In Napier by-the-sea...

Continuing with my interrupted description of Wellington Anniversary Weekend in Napier...

Checking out the facilities included looking at the beach. Here we all are lined up against a handy gate, while a friendly 'park bench' took a quick photo.

On the following day, we woke to drizzle - and yet more wind. The waves were crashing in along the beach so fishing was out. We headed for a couple of wineries instead, starting with The Mission. It's a classy joint. Some poor couple had planned on getting married in the garden there that day, but it was obviously going to be a non-starter and Plan B was being put in action as we looked around.

This is the garden - the site of the ill-fated wedding ceremony. You can't see the rain falling, but it was very wet! On a normal HB day, it would be glorious. We loved it.

On the way out, I took a photo of the avenue of trees through which you drive to reach the Winery. To one side of this is the area where the annual concert is held.

Then we moved on, next stopping at Church Road Winery which was very different, but no less well presented.

This is actually the back of the building, but it faces out over a large grassed area, where events are held.

Even the car park was landscaped!

While Ian and Murray were tasting the wine on offer, Robyn and I found a brochure on a different type of attraction and, as soon as we left Church Road, we persuaded our other halves to head there immediately. A garden centre with a difference is probably the best description...

This is only a small part of the garden display (it was set out in a series of different themed areas) but all of it had the 'wow' factor. We enjoyed a cup of coffee at the cafe there, and discovered the food was

displayed equally spectacularly - unfortunately we didn't get to eat any of it because we had our own picnic lunch in the car.

To finish the morning off, we headed for one last vineyard. This time it was Brookfields; smaller, more rustic, and less intimidating than the previous two - also, not so high profile, being tucked

away in the countryside as opposed to the other two which were in the suburbs. What they lacked in size, they made up for by the quality of their wines, several of which had won prizes. Robyn splashed out and bought a bottle of their 2007 'Indulgence' - a lovely sweet dessert-type wine, which we all enjoyed after dinner that night.

Thanks to the rain, this winery looks a bit bleak in the photo, but it was a lovely place. We left, heading for Hastings and Havelock North, where Murray planned to take us up Te Mata peak for our picnic. Unfortunately this idea had to be abandoned when we realised that the summit was up in the clouds - and the rain. Instead, we set up our picnic in a handy spot toward the base of the peak and, fortunately, the rain abated while we partook.

The weather being what it was, we opted after lunch (by now it was around 3pm) to head back to Napier. None of us had previously been to the Bluff Hill Lookout, so that's where we went first and, apart from the misty views of the Bay, we were able to watch the comings and goings of a ship being unloaded in the port below.

When headed back down the hill, we stopped near the bottom of Bluff Hill and explored the Old Quarry garden, something else none of us had ever discovered before, in spite of its being just off the northern end of the Marine Parade.

Apparently the rock from the quarry was used in the building of the old Napier prison which is in the vicinity - and yet another attraction we had not been aware of. We'll check it out next time we're there. The gardens were lovely.

That night, the rain was heavier, but thanks to an extra blanket under our mattress, we were not so cold in the night.

In the morning, following breakfast in the camper van, we took the tent down and threw everything in the car. Given that the weather wasn't cooperating, we set off for home as soon as we were packed up, stopping only in Waipukurau for a bit of a wander. Ironically, we emerged through the gorge to find the Manawatu sweltering hot, brilliantly sunny, and perfectly calm. (Nine out of ten times it would be the other way round - trust us to pick the wrong weekend!!!). Perfect weather for drying out wet camping gear.... We spread everything out on the back lawn until it was dry. Now it's all stowed away, ready for the next chance we get to brave the 'great outdoors'.

Getting away from it all...

