We woke up to another rainy morning, but this time warm and dry in our pleasant little cabin. We drug our feet packing our car to go, and made our way to a couple of short hikes on our way out of Tongariro park; the Tawhai falls path, and the infamous mounds walk!
Tongariro crossing be damned. The mounds walk is the truest test of a person’s mettle. (Just ignore the fact that Anna’s car is clearly parked on the highway about a stone’s throw away.)
After conquering the mounds we started to head north along the western bank of Lake Taupo, and then on to Taupo Bungy. As we were driving north the weather kept getting more and more bleak. Anna and I kept telling ourselves that if the weather was bad we didn’t want to go bungy jumping, giving ourselves an excuse to wuss out. When we arrived at Taupo Bungy the weather was all blue skies and sunshine. We had no more excuses so we bought our tickets, used the restroom a half a dozen times, and contemplated our future plummet.
Even though bungy jumping wasn’t quite as extreme as the mounds walk, it was still a pretty heart stopping experience. I don’t know if I’d ever be able to do it again, but it’s nice to be able to say I’ve done it once.
After putting some dry clothes (from being dipped in the water, not from peeing our pants), we hit the road again for Napier. On the pass between Taupo and Napier the weather took a turn for the worse. Just as we crested the top of the mountain we hit a massive hail storm. The traffic on the highway actually came to a standstill.
This is meant to be summer in New Zealand? That’s not dividing stripes on the road. That’s about two inches of hail that fell in less than five minutes.
After the hail storm from hell we made our way down the mountain toward Napier, which is supposed to be the New Zealand equivalent of the Napa valley. There was a huge earthquake that leveled the city back in 1931, so the whole town was rebuilt in the art deco style of the times. The city is also known for its wineries, so I was expecting the town to be a testament to the roaring 20s. Being one of the sunniest cities in the nation, Anna and I were also forward to a reprieve from the storm that had been following us across the country.
We started out by visiting some of their “sun” drenched wineries…
After assessing the weather Anna and I decided it would be suicidal to set up our tent at the camping space we reserved (at the Clifton Holiday Park), and made a quick call to the manager. After being informed that they didn’t have any dry cabins or lodges available, and being called a “Damned Yank!” for canceling our reservation, Anna and I found a nice little clubhouse sized cabin (complete with bunk beds!) at the Westshore holiday park. After cleaning up a bit we made our way to Napier’s bustling art deco city center…
Keep in mind, these pictures were taken at 7 or 8 p.m. on a Friday night. Napier ended up being a huge retirement community. It’s like playing Where’s Wally/Waldo on the streets just to find someone, but Wally/Waldo is at home asleep after drinking some warm prune juice and watching Matlock. At one point in the evening a lone clunker car passed by us as we were walking downtown. We could hear the bass music thumping from blocks away, and then, like a phantom, a teenage girl sped past us and was gone. That girl’s car was the hippest place in Napier.
The one saving grace of Napier was a small Turkish restaurant called Kilim Café. The food here was truly amazing. A work of art. If it were in any other city in the world, I would highly recommend it. I’d even recommend it if you are passing near Napier. But I wouldn’t venture too far into town. I think it’s haunted.
Bye Bye Napier!
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