Auckland to Christchurch Road Trip Day 1

Waipu Caves to Napier

We were up before the sun today after a rough sleep in the car at Waipu Caves. We were on the road by 7 headed back to Auckland.

The drive back was an uneventful 2 and a bit hours, and traffic was lighter than expected so we got to EZU Rentals earlier than planned (if only we'd done that yesterday). We were able to pick up the car early which saved us some hassle and time. Looks like we're swapping a little Toyota sedan for a bigger Toyota hatchback. The Corolla seems to be the car of choice for rentals in New Zealand.

We took pictures of the car, moved bags over, and then drove 5 minutes over to Snap to drop off the other car. Then it was back the way we came for a quick trip into the supermarket for some snacks for the road. There was also a Taco Bell across the parking lot, so we decided to check out the prices and ended up buying a couple cheap things for an early lunch. After that, it was time to get back on the road to Napier.

The drive to Napier took about 5 hours. We stopped an hour or so in to call Capital One (thanks mom) and then kept heading south. The landscape here makes driving a much nicer activity (despite me staring at my phone catching up on blogs for most of it). The rolling hills with green trees are really nice and sort of similar to Hawaii, minus the pine trees. I liken it more to Scotland than Hawaii because of the foliage and rolling hills.

We got to Napier just after sunset. In a surprising turn of events, Allan drove the whole way without stopping for the bathroom! We stopped at Bluff Hill where the sun has just dipped below the horizon and was still shining enough to light up the clouds directly above it. Bluff Hill has great views over the ocean and Napier below. Unfortunately, you also get views of the dockyard and timber yard which aren't as pretty. We walked around the gardens and sat on a bench while the sky changed to a nice pink, orange and blue. Once the colors were almost gone, we drove the five minutes to Crash Palace Hostel, got checked in, and then drove to the grocery store for supplies and Dominoes for dinner (the kitchen at the hostel was rammed!).

After some dinner we went back to the hostel and had some showers before going into town for beers and to explore. We went to Rogue Hop Speakeasy and shared a raspberry plum sour and a coffee stout. The place didn't really have much of an atmosphere for a Saturday night which was weird and disappointing. Once we had finished our beers, we walked along the streets that had some nice art deco facades. This town really does look like it was pulled out of The Great Gatsby. (After a devastating earthquake in the early 1930s, the whole town fell apart and was rapidly out together, hence the art deco buildings). Even the street names have the same art deco font.

Post beers and exploring, we went back to the hostel for some much needed (small) down time before bed.Read more