Napier & Gisborne

On January 1st, 2018, we set off to Napier. While the New Year's wishes from Germany were coming in one after another, we were already exploring a new - and very beautiful! - city. The first view of the city was the turquoise sea and that alone showed us that we would have a very nice time here. The search for a campsite took up most of the day, as it was the first day when I couldn't just book, but everything was fully booked. But then we found a campsite near the city and - because we got a rather small spot - we also got the usually chargeable 10GB WiFi for free.

The next day we got a Napier Deco Style map. That's what the city is known for. In 1931, there was a terrible earthquake that pretty much destroyed the entire city. What didn't collapse, burned down. Afterwards, the city was built as it is mostly seen today. Definitely an interesting tour and probably cooler for architects than for us. After that, we went to the cinema (again) and watched Pitch Perfect 3. Comparatively, going to the cinema here is really much cheaper than in Germany - otherwise, we wouldn't go so often and plan for more movies.

On the last day in Napier, we went to Hastings, which is not really far from Napier. But there wasn't much going on there and there wasn't much to do. The interesting thing was the parking meters that stand in front of each parking space and want to be fed with two dollars. As soon as the money is in, a clock counts down how long you can stay there. After two hours, we went back to Napier again and visited the free museum there. They have a pretty good and large exhibition about the earthquake with eyewitnesses. I'm curious if I will also experience one here. It's not uncommon for the earth to shake here. But it doesn't have to be as intense as in 1931, as far as I'm concerned.

We spent the next four nights in Gisborne, where we basically just waited until we could start our next woofing position in Tiniroto. Gisborne doesn't have much either and what little it has to offer, we couldn't really see because it rained the entire time we were there. Most of the time we spent in the car and in the kitchen. The campsite was right by the sea and there were signs everywhere that you live in a tsunami zone. And it was not only pouring rain, but also storming with huge surf waves. We can say that we didn't feel very comfortable and safe. Also, the campsite was set up as if you were an employee in a prison or secret lab. No matter where you wanted to go - kitchen, bathroom, refrigerator, freezer, etc. - it only worked with a keycard or PIN code.

After the four nights, we had high expectations for Tiniroto - which were completely destroyed within the first few hours. We are still here until Monday, and I will report on our woofing time when we are completely finished. And because the text is short, here are a few pictures: