New Zealand Diaries #16 (Courtesy Laura McCullough)

New Zealand part 14: heading north

11 Jan. We have another lazy morning, much needed at the end of this trip! We check out and stop at a corner store for yogurt and such for breakfast. Then it’s a two hour drive to Napier on the east coast. At this point I barely notice the gorgeous scenery and the amazing vistas. Yes, you can overload on incredible views. When we get to Napier, we find a parking garage and put 3 dollars in the “pay and display” machine, only to discover it’s free on weekends. Oh well. Napier was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the ’30s with amazing art deco architecture. The buildings are beautiful examples of art deco work. Even the street signs are in fancy font. It’s primarily a shopping town downtown, not our thing, but we walk around and enjoy the views. It’s on the beach, too, so we walk to the water. I play wave tag for a bit. The beach isn’t sand, but grey/black rock ranging from small pebbles to quarter sized rocks–not very comfortable barefoot, even for someone who loves going without shoes.

We walk around Napier, stop in a really cool armory store, can’t remember the name. There is a SCA-type group that meets up and supports or is supported by this store. Nice stuff in this place! They have lots of weapons, but the one piece that catches my eye is a mirrored wooden plaque with art deco figurines. Alas, too difficult to try to bring home.

We luncheon at a bakery. That’s how good they are at GF: I tried a bakery for lunch, and it worked! There was a tasty GF ham quiche for me, and Kelly had bacon & chicken pie. We shared a scrumptious orange cake for dessert. Then back into the car (of which I am thoroughly tired by this time) for the trip to Hamilton and our last hotel in NZ. We choose the Anglesea Motel, with advertised spa bath. Nice place! The clerk finds out it’s our last night in NZ and gives us two glasses of wine on the house. Along with milk, of course. It’s quite sweet. We do a load of laundry in preparation for a really long day tomorrow, have a nice dinner in our room: greek salad with added ham and cheese, the wine, some yogurt, and chocolate for dessert. A hot bath, and an early night.

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I’ve been traveling in Hawaii and New Zealand and will be posting links to the pictures soon.

Whenever we travel my wife does a travel diary while I take most of the pictures. I use her notes as my references for later use for books and other things. She has been gracious enough to allow me to share them here on my site for those who are interested.