The Road to Wellington

Our original plan had us heading west from Tongariro, out to see another volcano, however, upon checking the weather it seemed we wouldn't be able to walk very much and the volcano would be in the clouds ☁️☁️. So change of plans, we went east instead. We looped back past Lake Taupo to see the view with clears skies, it was pretty good, then headed on to the Sea Side town of Napier. A small cute town famed for its Art Deco style and National Aquarium, the main draw being the Aquarium is inside and out of the rain. We found a gap in the rain to play their shore front Mini Golf. We hit the Aquarium the next morning when the heavens opened again but it was a little underwhelming, small, with a tiny collection of fish. They did have some Kiwis though which was nice and a little exhibition about the Vault Lines running the length of new Zealand which explains all the volcanic activity. With the clouds still grey we headed south to our camp spot for the night and a delicious home (van) cooked meal.

Next day the the sun was back again! We headed down to the South Coast to see Putanguirua Pinnacles reserve. It is an amazing landscape created by wind. It carved some funny shaped chemines called Hoodoo. We walked up to a view point and then down in between. It is very hot without all the clouds!

After a nice little picnic we're on the road again back inland. This is a famous wine region so we stopped in the cute little town of Martinborough. This town centre is laid out in the shape of a Union Jack flag, we couldn't verify it from the air but you can clearly see it from the main town square with all the side roads. After a nice beer, yes they also had a good brewery, we bought a bottle of local red wine and to set up camp in sleep the nearby town of Greytown. Do spite the name it was quite cute and while exploring we smelled the most delicious pizza. We scraped our planned dinner for the night and got ourselves a nice bit of sourdough instead. We'll worth it!

Next morning, we're met with the rain again, but it isn't a problem as we are going to walk in a forest. The forest where part of Rivendell, the famous city built by Elrond (of The Lord of the Rings) was filmed. It was a cute little walk with nice trees but it was hard to imagine where everything was set.
We now feel that we left most of the rainy days behind us and we're leaving in good spirits to visit the capital, Wellington.Read more