Rain, art deco buildings and black pebbles

The forecast was for a rainy day so we stayed in bed as long as we could and watched the mist across the lake.  Left at check out time and headed south east along the Taupo-Napier road.  It rained and rained so we didn't stop for the waterfalls and lookouts within the forest and were soon going through the hills and valleys of the Ahimanawa Ranges.  The map book was very misleading about this road.  It was far more up and down than we expected and meeting a large truck around every corner was additionally thrilling!   It was spectacular scenery though and there were amazing gorges and river gullies to be seen although every hill was shrouded in cloud.  Eventually we started heading down, down, down to sea level.  As we did the weather cleared and the sun came through which made everything brighter and more colourful.

Narelle (the name we've given our GPS due to her particularly strident way of talking) sent us on an interesting little diversion around Bay View just north of Napier.  We weren't sure why as it wasn't really a shortcut - the truck and trailer we'd been following earlier sailed past us when we got back to the main road.  Narelle then took us the scenic route through the railyards and port area of Napier before taking us to the more scenic Marine Parade to where our motel, the "Pebble Beach" is located. We were a bit too early to check so headed back into the city centre and found lunch at 'Breakers Cafe'.  $10 lunch deal and free Wifi was the go!  Had a little walk around Napier and admired the Art Deco buildings before heading back to the motel.   Unpacked and did some washing and then the girls were happy to chill in the room whilst Larry and I took advantage of the still fine weather and went for a drive around Napier.

Napier is on a bluff and there's a bit hill that separates the north part and the port/harbour area from the south part which has the main beach.  It was exciting and a bit nerve wracking to drive up Hospital Hill (because that's were the hospital is??!!) where there are a number of houses perched on the side of the hill with spectacular views across Hawke Bay.  Found our way back down and into the city where we did a bit more shopping and had a coffee to get out of the cold.  Bought a new fleecy each (two for $80) in Macpac and the guy serving us told us we'd need it as the southerlies pick up this evening!  Yep, the weather forecast for tomorrow is for icy conditions coming up from the south island - might even snow in Wellington tomorrow which is quite unusual apparently!  Yay - that's where we're heading!!  Drove back to the motel and headed further along Pebble Beach which we discovered is actually a black pebble beach.  (Well duh!)  Can't imagine they'd be very comfortable in the middle of summer as they'd get pretty hot in the sunshine surely?

Back to the motel where we stumbled across the Australia-Belgium hockey final and a Tour de France highlights package on the telly so Kate, Jenny and Larry were happy!  It's a bummer about having to eat as now we need to venture out into the cold and wet for dinner.