Spoilt for choice!!

Before I comment on today's activities, I must say a big thank you to everyone who commented on my 1,000th blip yesterday, I do appreciate them so much :0) I will reply to everyone in time, the length of time it will take will depend on the wifi situation.

It's been a good day today!! I was a bit under the weather yesterday as a result of my fatty food over indulgence in Wellington, all my fault, I should have known better!!

Today we did a self directed walking tour of Napier, the Art Deco capital of NZ. We bought map with directions and descriptions to follow. Might seem a bit strange, but it would be so easy to miss a lot of the detail as modern retail outlets are based in the ground floor of the buildings, with a canopy (concrete slab sticking out) over the pavement. It's a case of looking from the other side of the road and trying not to get run over during the meanderings. It is a beautiful, colourful city and has a feel of Miami with the enormous “palm” trees.

We then headed to Clifton thinking we would be able to see the Gannets, but that required a spare 4 hrs to take a trip down the beach on a trailer towed by a tractor, as the road has disappeared. We didn't have that amount of time, so we head south to Te Mata, hill which is a 399 metre peak in the Havelock North area. Thanks to Spikes 2013 for the information. It provides impressive 360 degree views of this amazing landscape.

Finally we drove on to Ocean Beach, where we found a beautiful quiet beach which we shared with these two surfers and a few birds. Walking along the sands reminded me of the time we spent at Lossiemouth and walked the east beach many a day.


PS About yesterday's dog. He was happy and enjoying himself. The roads in NZ are so wide that he would not come to any harm. We couldn't do this in the UK as our roads are so much narrower and crowded, it wouldn't be safe for the dog or any cyclist who might get their bum nipped in passing!!!