Eager for a catch up - Napier, New Zealand
Napier, New Zealand
So, making the best use of our power, we actually stayed up until midnight last night watching the first instalment of LoTR which I had on my hard drive. Couldn't see Mount Doom as clearly as in real life but we now need 2 n 3 to watch to see if we can spot other NZ landmarks! Quick use of the hot pools and shower (which was FREEZING cold in the gents) and we were on the road to Napier on the east coast of the North Island. Alan struggled and groaned his way on the single track roads up and over a few hills on the 3hr journey but we soon reached glorious sunshine on the other side. Napier and the Hawkes Bay region are famous for 2 reasons: 1) its Art Deco architecture, as nearly all buildings were built following an earthquake in the 1930s 2) it is NZ's oldest wine region, best known for Cab Sauv, Merlot and Syrah/Shiraz With that in mind, we stopped at two award winning wineries on route to the centre: Mission Estate and Church Road. Mission Estate was a very classy estate indeed and we looked very out of place in our camper...would've loved to had a long lazy lunch there but that would've blown our budget for sure. $5 per tasting and they gave us a free wine glass each! Apparently very famous place for a concert it holds each February and they've had Rod Stewart headline a few times too. Church Road was still very grand to look at and the wines were amazing. We walked away with a bottle of C******nay and almost a Cab Sauv but the weather is calling for a crisp white wine so needs must. We carried onto the tourist info desk in the town who sent us to another free waterside campspot - NZ is so well set up for this adventure! Chilled for a few hours whilst I arranged to meet Geoff Eager, a friend from school and one of the main guys who got me into playing rugby. His family all moved back to NZ when we were 14 so it was a long overdue catch up. Headed to the town's Irish pub; continuing the theory that every town in the world has an Irish pub even if there is no local equivalent. Had a great night of discussing old times and vaguely attempting the pub quiz which was taking place at the same time. Great to see Geoff and for Sonia to hear about what a fantastic rugby player I used to be (mainly from me talking). Slow walk back to the camper and the entire car park is filled with backpackers mainly sleeping in normal cars...very weird and hippie-like vibe but also made us appreciate Alan's luxurious double bed that bit more! Bike tour of wineries booked for tomorrow!