And they did. Even Ron’s camera had its “plastic mac” on today! Another 2-3 cms of rain, and the road to Taupo is still not open. So the choice – an extra 150 miles driving to go round, or wait to see if the road is open tomorrow? The comfy bed won! – no, we’re not going soft! We drove the Rotorua/Taupo road (SH5) on Saturday and we know how difficult a mountain road it is, without land slips! So an extra day in Napier was decided upon.
We spent the first part of the morning backing up the laptop, downloading and editing photos, and generally getting life a bit organised. Then we went into town and followed the “Art Deco” walking route. (We’d picked up a guide yesterday) It was fascinating walking round parts of the city we would probably never have seen. One local asked us if the rain was all our doing; we didn’t like to tell her that if it was, it was more likely to be snowing than raining! The weather pattern is apparently very unusual with winds from the east and lots of rain. By way of comparison the temperature in Greymouth and Milford (west South Island) normally a lot cooler than where we are, was at 30 and 29 degrees C respectively. We were at around 20⁰, not freezing like you are at home but a lot, lot cooler than is normal for this area at this time of year. Sorry, Jill, in spite of this we have both developed a rather nice tan! –hope the threat not to speak to us if we did was a joke!
Fortified by a cup of tea and very tasty savoury muffin (Huge!) we finished the walk and got back to the car with great relief as it had just started “stair-rodding” it again
So, tasty supper consumed we’re going to drive into town again this evening to try and get a few more photos! More photos? At night? Yep! One of the features of the Art Deco designs is the fountain – there are lots of them in the city; one in particular, on Marine Parade is beautifully lit by multi-coloured floodlights at night..hence our nocturnal meandering.
We’ve put a couple of pics on so you can see what all the fuss was about Just for reference, the base of the fountain was about 6’ above the pond – quite a substantial edifice!
We’ve just been listening to the news, and the road (SH5) is apparently now open, with care! Wahoo! Our little tent was beginning to get agoraphobia! But I guess we’ll still have to wait for the morning to make the final decision.
We spent the first part of the morning backing up the laptop, downloading and editing photos, and generally getting life a bit organised. Then we went into town and followed the “Art Deco” walking route. (We’d picked up a guide yesterday) It was fascinating walking round parts of the city we would probably never have seen. One local asked us if the rain was all our doing; we didn’t like to tell her that if it was, it was more likely to be snowing than raining! The weather pattern is apparently very unusual with winds from the east and lots of rain. By way of comparison the temperature in Greymouth and Milford (west South Island) normally a lot cooler than where we are, was at 30 and 29 degrees C respectively. We were at around 20⁰, not freezing like you are at home but a lot, lot cooler than is normal for this area at this time of year. Sorry, Jill, in spite of this we have both developed a rather nice tan! –hope the threat not to speak to us if we did was a joke!
Fortified by a cup of tea and very tasty savoury muffin (Huge!) we finished the walk and got back to the car with great relief as it had just started “stair-rodding” it again
So, tasty supper consumed we’re going to drive into town again this evening to try and get a few more photos! More photos? At night? Yep! One of the features of the Art Deco designs is the fountain – there are lots of them in the city; one in particular, on Marine Parade is beautifully lit by multi-coloured floodlights at night..hence our nocturnal meandering.
We’ve put a couple of pics on so you can see what all the fuss was about Just for reference, the base of the fountain was about 6’ above the pond – quite a substantial edifice!
We’ve just been listening to the news, and the road (SH5) is apparently now open, with care! Wahoo! Our little tent was beginning to get agoraphobia! But I guess we’ll still have to wait for the morning to make the final decision.
Ok, the tales of rain are somehow making this easier reading, but have you realised you're replacing stories of sunshine with tales of amazing food and delicious drinks?!
ReplyDeleteSO pleased you're enjoying yourselves! Do feel free to ship a case over so we can understand what the fuss is about!
Hi guys,
ReplyDeleteYou sound as if your having a fantastic time. Hope the weather improves for you and the blogging continues. We've spent the evening catching up on your wonderful adventures so far and look forward to reading the adventures still to follow.
Have bucketfuls of fun!
Take care
Tracy and Richard
Hi Guys you sure its a suntan and not rust!! just joking any how off to kent tomorow (Wed) for b'day celebrations with family. I think T has been scheming muchly . God Bless P&T
ReplyDeletePete - This is when I have to admit my first failure on the 'birthday cards mum left me to post' ... yours went in the post today so you might get it a bit late! Sorry! Jen
ReplyDeleteHi Tracy and Richard - didn't realise you guys were following,but it's great to hear from you!
ReplyDeleteI'm being the lazy one tonight - ron's cooking, I'm blogging!! hee hee!
Claire - we'd love to ship a case over, but the £163 shipping charge put us off! It would almost be worth it, the wine's soooo good! can you smell the merlot malbec in my glass? you can't Awww shame!! cheers!
ReplyDelete