Campervaning in New Zealand & Motoring in Australia: To Napier

Beautiful black swan in Te Urewera National Park

Over the last 2 days we traveled down the southeast coast of the North Island from Gisborne to Napier. Along the way we went up a narrow gravel road with many sharp turns into Te Urewera National Park which is the largest of 4 National Parks on the North Island (there are also 10 National Parks on the South Island). The name ‘Te Urewera’ comes from the tale of a Maori chief who died after rolling over in his sleep while lying too close to a camp fire. We camped close by the scenic Lake Waikaremoana where we had our first really cool night with the temperature dropping into the 30F’s. In the morning we enjoyed seeing black swans and their signets. Most of the New Zealand National Parks are largely wilderness areas and this one is no exception. Numerous tracks (trails) are available for tramping (hiking) and at least 2 tramping clubs were setting out on for a walk in the woods.

Napier and its neighboring city of Hastings were almost destroyed in 1931 by an earthquake (7.9 on the Richter scale). The cities have been rebuilt and many of the buildings in Napier were built in the Art Deco style (pastel colours, bold lines, and elaborate motifs). Much of the city is built on a bluff with a great view of the harbour and city from the top of the bluff.

This weekend, New Zealand also had an election (voting on Saturday) and they also voted for a change in the party that was in power for the last 9 years. They, however, elected the conservative National party.

We have now covered 2,200 kilometers (1,375 miles) on our trek around the North Island. I (Jan) am doing all of the driving so far. Even after 10 days of driving I have to keep reminding myself of which side to drive on. When I made a U-turn yesterday on an isolated road I drove in the wrong lane a very short distance and after turning off realized that the turn didn’t feel right.