An Unexpected Journey - Part 5...

We woke up to a very cold Napier!  The wind had howled during the night and I thought the camper was going to blow away at one point.  Fortunately, it also rocked me to sleep and I slept so soundly.

First things first - my very first Starbucks coffee...  Oh yum!  OK, I did go for a fancy chestnut something or other that makes me cringe when I think of the cost, but it was heavenly...

Napier is a very interesting town.  It was completely flattened by an earth quake on 3 February 1931 at 10:47am.  Ahead of cell phones and cut off from the rest of the world, nobody knew of the devastation that had happened.  The quake had brought so many buildings down, including the nurses hostel, killing most of them.  The buildings that hadn't been ripped apart were burnt in the blaze that followed - apparently caused by Bunsen Burners used by pharmacists in those days.  Thankfully, a naval ship was in the port and they were able to radio for help.  Miraculously, they managed to re-build this entire city within in just 2 years.  The residents were all moved out of town and a "tin town" was built.  Insurance companies refused to pay for damages by this Act of God and so many people were left destitute.  The banks gave generous loans and as the town was slowly re-built, people moved in as their buildings were completed. 

The new town was sturdily built with reinforced structures and with an art deco style.  Marius and I did a little tour through the town to learn more and it is really amazing what they've managed to do.  Just shows human compassion and strength of character...

 The Masonic Hotel, with the Gatsby Room below...

 There are significant Maori carvings in the buildings too.  This one represents the hammerhead shark - these are believed to be guardian spirits..

 Street names on the sidewalks...

The art deco craze came shortly after the war and people were very into strong, bright and bold.  Napier has restrictions in place with regards to painting.  The residents have learnt what a great tourist attraction this is and everyone tries to stick to the theme...

 This was the only building that remained standing through the earthquake...

We'd seen so much and come full circle - this is the main entrance to the Masonic Hotel...

 These two photos show the town as it was before the quake...

 And these two show it just after...

 And then the newly built city as it stands today...

 The town is a complete mixture of architecture - both old and new fashioned buildings.  While I'm not a huge architecture fan, I'm definitely a fan of Napier and all that they've managed to accomplish.  You just have to Google it to see the absolute devastation that these people had to overcome to be where they are today...

Napier has an annual Art Deco festival, celebrating there city. People dress up and there are parades - all in celebration of what they've achieved.  The whole country rests on fault lines and it is more than possible that they could suffer another quake.  They have learnt to celebrate what they have and I think that's fantastic. 

Another thing that survived are the Norfolk Pines, that line Marine Parade...

Our time in Napier was up though and there was a big cold front on the way and there was talk of the pass being closed on our route to our next destination - it was time to move on!

Love,

Sue XXX

An Unexpected Journey - Part 4...

After leaving Hot Water Beach, we took a slow drive down the East Coast towards our next destination - Whakatane (which is pronounced nothing like it's spelt).  The view above is the one from our lunch time picnic stop.

OK, OK, I had sherry, while Marius planned our route.  If I'd known when we bought that sherry that we wouldn't be able to find more, I'd have bought a whole lot more...

 Another coffee stop along the way...

 I loved all these little spots we found - they were little hidden gems on our travels...

 We were very lucky with the weather while we were in New Zealand.  It was very cold, but we always seemed to miss the worst of the rain.  The weather's also funny there - it pours with rain and then a few moments later, the clouds move off and the sun comes out.  Somehow when the sun's shining, it doesn't feel that cold.  And waves!!  We saw waves...

 Something that we found strange was the trust - there were so many stalls like this on the sides of the road, where people were selling home grown produce.  You just had to leave your money and help yourself.  Apparently nobody steals..

 We spent the night freedom camping just outside town alongside a bay - hard to believe that this is the sea...

 The sunset was gorgeous and we sat outside until it got dark and finished off our sherry.  It wasn't enough to keep us warm and we went inside to make dinner...  

