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Published: November 30th 2009
Heading Out
We had been talking about heading out for a few weeks, since we had been in Tauranga looking for work for nearly three weeks, some other people had left, and Carla got a job with the city that started in two and a half weeks. Just as we were preparing to leave the next day, we got a call from one of the employment services agencies to work a night shift at the fish factory. We went, we worked, we left the next day.
We drove straight from Tauranga to Napier, having gone to Taupo before we made really good time til after we passed Taupo and found some new scenery. The road crossed several mountain ranges and you could see bright green mountain grazing pastures stretching out as far as you could see every time you got to the top of a range.
Napier
We headed to Napier because that's where our German and Chilean friends had wound up after a few days on the road. They were looking for work in the next town down the road. We stayed in Napier for three nights checking out the muched talked about architecture in the
Trees in the Street?
In front of our hostel and several other places in Napier, trees come right up out of the asphalt.small city. The city was nearly levelled by earthquakes in the early thirties and the buildings they rebuilt with have been well preserved throughout the city, along with similar Art Deco gardens and an amphitheater near the beach. We watched a sunset from the Bluff Hill Lookout, the top of the city overlooking the harbour, bay, and city on the other side of the hill.
Hastings
We went to hasting to check out the town and say hello and goodbye to our friends who had found some work at an orchard near the city. Just down the road, Hastings is similar in size to Napier and has its own unique feel as well, we didn't spend more than the afternoon there though.
Gisborne
After visiting our friends and seeing Napier and Hastings, we drove out to Gisborne, stopping along the way to check out a few sites. We ended up staying at a Holiday Park right on the beach. The next day we checked out the Rere Rockslide (like a waterslide) and Rere Falls, spent a few hours in the sun on the beach body boarding (you should have seen Carla's face the first time she
Across the Marine Parade
The Art Deco archways and gathering area in Napier from across the Marine Parade. dove over a wave on that thing!), relaxed until early evening and then hiked to the top of Titirangi Hill to watch the sun set across Poverty Bay and the mountains to the west.
Our second day in Gisborne we took advantage of the free internet at the city library to check e-mails, and sadly listen to the Grey Cup. In case you missed it, there aren't many more embarrassing ways to lose the big game by 1 point.
Now we are heading up the remote East Cape to secluded beaches and untouched native bush in what is supposed to be the closest to the old wild New Zealand anywhere in the North Island.
Cheers!
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Jenn
non-member comment
WOW!
WOW, looks beautiful there! You guys must be learning things all day. I decided to take a study break and go into dream land while reading your blogs. Keep me posted, the blogs are great. Too bad I'm sitting in the study lounge at the U of R and not travelling the world. Love you guys, Miss you! -Jenn