29.12.19 Napier and the Pacific Highway

It's freezing cold when I wake up at 7 am. Since all the showers are occupied, I park my camper so that my table is facing the sun. Breakfast with all the trimmings, including fried eggs - after all, it's Sunday.

Somehow, it's already past 10 am when I finally leave. The route to Napier often passes through apple orchards and some fruit stands, the sun is shining, and after a good hour, I'm in Napier. Actually, I didn't really want to come here, but I drive into the city on the palm-lined main road, where I am reminded of all sorts of Art Deco houses in the side streets.

So I quickly drive around a few loops and photograph some of the beautiful houses. Unlike five years ago, some of the houses here now have tall fences around their properties, surely to avoid having to deal with people like me anymore 🙄. I quickly refuel and then follow the road towards the city center.

Actually, well, actually... I didn't really want to come here, but the hustle and bustle in Tennyson Street and the adjacent shopping streets convince me to search for a parking space. However, it's not so easy, but I eventually find one and realize that apparently no parking fees need to be paid on weekends. At around eleven thirty, I start walking and enjoy having time to spare.

I plan to drive until just south of Gisborne, but I need to call one of the two campgrounds later. It seems like New Year's Eve will be at the East Cape for me. That's actually nice, but on the other hand, it's probably quite tricky to find a campground now. Whatever. Now I'm just strolling in the sun and visiting some of the shops.

In the end, I bought more wool socks and took many photos of the beautiful facades. So today, not just pictures of green hills, but also of people and beautiful facades. Napier was hit by a powerful earthquake in 1931. Countless houses were destroyed here and in the neighboring city of Hastings, and over 200 people lost their lives. The reconstruction during the Art Deco period generated a unique collection of this architectural style, which is now one of the main tourist highlights on the North Island.

Also interesting is the story of Pania of the Reef, whose sculpture I once again photograph. It is a love story from Maori mythology and, as always, not necessarily with a happy ending. A bit like the Little Mermaid. It's too long to recount here, but everyone can find it online.

By half past one, I'm back in my car, which should have an interior temperature of 90 degrees. I call Smokey Bros BBQ Café in Morere and I have a spot there for tonight. It's only 145 km away. Unfortunately, their power supply has been interrupted for a year now (one year...!) so the campsites don't have electricity. Oh well. I drive off and it takes me a whopping 2.5 hours to get to Morere!!! The drive stretches through endless curves over numerous hills on State Highway 2, the Pacific Coast Highway, which doesn't really run along the Pacific but instead crosses the seven mountains with curves where you can often only drive at speeds of 25 km/h or 35 km/h.

The landscape is not spectacular, except that it is always naturally beautiful. But every time you think: Oh cool, that was the last hill, now the road will be straight - zap! The next climb appears. Here, truck convoys drive at breakneck speeds - I'm really glad when I eventually see the Pacific to my right, then marshland, which belongs to Hawke's Bay, the bay that gives this region its name.

Morere is - well - how should I say it: a pub with a lawn behind it that serves as a campground. There are a few funny cottages as part of the "facility", each one somehow different, and one of them is the old schoolhouse. For campers who can park wherever they want, there is a single toilet and a single shower for women, and the same for men. There are about 10-12 cars and campers here, so around 25 people. It's quite quaint, and if the cafe's cooling system hadn't failed a week ago, I probably would have gotten a good ice cream here. But now the cafe is an empty shell.

Across from here are some hot springs. But since the water is salty, I resist the temptation and sit in the sun with my book. The Anaura Motor Camp, where I actually wanted to spend Christmas, is already fully booked for the next two nights. Darn it.

So I book myself into Tolaga Bay for 2 nights, which is only 80 km away from Morere and actually much too far south on the East Cape for my liking. But I couldn't find anything on the north side in Te Araroa, and it's too risky to drive there without a reservation. At least I want to start the new year with a shower. But since that area is the easternmost point on the dateline, the sun will most likely rise there early in the morning on January 1st, and probably a lot of people will flock there.

I don't need that. But it makes the already scarce accommodation offerings even scarcer. Next to me, an older British couple arrive at the campground, and the man talks incessantly. Unfortunately, he also talks to me.

I fry my dinner and then queue up in the mini-kitchen at the only sink for washing dishes. I quickly take a shower because tomorrow morning, it definitely won't be possible here...

Finally, for my last photo, I photographed my 'office' that I set up every evening so that the daily news can be read here 😊