Days 12 - 16 of NZ 2022

 DAY 12: The weather forecast for today was not good - strong winds and rain. After breakfast,  despite strong winds, with the rain only a mild drizzle we set out to do some Taupo sightseeing.  

Our first point of call was the Huka Falls. Wow! I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't the volume of water that you see here. Apparently,  220,000 litres of water pass over these falls every second!! And through a relatively narrow gap. Make sure you have your sound in to watch the videos below 

  

I found watching the water completely mesmerising. We had camped near the river,  upstream from these falls where the current was strong and beyond which was a canoe-no-go zone.  I would have been terrified about not being able to control my canoe even there. 

Our next point of call was The Craters of the Moon,  an active thermal area.  The walk takes about an hour and there is good information along the way. The videos here are of the largest of the 'craters'. Again,  make sure you have the sound on. 

They ask you to keep to the tracks - there is no way I would venture off them! Vents rise up in the middle of vegetation.  Deep holes are hidden again by the low lying scrub. 

Someone who lost their hat obviously,  and very sensibly,  heeded the warnings!

The vegetation around this area is fascinating. Much of the low-lying scrub is Kanuka (Kunzea ericoides) which is usually a tree.  In this environs it is more like 50cm high getting to a couple of metres high at the outskirts of the geothermal area. 

The moss that grows here is only found in these geothermal areas.  Ferns that usually grow in typical regions survive here. 

The spectacular steam vents of the past have calmed down here,  apparently as a result of geothermal electricity production. Perhaps that is a good thing???

The most active vent here is still pretty impressive, even if it is mostly noise.  Just before I took this video,  I had to turn around because of a big surge in steam. 

An interesting walk. 

I then persuaded Pete to take me to the Otumeheke Stream thermal pools in Taupo.  He decided not to go in.  Despite the cold outside,  I decided to have a warm shower in the pools.  Yes. The place where I hopped in its really only big enough for one because the water cools down quite quickly once it is out of the little fall. I left when another very cold-looking individual came in. 

By this stage,  the weather was deteriorating so we decided to get on our way and make the mountain crossing to Napier on the east coast of the North Island.  This road travels through Radiata Pine plantations,  farmland and native forests and is a slow road for much of the way.  The wind and rain were strong so while we stopped for lunch at a lookout for the Waipunga Falls, we only had a very brief look at them in one of the slight respites in the weather. Pretty impressive nevertheless.

Further on it was so foggy we didn't even stop at the next falls spot. We couldn't have seen anything. 

We are in Napier and are camped in a carpark by the Harbour.  It is Friday night and I think this might be where young folk do wheelies in their cars ... We'll see.  This is the view from our camper. 

DAY 13: We had no trouble last night in our little camping spot,  the only noise being the wind,  rain and waves.  I went for a walk in the early morning when the wind had died down quite a bit. 

The coast near Napier is either black sand, cliffs or black pebbly beaches.  

There was quite a bit of seaweed washed up this morning including some quite different to home.

I wandered along and wondered at the amazing shell-encrusted rocks. Are they in the process of becoming limestone?? There was a sign asking that people not remove limestone from the reserve ...

Our main aim for today was to explore Napier's Art Deco buildings. We did this on foot, walking first past the main port where a huge animal transport was berthed. I had to look it up as I had no idea what sort of a ship it could be. 

We had morning tea at a container Cafe just near the port,  looking out to the black sand beach and the sea. 

On the 3rd February 1931, Napier suffered a massive earthquake that virtually destroyed the city - for this was a city complete with Cathedral.  Within a few years the city had been rebuilt and in a time when the rest of the world was suffering the bleak outlook of the Depression, Napier was establishing itself for the future. As a result it has a incredible collection of Art Deco buildings, the in-vogue architecture of the time. Napier now calls itself the Art Deco capital of the world. 

The new Cathedral that faces the city was built a fair while after the other rebuilding and is only one of a few built in the Modern style.  Can't say it appeals to me very much. 

In the spirit of the day,  I had fun with some arty shots.

At the Art Deco Trust (a trust to conserve the city's Art Deco heritage), we watched a video about the earthquake giving us a better insight into the history of the town.  This was complemented by a visit to the MTG (Museum Theatre Gallery) that had more exhibits relating to the earthquake as well as some interesting Maori history and a small art exhibition. I made Pete dress up for a photo ...

On our return to the camper we briefly passed through the Botanic Gardens. There,  I managed to confirm that beautiful flowers we have been seeing on our drives over the past week are indeed rhododendrons. Such prolific blossoming! These were by no means the best we have seen but the first I've been in a position to photograph. 

Late in the afternoon we visited the last of the Art Deco public/commercial buildings on our to-see list,  the National Tobacco Co. Building. Pity that such a company had to be the owner of this fine building. 

We ended the day at The Boatramp Eatery for a drink and dinner.  Pretty poor meal but we had fun watching some boys fishing and watching the evening roll in. By the time we returned to the camper the sky was pretty in purple. 

DAY 14: We learned yesterday that not only were there fine examples of Art Deco architecture in public buildings but also in houses,  so first up this morning we headed to that part of town where I had been led to believe we'd find them. We did. Great to see these places built for ordinary people still standing. 

