Rotorua to Napier

Monday 31st October
We left Rotorua after spending a very leisurely breakfast chatting to a retired couple from Yorkshire who are keen motorbiking fans. They are travelling on a bike and have been to several countries before New Zealand following various bike races. We stopped at a hunting and fishing store in Rotorua and purchased some more warm clothes, it’s a bit colder here than we anticipated, then it was off towards Napier where we are staying tonight.

We stopped at the Huka falls. The river is wide but once it enters the gorge it becomes a turbulent, heaving, roaring body of water, deep and with rapids, whirlpools and white foaming water. Then it spills out the end of the gorge as a forceful waterfall, not very high but with huge force creating a 9m deep pit at the bottom of the falls. Apparently enough water flows over the falls in a minute to fill 5 Olympic sized swimming pools. It was quite spectacular. Apart from the white foam the water itself was coloured a beautiful pale turquoise with parts of it a clear deeper shade of turquoise almost like turquoise glass. All these colours are completely natural caused by minerals in the water.

We doubled back to the Aritiatia Dam which opens every couple of hours to lower the level of the lake reservoir behind the dam which is constantly being filled from rivers flowing into it. When we arrived the dam had been opened, only a few inches, and water was forced out of the narrow gaps and thundering down the rocky gorge towards the lake further on. This is the place that the hobbits and dwarfs went down in barrels to escape in the Hobbit part I. After about 7 minutes the dam doors closed and the water stopped. Immediately the level in the gully below began to lower as what water was left flowed away and was not replenished. It dropped at least 6-7 feet in a matter of minutes exposing large boulders and rocks previously hidden under the rush of water from the dam.

It was time to hit the road for Napier which was a 2hour drive away. It was a beautiful drive over mountains and through vast wide open green landscapes with fields filled with grazing cattle or sheep. In the mountains it was very cold but as we got lower in the valleys it warmed up so we were constantly putting on and taking off our fleeces. New Zealand is a very easy country to drive in because they drive on the left. We have an automatic car, very common for a hire car and most of the controls are the same as those on cars back home…..except for windscreen wipers and indicators which are on opposite sides to what we are used to. Consequently, before Peter pulls out to overtake, or into a parking spot he lets other road users know with a quick wipe of the windscreen wipers. Sometimes he goes as far as squirting water on the windscreen as well for good measure!! It’s hilarious, we turn at the traffic lights wipers swiping back and forth frantically as drivers all around wonder what on earth we are doing.

Our bed for the night is 119ongeorges in Napier. We have been lucky once again. It is a super little bungalow with the all-important veranda and bistro table and chairs. Wendy and Peter, our hosts insisted we joined them for a glass of wine (or grapefruit or orange for Janet and I) and canapes. They were very interested to hear about our travels so far and our impressions of New Zealand. We chatted for a couple of hours and they recommended a couple of good places to eat in town. The Emporium in Napier sounded like it fitted the bill and we enjoyed a really lovely meal there tonight.Read more