East Coast Trip 2017 - Christchurch - Napier

Hi All,

We had a good drive thru the centre stopping at Marble Hill for lunch. The traffic was better than we expected but there were few queues behind trucks and slow campers.

Our overnight stop was at the West Bay DOC camp at Lake Rotoiti. After choosing a site was walked a track around the lake to the DOC HQ and checked in.

On the road and into the sun down the Wairau Valley to Picton. Our Bluebridge sailing was at 2:00pm so we filled in time walking around the town and the foreshore before checking in. A bit of a surprise here as we discovered that we had only booked ourselves and not “Joy”. Thought the ticket was very cheap! Fortunately, we sorted the problem out (another $105). The forecast was for a southerly change in the afternoon but although it was very windy the sea was flat much to Val’s relief. The boat was great. New, clean and with good food etc. Quite a change from our last crossing with Interislander. As we came off in Wellington the promised southerly arrived and it was a miserable drive in the rain and dark to Upper Hutt where we stayed in Diana and Neil’s drive. (Diana was Val’s workmate a Bernina). We had a great night with them catching up on the gossip. We finished up in their spa in the howling southerly.

The weather for the drive over the Rimutaka Hill was rainy and even some hail at the top. At Featherston we bought drugs for Val’s cold and visited the Fell Train Museum.

These engines hauled the trains up from Featherston to the summit of the Rimutakas before the tunnel was built. They use a centre rail to increase the drive power. The weather improved and was sunny when we arrived in Martinborough where we stayed in a camp. It was a short walk into the town which has some great old buildings set around a central square.

The next morning, we biked around the vineyards. The wine growing area is quite small. Our next destination was Castlepoint on the South Wairarapa coast. It was a long windy road thru lovely farming country which reminded us of North Canterbury.





The lighthouse at Castlepoint is spectacular and we camped in the carpark with about 9 others. It was a nice walk around the lighthouse and we sat outside until the sun set.

The next morning the norwester set in and we walked a track to the top of Castlepoint nearly getting blown off at times. We returned along the beach with the wind behind us sandblasting our legs.

 Our camp was nice and sheltered however. In the afternoon we walked into the small town with the wind ever stronger. After we went to bed the wind changed to a southerly. Eventually we got sick of “Joy” rocking so we turned into the wind.

After another walk up to the lighthouse we drove back out to Masterton and parked in the Masterton Club for the night and then walked the main street.

We followed SH 2 to Mt Bruce Wildlife Centre where we walked around the various aviaries.

The birds were hard to spot! The kiwi was very good however and we enjoyed the feeding of the Tuataras.

Our next stop was at Mangatainoka. This is where the iconic Tui Brewery is with the building featuring in the ad with the girls. Did not see the girls however. We parked in a great reserve with the brewery in the background and walked back for a couple of beers and a late lunch in the outdoor bar area.

A nice hot morning so we sat outside before a short drive thru Woodville and Dargaville to Waipukurau where we stopped in a camp for laundry use. We walked the main street which was a bit depressing and back via a nice park with sports field, swimming pool, sports hall, and skate park. Much more positive!

Back on SH2 and thru the nice town of Waipawa where we turned down to the coast at Kairakau Beach. We camped on a free area with beautiful views of the ocean. The walk along the beach and back past the very tidy batches. The sun set early as there are step hills behind us.

In the morning at low tide we walked the other way on the beach and around into the next bay. It was another sunny day but as soon as the sun set we were inside as the air temperature was cool.

We drove down a valley behind Te Mata Peak to Havelock North and stop at the Clifton Rd Reserve right on the stone beach. Val did a big hand wash as the weather is still perfect.

Another mild night a warm morning. We packed our lunch and set off for the 21km ride to Napier along a smooth flat cycleway following the coast, rivers and wet lands. It was a great ride. It is amazing how far you can ride on a good cycleway like this one. After eating our lunch on Marine Parade, we headed back the 21kms to our camp. Our legs could feel the 42kms. We meet up with Gary and Lynne tomorrow. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the next few days is not good and even the tail of Cyclone Donna may catch us