A day of mostly travelling is ahead, so the blog will be short (ish).
The rain is relentless, but time can be taken over breakfast (same as yesterday) as well as chatting to our hosts. We learn that Glenn was an artist previously, his work sold for very high prices; and also that he was the fifth generation in a dynasty of bakers, spending all his school and university holidays working for the family business. He was also a keen NZ surfer, but is now more into snow skiing. He's a good cook too!
We've packed our bags and are going to wend our way to Napier today. Glenn suggests a stop at Mahia, on a small peninsula about seventy kilometres south of Gisborne. Still raining as we leave but by the time we get to Mahia it has stopped and the sun is trying to find it's way through the clouds. When the sun is out the sea is a turquoise blue.
There are some weird rock formations here - we've given some suggestions for what we see, but make of them what you will (or just a load of boring old rocks!).
Embedded skulls in a row ?
A headless (and armless) woman?
A pig? A dog? A bear?
Can you see the shoe balanced on the rock in the sea?
Here it is a bit closer.
There are also, what are by now, the usual piles of driftwood.
We pass a few landmarks along the way, including this somewhat out of place small lighthouse in Wairoa.
Looks a bit like it's built out of Meccano
We consider a side trip to Shine Falls - apparently a good place for nature lovers and photographers, but it looks to be a substantial 20 or so kilometres out of our way with a 2km difficult walk at the end. With rain still threatening we decide to give this a miss and press on to Napier.
We take a stop at Lake Tutira instead
and spot some NZ Scaup.
Arrive in Napier in time for a stroll around the town and some shopping.
Eric spots an old friend
There was also someone playing a piano that had been placed against an empty shop window.
He was playing some Scott Joplin and very well. I've heard of these sorts of pianos that are placed in public places for anyone to sit down and play, but the first time seen in real life.
The Motel has laundry facilities so it's time for some household duties, dinner and a relaxing evening over-looking the promenade in Napier. Perhaps time for a spa bath??