 It rained a lot during the night, but we woke up to crisp clear skies.  It gave us the opportunity to see our neighbour's van - complete with a chimney and pot plants on the back.  I think he actually lives in his camper van permanently...

We had a long drive from Whakatane to our next stop in Napier, which is along the south coast of the North Island.  It took us most of the day to get there, but we loved the drive - I think it was the prettiest road we traveled during our entire holiday.

This is the view looking back towards our camping spot, with the sun rising...

 We drove through the most gorgeous gorge.  It was miles long and I think we saw another 2 cars the entire trip, but it was so pretty...

We were freezing here, but the river had been winding along the road the entire journey, so we had to get photos when we could...

And only Marius would go barefoot in shorts when its 2 deg C outside...

We found this random coffee stop along the road too.  The woman running it has lived in the gorge for 24 years.  They're one of just 5 families living there.  we chatted a bit and enjoyed stretching our legs with a cup of flat white (like a latte)...

This doesn't do the gorge any justice...

Another little stop along the road...

And YAY!  More sheep...

Stunning autumn colours - the Kiwis are big on hedges...

We learnt a lot of things in New Zealand too - like how to pump our own gas.  Well, Marius learnt.  Least he knows he has other job options if ever needed...

New Zealand's not a very old country, but some places, like this one who's name I never learned, seem stuck in a time warp...

I've mentioned it so many times before, but the scenery is ever changing and we went from really wiggly, winding roads through forests and mountains, along coasts, to farms and flat lands with very little along the road side.  Wherever we went though, we were left in awe of the beautiful scenery...

 We road the Pacific Coast Highway...

 And found black beaches...

 Somehow I can't imagine ever tanning or swimming at one of these black beaches...

 We'd eventually reached Napier...

 It was late in the afternoon and our first stop was the pub on the water's edge - so like Cape Town's Waterfront, don't you think??

 Marius had a beer and I had a cider.  We sat next to the fire place and used the free wifi to catch up with the kids...

 Hahaha... This is an old "Try Pot" - which they used for testing out and boiling blubber.  On second thoughts, now that I haven't had 2 ciders, that's a pretty disgusting pot to be sitting in...

 More up soon...

Love,

Sue XXX

An Unexpected Journey - Part 3...

Once we'd arrived back in Auckland, it was time to pick up our motor home!  It was time for our holiday to begin!  It was already late afternoon by the time everything had been explained to us and we managed to get the van out of the parking lot.  We were advised to head on to Miranda Shore for our first night, which was about an hour and a half out of town.  It was a gorgeous stop-over and one that we're really glad we made.

We arrived late in the evening and the sun was already on its way down.  That didn't stop us from taking some photos!  Actually, it was at Miranda Shore, where we camped with the most campers on our entire trip.  We were actually quite lucky to even get a spot...

 The beach at Miranda is the funniest thing ever.  The land is so flat that the tide goes out miles away really quickly and then comes in really fast too.  The birds love low tide, because the fish get caught and they have their dinner served up for them on a plate...

We had a little bit of drizzle early in the morning, but woke up the most magnificent rainbow...

 This is how close we were to the water.  During the night, when the tide came in, and I was a thousand miles away from sleep, I listened to the water gently lapping up against the shore.  There are no waves in New Zealand....

 And this was our competition for a spot.  It's called Freedom camping and it's basically camping for free along the side of the road.  You're only allowed to freedom camp if you have a fully certified self-contained motor home (so it has to have a bathroom)...

The view from our bedroom window...

 And there is no wind - all the trees are straight...

 Marius quickly got the hang of driving our 6m van.  The roads in New Zealand are unbelievably narrow and the driving is slower than you can imagine.  It took us 2 hours to drive 69km later in the day.  Needless to say, I didn't try.  We were headed towards Coromandel and then on to Hahei and Hot Water Beach...

 The beauty about having a motor home, was being able to stop when we were lucky enough to find a good spot...

