Swimming in the Pacific and the scenic route to Wellington

AK: We’ve spent the last two days driving to Wellington, mostly because we opted for the scenic route. We left Rotorua and headed for Napier, our plan was to split the trip so we wouldn’t spend an entire day driving, but we ended up doing that anyway because we took the long way round. The change in plans was deliberate though, the scenic route to Napier beckoning with it’s beaches and lovely landscape. The weather was lovely, sunny and warm, and we stopped by Countdown for some supplies before we headed off.
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Our first real stop was at Ohope Beach near Whakatane. We had a lovely picnic with some honey melon, before putting on our bathing suits (or trousers for Andreas) and splashed into the Pacific. The water was awesome! It must have been at least 22-25 degrees, and the waves made for great play. Naturally, I have developed a bit of a sun burn, but when your skin is as white as a sheet of paper, that’s what happens. Well worth it!

Ohope Beach

About 45 minutes from Napier the gas monitor in the car started blinking. We were in the middle of nowhere and the GPS told us the next available gas station was 22 km away – the mood was very somber indeed. But we made it, filled up the tank (with possibly the most expensive petrol ever) and got back on the road.

The night was spent in Napier, but all we had time for there was checking into a hostel and eating dinner. A very nice Chinese restaurant called “China Light” served us some humongous helpings of duck and beef. Very good food :-)

A good night’s sleep later, we were on our way to Wellington and I had lost my sunglasses. No matter, I’ve replaced them now and we have arrived safely in NZ’s capital.

The view from Ryan and Lee's place just under the top of the mountain

We have met our Couchsurfer Hosts Ryan and Lee and have been given a room in their lovely home (it’s such a beautiful place). You can hear the Tui right outside the windows and the view is gorgeous. We’ve had dinner and are about to watch a movie now, tomorrow we’ll try to find time for Te Papa (NZ’s national museum) and the Wellington Zoo.

Andreas and Ryan

Oh, I almost forgot: in Andreas’ incessant search for “morning” coffee, we happened by a place called Norsewood. A whole bunch of immigrants from Scandinavia (most of them Norwegian) settled here and made a life for themselves. We saw the museum there and… well, got coffee. Wasn’t much more to do in a town of 300 people, but it was very charming . And the museum was a lot of fun for us Norwegians :-)

Outside the Norsewood Pioneer Museum

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Norwegian

AK: Vi har brukt de to siste dagene på å kjøre til Wellington. Mest fordi vi bestemte oss for å ta “the scenic route”. Vi dro fra Rotorua mot Napier, fast bestemt på å fordele turen på to dager så vi slapp å kjøre en hel dag. Vi endte selvfølgelig opp med å kjøre en hel dag likevel fordi vi tok omveien. Endringen i planer var med vilje, dog, siden kystveien mot Napier rett og slett kalte på oss med sine nydelige strender og landskap. Været var flott, masse sol og varme. Vi stakk innom Countdown for å kjøpe litt mat før vi kjørte avgårde.

Første stopp var Ohope Beach nær Whakatane. Vi hadde en deilig picnic med bl.a. honningmelon, før vi tok på oss badetøyet og sprintet ut i Stillehavet. Vannet var fantastisk! Det må ha vært i alle fall 22-25 grader og bølgene gjorde svømmeturen veldig morsom. Jeg ble selvfølgelig solbrent, når man ser ut som et A4-ark er det det som skjer. Vel verdt det!

Cirka 45 minutter unna Napier begynte besinmåleren å blinke. Vi befant oss midt i gokk og GPS’en sa at nærmeste bensinstasjon var 22 km unna – atmosfæren i bilen var rimelig somber, men vi klarte oss. Vi fant den lille stasjonen, fylte tanken (med den antagelig dyreste bensinen i manns minne) og kom oss på veien igjen.

Vi tilbrakte natten i Napier, men alt vi rakk der var å sjekke inn på et herberge og spise middag. Vi spiste på en veldig koselig kinesisk restaurant,  “China Light” , serverte noen enorme porsjoner av and og biff. Veldig god mat :-)

Etter en god natts søvn var vi på vei mot Wellington og jeg hadde mistet solbrillene mine. Det gjør ingenting, jeg har erstattet dem med nye nå og vi har ankommet NZ’s hovedstad. Vi har møtt Couchsurfer-vertene våre Ryan og Lee og har fått et rom hos dem, (de har et virkelig vakkert sted). Man kan høre Tui-fuglene rett utenfor vinduene og utsikten er fantastisk. Vi har spist middag og skal se en film. I morgen skal vi prøve å finne Te Papa (NZ’s nasjonalmuseum) og Wellington Zoo.

Åh, jeg holdt på å glemme dette: Pga Andreas’ ustoppelige jakt etter “morgenkaffe” slumpet vi innom et sted som heter Norsewood. En gjeng med skandinaviere (mesteparten av dem norske) slo seg ned her og skapte et lite samfunn. Vi så museet og… tja, kjøpte kaffe. det var ikke så mye annet å gjøre i en såpass liten landsby (innbyggertall på ca 300 stk), men det var veldig sjarmerende. Og museet var veldig artig for oss nordmenn :-)

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2 Responses to “Swimming in the Pacific and the scenic route to Wellington”

  1. Barbro Alming says:

    I love the subtle quoting of Gimli.

  2. AK says:

    Det er nesten 9 mndr siden nå, men jeg må si det her også: I love the fact that you got that ;-)