The owner of our Rotorua bach suggested that we stop at Haku Falls and Taupo on our way to Hawkes Bay. Haku Falls is more a very powerful rapids than a waterfall but the colour of the water is amazing. That colour is just a result of the number of air bubbles in the rushing water and it quickly disappears at the end of the rapids
We had lunch in Taupo and then took a stroll by the lake. This was our first sight of snow in NZ; fitting for a very windy and cold day
Taupo is home to the “coolest McDonald’s” (at least according to the sign in front of it – they are the coolest of all 34,000 McDonald’s worldwide). The DC-3 parked out front helps their coolness factor.
Continuing on to Napier we pulled in to a scenic overlook just to stretch our legs. Here’s what greeted us; pretty impressive for a run of the mill scenic overlook!
On the other side of the highway was an iconic NZ scene although I do think we’ve seen more cows than sheep here
We stopped in Napier for a look around at the Art Deco architecture. Napier was destroyed in 1931 by an earthquake and had to be completely rebuilt, so most of the downtown was built in the contemporary (Art Deco) style. Jeannie drove up a rather terrifying road to a lookout over Napier. Good view of the city and their shipping port. Lots of timber going out
Very nice city centre with lots of shops and restaurants. Odd to see the classic NZ store fronts slapped on the Art Deco buildings though
They have a wonderful water front with modern sculptures and tons of recreation areas like skateboard parks, basketball courts, water pad. There is even a mini golf course!
Our bach for the next 3 nights is about 20 minutes outside of Napier and quite a delight! The bach is at the top of the small cement drive on the right. The directions provided by the owners said there was a steep drive in front of the bach. The navigator wasn’t sure what the front of the bach was, so he directed Jeannie to drive up the steep hill with the hairpin turn that you see behind the bach. It turns out that that is the driveway to the owners’ house. Jeannie was able to do a U-turn in their driveway and head back down to the correct steep driveway.
Best of all are the sheep and miniature pony in a pasture right behind the bach. Jack, the ram, is a great big guy and very interested in being fed scraps and given a good scratch.
Sunday, 23 September:
There is an amazing network of bike trails all through Hawke’s Bay. We needed to pick two days of rides and decided to do the route from Clive to Puketapu today. Jeannie had seen that there is a farmer’s market every Sunday in Hastings which is about 20 kilometers south of where we are staying and not too far from Clive where we were going to start our ride. It turned out to be a really large market. There were hundreds of cars parked in the lot behind the park where the market was being held. Lots of coffee stands – with their large espresso machines (I think that the per capita of huge espresso machines is higher in New Zealand than anywhere else). The lines at all of the coffee stands were really long. We put in a pre-order and walked around while waiting. We got some vegetables, free range eggs and whole grain sourdough bread; and as we were feeling healthy and heading out we went past one of the wine vendors booths and a cheese monger and added some wine and cheese to our purchases.
It takes a bit of effort to eat healthy here, as it would travelling in the US. There is a lot of american fast food and many takeaways – fish and chips, chinese, etc. Small meat pies and sausage rolls are absolutely everywhere but you can also find a lot of good Mediterranean food, delicious free range eggs, and salad basics as well. We mostly eat out during the day and then make something simple and healthy at night followed by these!
Good thing we are getting plenty of exercise!
Several of the rail trails pass right near the Waitangi Regional Park which is right on Hawke’s Bay north of Clive, so that’s where we parked and unloaded the bikes. Many people drive out onto the coastal flats to get down to the beach along the Pacific Coast. Riding your Jeep, motorcycle or ATV along muddy tracks was something we ran into in several places along the trail today.
This star compass at the park was really cool
Since it was Sunday we were encountering many more people out for some activity. Quite a few people on bikes, many people out walking, many accompanied by one or more dogs.
Early on the ride we passed a big field which is dedicated to model airplanes. There were a few planes in the air as we biked past.
New Zealand has a lot of parks, in towns and big regional parks like the one we started from; but they also cater to specific activities. In Napier we had seen several areas along the waterfront which were designed for skateboard activities, and we have seen a number of those fitness stations where there is equipment for different exercises along trails we have been biking on. Today we went past a large area dedicated to cycling skills and a dog park which had ramps and tunnels for dogs to train on.
Today’s trail was a lollipop, starting with a 10K section which we would follow on the return, and then a 19K loop through Puketapu which runs on both sides of the Tutaekuri River. Within the 39K that we biked we saw amazingly different scenery – starting on the ocean, passing through lots of working farms (more on that later), riding through pine forests, areas that looked like rainforest, and passing acres and acres (or hectares and hectares) of apple orchards and also a large grove of lemon trees. The trail was mostly packed limestone and in generally great condition with a few rutty places and a fair number of mostly old cow pies that you had to navigate, and it was nearly flat. A really magical day of biking.
And those cow pies had to come from somewhere! We biked past their producers hanging out on the trail twice. Cows are really big animals up close
Apparently Johnny Appleseed was not from Massachusetts, but actually from New Zealand.
We stopped at the Puketapu Hotel which had a very busy restaurant and bar. Lots of motorcycles out front and quite a few bikes parked there as well.
We learned something new at the pub today – iced coffee means coffee with ice cream!
After filling up on pub grub we headed back to the car and got to the bach just in time to say hello to the owner and a friend who had been working and enjoying a beer down by his barn/workshop area.
Monday, September 24th
Lazy morning sitting in the sunshine on the patio and feeding Jack and Chevy our scraps from last night
They were very enthused and Jack was the clear winner for scraps until Chevy turned around and gave a little kick with his back legs. Jack stepped back a respectful distance and watched Chevy get his fill. Good move Jack!
We drove to Napier and rode the trail out to Clifton. It was another gorgeous ride.
Spring is a lovely time to be in New Zealand!
We had a nice lunch in Clifton and headed back. Total of 33 miles and 18 farm gate crossings. Most of the farm gates today were the really difficult kind where you have to maneuver your bike into a pen, close the gate and then back the bike out. I was not thinking they were so quaint on the way back.
We loved this little Junior Bike Park on the path in Napier. It has a little rotary, crosswalks and traffic signals so the toddler set can start to learn their road rules early.