It started to drizzle a bit, so I went back inside to make some coffee...

The trip took us all along the coast.  There are no emergency stopping lanes and the roads are so much narrower than we're used to.  It's quite intimidating when a truck comes hurtling towards you...

There are not many scenic look out points either, which is a little disappointing - it's so beautiful, that you just want to take photos of everything.  This was a good stop...

 See?  I told you it was green...

Me and my camper...

 I can't tell you how cold it actually was...

 A little farm house...

 

Everyone told me that there were lots of sheep in New Zealand.  We saw a lot of cows.  These were the first sheep we saw.  They weren't happy to see me.  I did feel a bit sorry for them without their jerseys in that cold weather...

 This is all still at the same look out point, just looking in a different direction...

 There are so many little islands off the coast of New Zealand.  If you're ever in the market for one...

 We reached Coromandel Town in time for lunch and stopped in at this old fashioned bar for a bite to eat...

 Marius had green lipped muscles done with chorizo and chilli and tomato - it looked really yummy!!  I had calamari, which didn't look half as pretty...

Another lookout...

 It was SERIOUSLY windy and we didn't stay long...

 We arrived in Hahei fairly late in the day, but decided to take our chances and hike down to Cathederal Cove.  We had no idea what the tides were doing, nor how long the hike would take us.  If it was high tide, we wouldn't have been able to get to the cove at all...

 It was cold when we got out of the car, so we wrapped up in jackets and scarves and hats, only to land up having to carry them.  The hike was supposed to take 45 minutes and we walk/ran it in about 20 minutes.  It was an amazing hike through forests over-looking the sea...

 And Marius found a wolf spider.  They make nests like rain spiders, but aren't half as big.  Still revolting, if you ask me, but Jake was thrilled that we'd seen them anyway...

 A look out along the way...

 I quite like that Marius gets the odd snap of me too...

Least I can say I was really there!  Seriously though, this holiday feels like so long ago already.  It's hard to believe that it's less than a month since we even left...

 The walk was so worth it and I'm so happy that we took a gamble on it, rather than waiting until the next morning...

I don't know what this little island's called, but it's the hole that you walk through to get there that's important.  The opening scenes from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe were filmed here...

 Pretty silhouette...

 Marius taking a little break from the walk...

 Only joking.  I think he got annoyed waiting for me all the time.  I'm SO unfit at the moment...

Marius...

 Me...

Looking back towards Cathedral Cove (just beyond the white cliffs)...

 Me with the view...

 I don't think I could ever grow tired of these views...

One last one - phew, I look exhausted...

 Not too far from Hahei is the Hot Water Beach, where we camped for the night.  This is looking in through the back of the motor home.  Marius was busy doing gas/electricity things.  That's our bed right at the back, which can be folded away, but we left down all the time.  The the left, behind the bed is the bathroom, beyond which is a "dining room".  To the right is a coat closet and the further forward is our little kitchen.  We had a gas cooker and a fridge - it was perfect for us...

 We were up in time to get down to hot water beach.  It can also only be visited on either side of low tide, so we needed to get down there while we could.  It was pretty cold and we wanted to get on to our next destination, so we didn't spend much time bathing, but it was fun to go and see anyway.  Basically, the water is heated below the surface and then rises back up again...

 Marius made friends with some of the locals, who explained that the correct way to dig out your pool is to use the hot water, but also to channel in some cold water.  The hot water is so warm, you can't even stand in it...

 Getting the temperature right, not too hot, not too cold is an art...

 These guys were quite fun and didn't mind us using their pool to pose with...

It's lost a bit on the photos, but the steam that comes off the ground is quite unbelievable...

 I did find a little warm pool that someone else had started to dig and then abandoned and I did almost run back to the camper to get my cozzie...

 Such fun...

 Leaving the beach though, I saw this and it made me happy to be leaving...

Where to next??

Love,

Sue XXX