A big surprise awaits me today!!!
Very grey morning as we drive into the hills. “You want a photo here?” Leigh said encouragingly, stopping at the top of a hill in the pouring rain. “There’s a lovely waterfall!” Do I really need water? Ok….. here is the waterfall… trying to imagine it in the beautiful sunshine; Waipunga Falls is actually pretty impressive! (Wai is Maori for water.)
The Gorse makes up for it, although Leigh wouldn’t agree!
Beautiful scenery I’m thinking as we enter thick cloud, we’ll get some good shots on the way back!
After about an abour and a half driving through what should have been extremely scenic countryside, we eventually emerged from hillfog into the Hawkes Bay region and acres of vineyards appeared on either side of the road. It brightened a little as we approached Napier on the coast. Here are piles and piles of logs waiting to go on the container ship in Napier.
On Tuesday 3 February 1931 Napier, in common with most of the Hawke’s Bay district, suffered a disastrous earthquake 2.5 minutes in length. The earthquake rocked the town almost totally levelling all buildings in the inner city, killing 162 people (a total of 258 in the Hawke’s Bay area), and raising some areas of land by as much as 8 feet. Some 4,000 hectares of sea-bed became dry land and today this sites not only the airport, but also residential and industrial property developments. The extensive rebuilding that took place in the 1930’s is the reason for the Art Deco flavour in the City. (Photos of this tomorrow)
Cineraria trying to brighten up Napier …. we stopped for a coffee and a snack before arriving at our accommodation.
And WOW what a place! A luxury house high up on the hill with plate glass on two sides overlooking the city and the Pacific Ocean (you will see the ocean in the morning!). This made up for everything… who needs the weather!!
Safely installed in our beautiful penthouse, we commenced the yardarm then ordered a Thai dinner. This consisted of Famous Chick, Naughty Pig and Sexy Little Duck and a bottle of Pinot.
We will wake up to blue skies and sunshine in the morning 🙂
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