Napier to Wellington

Napier - 26 November

Some photos of the art-deco architecture throughout Napier as a result of it being rebuilt after the destruction of most of the central town due to a 1931 earthquake.

 

 

 

... and on the rooftop of our motel room was this pair of common Mynas.

November 23-26 - 4 days on the bike to Wellington. The first day to a place called Porangahau, we were blessed with sunshine and generally favourable winds. The morning was initially near the coast with some sea birds to see.


Royal Spoonbill



Black Shag

...and some trails to share with the local livestock...

...and passing some of the Hawke's Bay vineyards...

By the end of the day, winds had become very strong and gusty, and the last 8 km into camp involved a long steep climb on loose gravel (gravel being 2 to 3 inch size rock and three or four inches deep except on the narrow centre-bare tyre tracks), so very very difficult. When walking up parts of it (you could not get traction) the rear wheel of the bike was literally being blown sideways despite the weight of the panier on the rear rack. Not fun riding, but the scenery was worth it - felt like we were on top of the world.


Ursula and Greg (with whom we rode to Inuvik two years ago)

A local farmer came by - they all have lots of dogs either in the back of the pickup or perched on a four-wheel ATV. He claimed they were all working dogs except the golden lab whose job was eating the garbage...

One of our support vehicles - the 'lunch truck' - passed us here. They're always ready to pick you up if you've had it for the day or replenish water or in this case also to stop for the scenery.

That last stretch of gravel made for a tough day.

The next day had more climbs and the wind again was strong but favourable. We passed the place that has the world's longest place name...

 

 ...and the small town of Wimbledon which seemed to consist of an intersection on which there was a war memorial and a tiny one-room school. True to the name of the place, there really was a tennis court just behind the school building...

Riding day number three was the easy day - a bit shorter, still some climbs but more descents, and a favourable wind - still strong and gusty. For some reason - not sure if it was left-over from Hallowe'en or for something else, because it seemed confined to one area - were interesting figures at the end of farm driveways...

An New Zealand Kingfisher... we've seen quite a few of them along the way but this one sat still long enough to get a decent photo...

That night was in Martinborough, a wine area. A bit of rain for the last half-hour of the ride, but then it cleared and we had a nice sunset. Overnight forecast came true with very strong wind overnight - we were glad that we decided to get a cabin rather than pitch the tent. Go ahead... call us wimps if you want.

 

The next day started dry but again strong gust wind, very occasionally helpful, but mostly cross-wind and frequently headwind. The gusts could easily drop the speed from over 20 to well under 10.

 

With just under 30 km behind us, we turned onto the Rimutaka cycle trail which started with a few km of narrow trail...

Ursula and Juergen (with whom we rode in Rome and China)

...not all of which was easily rideable...



Then onto a rail trail and a 7-km 7-degree climb on a fairly rough surface (not as bad as three days earlier)...

...a few spots where there wasn't any railbed left...

...and tunnels as long as 600 m... they get dark inside...

 ...but inside at least was dry. Nearing the top, the heavens opened and we had driving rain and tiny hail or ice pellets, all driven by winds that were hitting well over 100 km/hr... WOW.!.!...

That lasted a couple of hours, then cleared... the wind didn't go away, but it was a bit more favourable for the ride into Wellington which can be seen at the far side of the water here.

 Sunday, 27 November... rest day in Wellington... walk around the harbour area... wind still gusting to 80 or so so these words on the boardwalk seemed appropriate, as did a statue a bit further along.

This view from the harbour is towards the Civic Square with the 'City-to-Sea' Bridge on the left. The bridge is decorated with timber sculptures of birds and whales symbolizing the arrival of Maori and European settlers. The city hall, library, etc. are on the square.

We saw evidence of earthquake damage on the tourist information building which is now closed - the building is not about to fall down, but on the other hand, until they understand the nature and extent of damage, they can't assure safety.

 And finally, before packing up for tomorrow's ferry ride over to the South Island, a trek up to Mount Victoria lookout. We're staying in a hotel that's behind the trees to the bottom left of the photo, so convenient for walking the city.

All for now. Ferry in the morning to Picton on the South Island. We camp there tomorrow night, then three riding days before a rest day on Friday in Westport on the west coast of the South Island where we understand there has been little direct effect from the earthquake.

I've had trouble getting photos to upload properly so I'm posting it as best I can. If the photos aren't displaying properly, I'll try reloading them, but probably not before Friday in Westport.