The East Coast

We left Wellington on Monday, October 20, to head out to Cape Palliser, the southernmost tip of the North Island. The attraction in this area is a lighthouse, 250 steps up wooden stairs. I don't want to know how people climbed up before the stairs.

Alan is very small in the picture above.  And this is the view from the top...

Next, we stopped at an area known for being the largest seal breeding area on the North Island. We saw plenty of seals sunning themselves.

We could see the South Island in the distance.

Before leaving the Cape, we tried to stop at Putangirua National Park to see the "Putangirua Pinnacles." Unfortunately, the signs for the entrance to the park only face one direction, so if you are driving the "wrong" way on the road, you don't see them. So by the time we found the park and ate a picnic lunch, we only had time for a short hike before turning around, without seeing the Pinnacles themselves.

We backtracked around the Cape, and ran into a traffic jam.

Finally we headed on into the Wairarapa Wine Region, centered around the town of Martinborough. We tasted at 3 wineries-- Palliser, Martinborough Vineyards, and Muilea Rose. Pinot Noir seems to be the grape in this area, though Muilea Rose had some great Syrah blends. I also tried Agres, a style like sherry or port, very good.

The next morning, we had a long day of driving ahead to reach Te Urewera National Park for our trek. So we cued up The Fellowship of the Ring audiobook and set out. Our main stop of the day was in the city of Napier, famous as being the "Art Deco" city. An earthquake destroyed Napier in 1931, and everything was rebuilt in the height of style...at the time. I was forcibly reminded of the Universal park in Orlando.

We stopped in Wairoa for dinner, and the selections were limited. We decided on Indian "take away" to eat once we arrived at Lake Waikaremoana. This could have been a dangerous decision, before started a 4 day trek, but it turned out to be excellent instead!