Kapiti Coast and Otaki

We couldn’t have picked a nicer day for our drive up State Highway One, through Kapiti and on to Otaki.  The blustery winds had finally abated and the day was glorious, a “blue dome” kind of day,  without a cloud in the sky.   We stopped at a lay by (rest area) along Centennial Highway and looked across to Kapiti Island, now a bird sanctuary for endangered native birds.

Kapiti Island

There was a glimpse of the mountains of the South Island away in the distance.  It really depends on the conditions of the day whether the South Island is visible or not.  We know it’s there, but we can’t always see it.   

South Island in the distance

Our trip up the coast was two fold and our first stop was a family visit at Paraparaumu.  My Aunt Dawn welcomed us with morning tea.  She was very keen to hear all about our upcoming “South Island Odyssey”   My aunt is the last remaining sibling on my father’s side of the family, and is a very special lady indeed.

Dawn and Jenny

Next stop was our lunch date at “The Wine Maker’s Daughter”, in Te Horo, Otaki.  The lovely rustic property is full of towering  mature trees, and the birds were singing away, we noticed.  Cascading hanging baskets of flowers added a pretty touch to the entry.

Wine Maker’s Daughter Cafe

Giant mushroom spotted growing by the car park

Here we met up with old friends Robyn and Barrie, and Shirley and Lewis.  Now, what shall we chose for lunch?  There is always plenty to choose from, including their very reasonably priced $10 lunches.  It’s always difficult, but we finally made up our minds.  We ate in the gazebo with the pretty pink flowering bougainvillea climbing overhead  through the rafters.  It is such a pretty setting here.

Enjoying our lunch

Ice-cream Sundaes for the boys for dessert

As we ate our lunch, we caught up with everyone’s news and future plans, there is always plenty to talk about when we all get together.  After our leisurely lunch we went our separate ways, with plans to meet up again in a few months.  Our friends are off overseas and we will shortly be away on our South Island trip, so there will be plenty of travel tales to relate when we next get together.