker. Free samples at all of them. What a mixture! In between we stopped for lunch at a coffee roastery &, to top it all off, real fruit ice cream.
The tour also took us to the highest point in the area, Te Mata Peak, which at 339mtrs is not really that high, but from where we could see the snow on the mountains around Taupo over 100kms away in the distance.
Just to the south of Napier near Porangahau a prominent hilltop celebrates the achievements of a mythical Maori ancestor & carries the worlds longest place name. We never went because we couldn’t ask directions to
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.
On Tuesday we left Napier & took the scenic route south stopping at a little village called Ongaonga merely because the name reminded Pat of trips to Colchester with her mum & dad. But the village had a little heritage site with reconstructions of an early bush settlers hut, a military hut & an old gaol.
Further south we came to Norsewood & Dannevirke which, as their names suggest, were originally settled by Scandinavians. We then turned off towards Castlepoint travelling on narrow lanes & unmade roads before reaching the coast before heading inland to Masterton where we stopped for the night.
Next morning we wandered around Masterton, in particular Queen Elizabeth II Park with it’s Cricket Ground complete with grandstand, Bowls Club with 2 rinks, Croquet Club with 2 lawns, football & rugby clubs with several pitches as well as Kids Own Playground, mini golf & miniature railway. Nearby there is recreation centre with indoor & outdoor pools, one of the longest water slides in the country and a health & fitness centre & spa. They must be fit here.
We then drove down to Carterton where we visited Paua World factory & shop where paua (a shell fish unique to NZ) shells are made into jewellery & gifts. Afterwards we made a circular tour of the area going to Gladstone, Martinborough, where the town centre roads are laid out in the form of the Union Jack, & Greytown before returning to Carterton. In the evening we went to a tapas bar and found that there was a jam session with musicians from various groups in the area attending so we stayed out late. It must have been at least 11.00 before we went back to the van, well past the witching hour for midweek in NZ, but it was a good night with instruments like tambourines & bongo drums being handed out to non musicians, such as us, so we could join in.
On Thursday we took the train to Wellington to take a tour around the country’s Parliament Building. One of the interesting things is the steps taken to protect the building in case of earthquake. The whole building is actually seated on large bushes on top of the foundations. This arrangement will protect it from earthquakes up to 7.5 on the Richter Scale.
NZ has a proportional representation system with each person having 2 votes. The first, for the party of government, is a PR vote & the second, for their MP, is a first past the post vote. There are then ’x’ amount of elected MPs & the balance of Parliament is selected by the various parties to match the PR vote.
Finally today we booked our return crossing to the South Island for tomorrow.
Pics are of Art Deco & jokey Napier, a Troll at Norsewood & Castlepoint Rock