Roam Relax Repeat

February 23, 2020

Feb 21

Rest day! Today we’re going to chill after our full day of tramping yesterday. Decided to have a look around Turangi – Lydia sharpened her coffee shop senses and found a nice little place beside the Tongariro River which specializes in fishing tackle and coffee! The area around Turangi is a world renowned trout fishing destination so having a coffee shop that also sells fishing gear is not too much of a stretch. After coffee and slab of gingerbread and butter, we walked on the riverside path to check to see if we could see any trout. Great scenic path which goes on and on, we didn’t venture too far, saw quite a few fisherman in hip waders fly fishing. Not only are there lots of trout, we found something that doesn’t require gutting to eat – blackberries! We made note of the location and decided to come back with a bag to collect some berries for dessert tonight. As part of my resolution to chill, I decided to spend time organizing photos and catching up the blog. Lydia decided she didn’t like the chill option and decided to go for a run and explore the riverside trail. After finishing with my computer tasks I rendez-vous’d with Lydia to collect her from the run and then it was off to pick berries. The berries were plentiful, it didn’t take long to pick more than we really needed. We then back to camp to enjoy the late afternoon and let the rest of the day wind down.

Feb 22

Travel day – heading to Napier to catch the tail end of the Art Deco festival and tour the Hawks Bay area renowned for its fine wines. The route we chose went south of Turangi 50 km and then due east through some very rugged sheep country. It was slow going but the road was good, just lots of ups and downs and tight corners. The road was really quiet and we enjoyed the ride. Descending out of the highlands we rolled into Hastings, just south of Napier at 2:30 pm. We cruised to a beach side campground just north of Napier and settled in. Surprisingly there were several empty sites, we were a bit concerned we’d have availability issues with the Art Deco Festival going on. The rest of the day we spent getting provisions, setting up camp and then Lydia went for an exploratory walk along the bike path adjacent to the beach towards Napier while I had a short nap in the van. Later we had a tasty stir fry dinner and then retreated to the van for an evening of reading as the rain began to fall.

Feb 23

No rain this morning, but chilly and windy, 18^oC, which is fine, but the strong south wind added a wind chill factor. We had breakfast and then headed for Hastings for the Sunday morning farmers market. What a nice market in a beautiful setting amongst some huge mature trees – it was really a very pleasant park. The market had lots of vendors, very fresh local produce including lots of fruits and veggies that we don’t see at home (like avocados, kiwis and grapes). A trio of musicians added to the vibe with their excellent musicianship. After the market, we visited a local café, an artisan chocolate shop, the Zeffer Cider estate and finished off at Mission Estate winery – the oldest winery in New Zealand. This winery was established by missionaries back in 1851 and has done extremely well over the years. Today it was all set up for an outdoor event as part of the Art Deco Festival, but with the wind and a bit of rain, it was quiet. There was a jazz band playing and some guest were enjoying lunch in the restaurant, but we just picked up a bottle of Pinot Noir and headed into Napier to catch the tail end of the festival. We were a bit early for the grand finale at the festival and the weather wasn’t so nice, so we headed out to Cape Kidnapper were there is a large Gannet colony. We got as far as the little hamlet of Clifton and the road ended. To access the colony, you can either walk for 7 km along the beach or join a tour. We decided to put off the visit until tomorrow and we’ll do the beach walk.

By the time we got back to Napier, weather was still windy and a bit wet, so we headed to the grocery store and then back to camp to finish off the afternoon. Oh yeah, Lydia went for a later afternoon run along the beach trail. Our plan is to spend two more nights in Napier and then head to Wellington on Tuesday. From there we’ll take the ferry to the South Island on Thursday and begin our South island adventure.