Napier and Lake Waikeramoana

(steve)

After leaving the river, we made our way down to Napier on the Pacific coast. This was to be another piece of our unplanned journey through the North Island. Napier is a little town known for its wine and lots of sun. The other interesting detail for Napier is the town is filled with architecture from the Art Deco style (the town was virtually destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt with a common theme). The town is pretty sleepy overall, except that the loudest bar in town was right outside our window. (This fooled us into going out that first night to have fun and finding little open except that one bar.)



We spent two relaxing days filled with shopping (that's right!), food, and wine. Our wine tasting was done from the saddle of a mountain bike with a company called "On Yer Bike Tours." Can you say drunken biking? We ended up traveling to 6 different wineries in the region, trying loads of red wine blends. The timing was also good since they were due to start the fall harvest the next day and the vines were all loaded with grapes. (Side effect: there would be a loud bang every two minutes from a gas-powered gun to scare off birds). After 4 hours of riding and drinking (not so much as a single fall, thank you), we came to the conclusion that we don't really like wine from Napier. Also of interest, we met a couple of guys from Hong Kong on the bikes. It turns out they were journalists from Esquire magazine (Hong Kong version of course) doing a story on wine tours in New Zealand. They graciously asked if we would mind riding through the vineyard so they could have a photo for the story. Ok, we're on holiday and might be in a magazine article. Not bad. It was also funny to watch them try and get photos of each other when they didn't handle the bikes very well.




Lake Waikeramoana is a short two hour drive north from Napier. This was to be the last of our backpacking trips in New Zealand. It was a little sad getting ready to go knowing that this would be our last one. We drove to the trailhead and stayed at a campground called the Big Bush Holiday Park (why does that always make me giggle). The next day we started the walk after deciding to try and do it in 3 days instead of the standard 4 (since days 2 and 3 were short, and we are now bad-ass). The first day was a big climb to the top of the bluff next to the lake with some great views.




The hut that night had a handful of other hikers there and we were surprised to learn they were all locals. This was the first time we were outnumbered by Kiwis. We were further surprised to learn the gas heater in the hut didn't work, and consequently woke up to see our breath inside. Oh well, we were warm enough in our bags. The reward was a great view of the lake with a morning mist that evaporated before our eyes.



The second day was our long day, with a stout 20 kilometre walk. We rolled into the hut around 5 pm and were pretty tired (but still bad-ass!). That night we were treated to the sound of Kiwis (the birds this time) screeching in the bush. We finished the walk and caught a water taxi the next day to get back to the car. All in all a good walk, though not as nice as others we've done before. So now we say goodbye to the forest and head north to visit beaches and cities.