Tairua to Bay of Islands

 I had originally planned to drive around the Coromandel Peninsula, but we decided to just head off to the northern part of the Island past Auckland.

Yet another disgusting breakfast. I think it was meant to be French Toast.

Tairu is at the southern end of the Coromandel Peninsula and is a lovely place.

Playground for the kiddies. Except for the scenery, you could think you were in Australia.

We eventually reached the Bay of Islands at Paihia. I asked the motel owner how Paihia is pronounced and the easiest method is to think 'Get your pie here'. Most place names have a Maori origin, so Aussies have no clue.

Unusual building next to our motel. The owners would have a wonderful view.

Toilet Block!

Yes, you can fly over the Bay in a helicopter.

The bay has always been a popular holiday spot.

If you sail across the bounding main, you still need to visit customs.

Apparently, Zane Grey came here to fish.

There was an interesting restaurant next to the motel named the Typsy Oyster. This was the duck pancake and it has re-inspired me to cook more duck. 

A waffle for brekkie the next morning. You can tell that we suffered, even though it had banana and bacon on top.

 

 

Gisborne to Tairua

 Another day of mountains, hills and curves beckoned.

Believe it or not, this was breakfast! Food in NZ was uniformly imaginative and excellent. When went out for dinner, we would usually each buy a glass of wine and the quality was very good. One evening, I had the best Sauvignon Blanc I had ever had.

Before leaving Gisborne, we walked down to the beach. 

These benches were interesting with the shape and carving. The Maori influence is very strong in New Zealand.

The day was spent driving and Marianne did not take too many photos since it was rainy. It's still very scenic, but much the same as the day before. In many ways, I was very much reminded of England, but NZ is England on steroids.

There were many stoppages along the way for roadworks.  You may find the following interesting about the effects of a cyclone that hit New Zealand the week before we arrived.

Cyclone Gabrielle.

Napier to Gisborne

 The following day after brekkie, we headed north to Gisborne.

We thought Wellington to Napier was hilly with lots of curves. This journey to Gisborne was even worse and my shoulders were tired when we arrived at the motel. We had no trouble going to sleep right after dinner and then sleeping until dawn.

New Zealand has a human population of 5.3 million along with 23.6 million sheep. That's 4.5 sheep for every person. You see them everywhere, even on the steepest hillsides.

Marianne was thrilled to see Autumn leaves. 

As you might expect with all the green grass, there are plenty of cows.

Hills galore.

Rivers are mostly small and shallow.

The lush vegetation.

Our motel in Gisborne was a block away from the ocean. It was windy and cold and not too inviting. We did not linger.

We went to a brewery for dinner that also served pizzas. I ordered the Blue Moon pizza which was really tasty with the blue cheese. I will try making something similar in the near future. The beer was excellent. 

Wellington to Napier

 We are home now and it's easier to do the blogging on my laptop, sitting on my sofa. These days, we travel with just carry-on limited to 7 kg so I don't take my laptop, just the phone. Marianne has transferred her photos to me since I obviously can't take photos while driving.

Wellington is down left and Napier is upper right. The route looks straight forward, but there are an extraordinary number of steep hills and sharp curves.

Here you can see the typical curvy road through the hills. Fortunately, there was not too much traffic.

The countryside is incredibly green.

More curves ahead.

A rather high railway viaduct. The road surfaces were usually good, but the road crews are usually fixing hillslides or washouts.

There are so many hills and mountains. 

We saw well over 100 logging trucks. Logging must be a huge industry here.

Back in 1931, much of Napier was destroyed in a massive earthquake. The city centre was rebuilt in Art Deco style, and our hotel was named the Art Deco Masonic Hotel.

On the front verandah.

View across to the ocean.

Another impressive building.

It was Mother's Day in New Zealand (and Australia), so we ate dinner in the hotel's restaurant. For dessert, we each ordered one of these. The shells were formed of white chocolate and the concoction was quite delicious. The couple at the next table inquired if they were as good as they looked and I told the wife to order a plate. She was to get two of the blobs and her husband was to get only one. They both laughed.