Hawkes Bay

Trip Start Feb 10, 2008

Trip End Aug 14, 2008

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Where I stayed

Priscilla's B&B

(Napier hotels)

Flag of New Zealand Napier, North Island, New Zealand
Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Back up to the North Island and drove to Napier in the Hawke's Bay region through the mountains with some very twisty and narrow roads with beautiful scenery. Thinking that this is a quiet area we had not booked accommodation and were amazed to see 'no vacancy' signs everywhere in the area. Upon enquiring at a motel in Havelock North, south of Napier, we were told that the area was booked out because of a one-day cricket international the next day between New Zealand and England. Lots of 'Barmy Army' fans around in addition to the NZ fans. Anyway it turned out well as we were directed to Priscilla's B&B where a garden room with outside toilet was the only thing available. The place was delightful with lavender -lined drive and pretty cottage-style garden. Priscilla cooked us a delicious breakfast and we left happy. Would stay there again and she does have indoor rooms normally. She is in Te Mate road walking distance to town and close to some of the wineries.
Seem to always be mentioning wineries but have to say that this area around Napier produces excellent wines. We particularly enjoyed the Chardonnay. They are known for their Bordeaux-style reds but we will have to refine our Aussie taste for 'big' reds to appreciate them better.
Napier is a fascinating town as it was destroyed in an earthquake in 1931 and completely rebuilt in Art Deco style so is beautiful to wander around. The museum has the history of the earthquake told through photos and video of stories of survivors. Definitely a place we would return to and an area to spend more time in.
From here we drove to the thermal springs areas of Lake Taupo and Rotorua. Beautiful drive yet again with stunning scenery. The 'no vacancy' signs followed us as we drove around Rotorua looking for a bed. Apparently there was an international teachers conference in town in addition to the usual bus-loads of tourists. We reckoned that we had seen and smelled enough of the town so drove on. At around 8pm we came upon a caravan park with cabins right on the edge of a lake and it was so far from anywhere that they had a vacant cabin. Phew. Reminded us of our caravan travels in Oz.
Drove north to Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty. It is a holiday area on the coast and we found a motel with a 1 bed apartment close to town so stayed 3 nights. Did a tramp around the local hill; Mount Manganui; beautiful views on a brilliant sunny day. Ate fresh, fresh fish and chips from the local coop where the fishing boats come in. On one of our walks around town we came across a cemetery with graves from the 'land wars' of the mid 19th century. We knew nothing about them but learnt from reading the headstones that there had been battles between British forces and Maoris in that area with large numbers of casualties on both sides. Very interesting history lesson.