Napier to Wellington

Napier Rising from the Ashes

Left Napier on the road to Hastings, pausing at a statue symbolising Napier rising from the ashes.  The road to Wellington runs mainly across expansive flat farm land between two mountain ranges.  We stopped at Danevirke, a town curiously sporting Viking figures, but rejected their offering of cafés.  Motored on to Woodville, a smaller place where every second shop was an antique or bric-a-brac emporium.  They had a nicer selection of cafés too. For a late lunch we drew into a picnic area beside the National Wildlife Centre, some 150 km from Napier, and chanced upon one of the couples who was with us in the minibus on yesterday’s wine tour.  Small country, New Zealand.

  

Agapanthus by the roadside

Road remained relatively flat and straight until we reached Featherstone, then it was up and over the Rimutaka Mountains on a twisty road with dramatic views. Once over the mountains the road ran down beside the Hutt river, passing through a series of satellite towns to Wellington.

View from our Wellington motel window

Reached Wellington at about 4 pm and clocked into our 5-storey, city-centre motel.  5-storeys in an earthquake zone?  Hopefully a ‘modern’ building.  The last big quake here was 1851 or so.  We were very pleased to meet John Milne, a former colleague of Aenea at Aberdeen University, who came round and we walked down-town for a beer and introduction to the city sights.