Taupo -> Napier

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9th Feb 2009

Set off from Taupo around 9.30 heading for Napier. The scenery becomes more hilly and the vegetation lush. We stop to stretch half way at the ruatiti bridge over the waipung river. The journey is up and down steep inclines and the toyota is coping well, for an old car it is very comfortable and runs quietly. As we enter Napier we see our first Hawkes Bay vineyard.

We arrive at the motel around 1.30pm it is the nicest so far, very comfortable and spacious,
overlooking Hawkes Bay. There is some eclipic art on the beach by an artist called David Trubridge. It is a blue tubular arch with a silver disc at the top, below it is a rock with an inscription that the line from the rock to the disc describes the point on the horizon where the first sunset occurred on the dawn of the the third millennium.

New Zealand seems to be a very artistic country, there are works of art everywhere. We take a walk into town. Napier suffered a disastrous earthquake in 1933, basically the whole of the town was flattened and had to be rebuilt. As a result there is a multitude of art deco buildings and the whole town is very attractive. We dined at the Restaurant Indonesia

We stayed at The Shoreline

A map of our route

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Photos

Taking a break
Having a stretch on a bridge

Eliptic Art
The dawn of the third millennium

Art Deco
Napier is full of art deco architecture