We arranged to spend Wellington Anniversary weekend camping in Napier with Ian and Robyn. They brought their camper van. We brought our tent. When we left Palmy, it was fine and sunny. By the time we got through the gorge, the drizzle had started, and continued all the way to Napier. We stayed at a camp at Bayview, where we'd stayed once before. Fortunately, when we arrived, we were ahead of the rain and managed to put up the tent while it was still dry. But there was a chilly wind blowing in off the sea. When Ian & Robyn arrived, we parked their van in front of the tent, for a bit of shelter, had a wander round the camp to check out what was what, sat down for a bite of lunch and sorted ourselves out. Later we went into town for a wander up and down and a poke around the treasures of the Marine Parade. That night Murray cooked and we ate outside, but had to move inside for dessert as the drizzle arrived.



Here's Pania, back on her reef, after her much publicised adventures a year or so ago. She's stunning, really.

It's bedtime now and this is too slow to continue, so tune this way for a further instalment tomorrow....

Fun in the Sun...

On New Year's Day, we spent the afternoon on the edge of Lake Taupo with the campervan and the kayaks. It was a perfect summer's day, the lake was like a millpond and there was not a breath of wind. Heaven!

Murray paddling near Bulli Point. That water was so inviting...

Back at the ranch, we all had a dip, one after the other...



Later in the day Murray and Ian took the kayaks back and swapped them for Ian's boat, also collecting the barbecue and some food for dinner. Isn't it funny how food tastes really delicious after a day in the big outdoors???

After dinner Murray and Ian went out fishing. The lake was calm and peaceful at this time of the day (all the other boats had gone home) and the light seemed serene too (the heat had gone out of it, I guess). For a change Murray caught the fish.

This is the moment the fish was caught - not something we often see...

And for a final fling, Ian tried flyfishing in the lake just after dark. As you can see it was a beautiful sunset to go with the beautiful day.

Once home again, we finished the day off with pavlova, strawberries and raspberries with a welcome cup of coffee. None of us needed the pav, but it was delicious!

On our last free day in Turangi, we took the kayaks to the southern end of the lake and paddled to the beach at the bottom of the waterfall near Waihi. The water wasn't very warm, but we managed a swim and the wind was a little chilly but we sat in the sun and enjoyed a drink and a couple of Christmas chocolates. It was a breezy day and a bit of a struggle to paddle back to the car, but we had fun.


The next day we were in Taupo - just because we could! We bought some plants at the Native Plant Nursery and did a little bit of shopping. This caught my eye at The Warehouse and, if the price hadn't put me off, I might have had a little bit of Vietnam in the garden...

Later in the afternoon we headed out to Ian and Robyn's. From there we all drove past Acacia Bay and walked through the bush to Whakamoenga Point. It was quite late in the afternoon and the best sun of the day had got up and went but there were some great little spots for swimming and picnics.


The grand "old lady" of the lake, Ernest Kemp keeps on chugging on...

And that was it. Holiday over. Next day we packed up and went home, having planted the plants we bought in Taupo in the newly renovated garden box under the window box. With luck, they'll still be alive when we next get back to Turangi. And maybe some of the grass seed will have survived too...??? We didn't want to go home. Now we're home we want to go back!

Farewelling 2007

As usual, we spent New Year in Turangi. This year there were a couple of differences from the norm; the weather was great, and there were only four of us. We had a 'progressive meal' throughout the evening (including whitebait and prawns) instead of a big meal at the start of the night. Prince Tui Teka kept us entertained for part of the night and then we had an unexpected random visitor midway through the evening - David from Christchurch happened to be passing and liked the look of our fireworks. We gave him a drink, made a fuss of his gorgeous little dog, and continued with our party when he went on his way. Midnight came with the traditional smoked trout and sugar-rimmed glasses and we saved the most spectacular and sky-rockety of our fireworks to welcome 2008.

Prince Tui Teka got Robyn bopping...

Brendan phoned well before midnight to avoid mobile phone traffic jams:

Ian and Murray put on the impressive fireworks which lured David in from the cold... the patio heater was a useful addition to the party arsenal!

At midnight, the traditional end of year treat...

H A P P Y N E W Y E A R !!!

Earlier in the day, Murray and Ian went for a paddle down the stream. Ian looks like he's got the hang of it at this point, but don't be fooled! - still, he didn't fall out, but it wasn't for want of trying...