Next stop,  Te Mata Peak, a hill of 399m south of Napier,  very popular with the weekend fitness enthusiasts. We didn't have the time to do the climb (a long drive ahead of us) but drove to the top instead to incredible 360° views of Hawke's Bay.

For morning tea we stopped at a place I had forgotten I had read about,  the Pekapeka Wetlands. This natural wetlands area has now been protected and is being re-established as a nature reserve. Bits of old discarded waste have been left to remind us of the dumping ground it once was,  but done so in a good way, so the old rubbish performs the role of sculpture. 

I had a lovely time mooching about watching the wild creatures.  I even found dragonflies and a jumping spider! Of course there were also birds,  coots, ducks, finches amongst others.

Then for our long drive,  another three and a half hour's down to Castlepoint, to the north-east of Wellington. It is a lovely little lighthouse village on the coast. The view from our camper is pretty good!

         

We wandered around the beach for a bit before settling in for the night.  Large fishing boats with super-sized tractors lie dormant until they are next needed. 

After sunset,  we were treated to a surprise  light show in the form of a lit-up lighthouse.  The Castlepoint Lighthouse is still a working lighthouse but it does something special every night until midnight.  The lights are controls by a computer in Wellington,  two hours drive away. 

DAY 15: The day began with a beautiful sunrise that we were able to watch from our bed. 

We so much like Castlepoint that we decided to spend another night here so we could have the whole day to explore.   I'm so glad we did. 

To start off we were treated to quite a long aerobatic display by a random plane that showed up. They must have heard we were in town.  Here's a mini version of its routine. 

We decided to do the Deliverance Cove walk and to climb Castlepoint, a large outcrop south of the village, before going up to the lighthouse.  The views from both the track and Castlepoint itself were magnificent. 

Castlepoint is the outcrop you can see there. It was a pretty stiff climb. 

This is the view from the top. Well worth it.  We were so lucky with the weather today even up here the wind wasn't strong. 

Down the hill and back along the beach toward the village,  we came across a small group of seals. We had seen lots in the other side of Castlepoint rock but they were a long way down. 

These were right in front of us, one posing alone on the beach. 

Deliverance Cove is just beautiful but the water was cold.  I changed into my swimmers but didn't get further in than my butt! Pete's photo,  the first one,  perhaps gives the best view of the Cove. 

 

It was not until after lunch that we finally made it up to the lighthouse. Another herd of seals greeted us with their noises and fascinating jostling/playing.

The Rock the lighthouse sits on is fascinating in itself.  Apparently siltstone lies at its base. This is covered then with sandstone filled with fossils from when the ocean was cool and limestone filled with fossils from when the oceans were warm.  All less than 2 million years old. As in Napier,  the shells in these rocks are still intact. 

The lighthouse is interesting in that it is made out of cast iron. 

I spent quite a while exploring around the lighthouse,  first with Pete and then on my own. I found what I think is a moth that is endemic only to the Castlepoint area and the low-lying Pimelea (Pimelea prostrata) that it calls home. 

Our day ended with another walk up to the lighthouse to see sunset from up there and to witness the colours up close. Pete decided to be a lighthouse too.

DAY 16: We farewelled Castlepoint this morning and began our journey to Cape Palliser. We had morning tea at a lovely little cafe called Land Girl Cafe. Full of interesting bits and pieces,  craft,  vintage wear, local food etc.

Next stop was The Pinnacles, another sort of lost city.  It must be the year of lost cities for us! This place is basically a huge natural gravel agglomeration on top of fossil bearing siltstone and sandstone. The towers are formed when a large boulder stood water getting through and so erosion happens vertically.  The large boulders protects the tower until ... it doesn't.  Then there is a collapse.

To get there we had a good climb up to a lookout through lovely native forest. 

I even found a couple of species of sun orchids up near the top. 

The road from here to the Cape Palliser Lighthouse winds along the coast with great views.  I'm not sure how much longer it will exist though. There are so many washouts with nothing between the road and Cook Strait. Already you can see patches where the old road has completely gone.

We stopped at one of the black sand and pebble beaches. I went for a bit of a wander and found some creatures I'd never even heard before - salps. I thought they were egg sacs of some creature or perhaps jellyfish.  Neither apparently!

Closer to Cape Pallister the coast looked very pretty with Pigface and a yellow-orange daisy-like flower.

Once at Cape Palliser Lighthouse, we had to climb up to it,  this time in a single flight of 254 stairs (yes, I counted them). What jelly-legs I had at the top!

Another lovely view from up there.

Such beatiful weather and hardly any wind even up there. Then there was the trip back down the stairs. 

As we wound our way back around the coastal road,  we stopped at a reserve of beautiful coastal rocks that formed a resting spot for more NZ fur seals.  We enjoyed their antics again. 

Our camp for the night, a delightful seaside free camp area,  was a little west of a village called Ngawi. We had done quite a bit of exercise and it was beautiful weather so we decided,  despite the coldness of the water to have a quick dip. Pete's was quicker than mine! On a walk along the beach I found another creature previous unknown to me,  a sea pickle.

The colour of the water was amazing due to the lime content in the water. The first 100m or so was a beautiful, milky green,  the deeper water further out,  a deep blue. 

From our campsite we can see across Cook Strait to the hills east of Wellington and the mountains of the South Island, tomorrow's destination.