January 26

Napier

[So, Napier?  Yet another really cute city in this land down under.]

[Yup, there’s an active port part.]

[But we were greeted there by the Great Gatsby!]

[The Masadam’s still hanging in there.]

[Driving along Napier’s waterfront . . . ]

[Nice seaside park . . . ]

[And what city or town is really complete without an arch.  The absence of an arch can lead to plantar fasciitis.]

[And here’s another, so to speak . . . ]

[The Millenium Sculpture was erected to memorialize . . . ]

[See the last of three photos borrowed from the internet . . . ]

[Our guide admitted that another city/town up the coast (Gisborne?) would have been the first to see the sunrise on the new millenium, but it was cloudy there.  Thus, the distinction goes to Napier.]

[Trawlermen sculpture outside the National Aquarium.]

[And it was at this stop (the Aquarium is in the background) that two young ladies, apparently living out of a van, came up from the beach after skinnydipping (their morning bath?).  I, of course, was one of the few on the bus who missed the sight.]

[Nice artwork on the restrooms there, eh?]

[I think I then went back to the beach ISO . . . more skinnydippers?]

[Well past Wellington now . . . ]

[But approaching Hastings (a sign of home?).  Napier’s population is 59,000, Hastings is 66,000 – they bookend the Hawke’s Bay region.]

[A vineyard, with the mountain (tall hill) in the background our destination on the trip.]

[Peaches?  Mandarins?  I forget.]

[They farm deer . . . this was their solution to being overrun by wild deer.  It worked.]

[We seem to be elevating . . . ]

[Waiana Estate adjacent to the Tukituki River in the Tukituki Valley, Hawke’s Bay.]

[Now we’re on the road to “up there” . . . ]

[Reetz is bubbling with excitement!]

[And now you have the answer to my Facebook contest – “Where are The Biddies?”]

[Just stopping by the side of the road for this photo op.]

[Greetings to our fellow Americans!]

[Trees, all in a row . . . ]

[Then I believe what must be the Tukituki River?]

[An example of a shot out the window of a moving bus.]

[Te Mata (more upcoming)]

[And . . . Te Mata again]

[Are there beasts in there?]

[And now we’re at Craggy Range Winery . . . ]

[Quite the fine looking place . . . ]

[But we were not invited and did not have reservations.  We didn’t leave the bus so the next three photos are courtesy of the internet.  The Super got some shots there and will be featured in “her photo section” further down.]

[A neighboring winery]

[A cricket match]

[A monument I believe signalling our entry into Te Mata Peak.]

[Where are we going?  See the next photo.  The twisting road to get there requires you to call ahead for a motorcycle escort, both going up and coming back down.]

[Te Mata Peak is a peak south of Hastings rising up to 399m in the Hawke’s Bay region of New Zealand. A sealed road leads to the popular lookout at the summit, as well as several trails for hikers and mountain bikers (Wikipedia).]

[A look back down to Craggy Range Winery.]

[Quite a lovely setting.]

[And now for the requisite panoramic shots . . . ]

[We are here . . .]

[There’s our minibus, Nimon.]

[Here The Biddies ready for liftoff in a hot air balloon!  OK, just kidding!]

[Here’s where they (we) were.]

[Reetz is head and shoulders above the crowd.]

[The floor tile map of where we were.]

[Napier and Hastings and Tukituki]

[The lookout point]

[A bird]

[The same bird]

[Three-fourths of the family Gross, all appear to be snacking.]

[We now turn the rest of this post over to the Super, beginning with her wonderful shot of the Spirit of Napier.  This was along the water front as we drove out of Napier.]

[More shots of the Spirit of Napier gleaned from the internet.]

[Because of the number of shots we took, I’m breaking this day into two separate posts. Part II will cover our return to Napier.  In the meantime, back to the Super’s handiwork most of which are not “concealed” . . . ]

[The sisters Coldren . . . ]

[At Craggy Range Winery . . . ]

[Master of all he surveys?]

[Along the ridge line, traversed by some but not us.]

[Kathy enjoys the view.]

[A guy in a yellow jacket enjoys the view.]

[And there go some traversers.]

[A hang gliding ramp – we didn’t do that either!]

I’ve never been to New Zealand before. But one of my role models, Xena, the warrior princess, comes from there.  ~  Madeleine Albright

Up next:  Part II, back to Napier.