Exploring Napier

After our trip over Gentle Annie we arrived at Erikson Road NZMCA Park together with Geoff and Eileen.  There was plenty of room, so the question was, where shall we park?  Sunny Hawkes Bay was living up to it’s name, blue skies, warm daytime temperatures, and light breezes.  Just right for getting that load of laundry dry.  We were joined by club members in two other vans the following day.

Erikson Road NZMCA Park

We have had a busy few days.  Took a trip along to nearby Silky Oak Chocolates to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate for afternoon tea – so decadent and delicious!  And buy a little chocolate too, of course.  We drove over to Hasting to see my sister Kathleen and her hubby, and catch up with all their news.

Hot chocolate at Silky Oak

Then today we joined Bill and Val for an adventure – they were checking out a site for an upcoming rally at Kairakau Beach and asked us along for the ride.  None of us had been there before  so it was new territory for us all.  Along the way we stopped us at the rather pretty St Stephen’s Church in the tiny community of Elsthorpe.  The little weatherboard church with its corrugated iron roof and lancet windows, is an example of the distinctly Gothic revival architecture found throughout rural New Zealand. It was built around the same time (1907-8) as the Elsthorpe Hall next door.

St Stephen’s Church, Elsthorpe

Continuing down the road we soon spied the sea in the distance, and eventually arrived at Kairakau Beach Motor Camp.  There was a nice sandy beach a stone’s throw away.   Good fishing too, it seems, as we watched a local pull his boat onto the beach.

Kairakau Beach

Bill and Val completed their inquiries with the camp custodian and we had a look around.  A rather splendid piece of mosaic work was glinting in the sun.

The ever important tractors to take boats in and out of the water were waiting at the river mouth.  Piles of driftwood everywhere all over the sand, but no driftwood further around on the beach, we noticed.

Tractors at the river mouth

Kairakau Beach with its dramatic cliffs is a beloved beach in the iconic Kiwi way: camping ground, clapboard baches dotted around.  The first baches were built in the 1920s, but Māori have lived and fished here for centuries.   The cliffs are known as the Twelve Sisters.

Some of the Twelve Sisters

The camp custodian recommended the local pub at Patangata as a good spot to stop for lunch, so we did.

Patangata Tavern

Fish Chowder was on the menu, so three of us decided to have that, and Robin went with the pea, pie and pud option.  Both choices were nice hearty meals, most enjoyable.

Lunch at Patangata Tavern

Lunch over, it was time to make our way back to Napier.  But not before we checked out the Tavern’s Courtesy Coach, real country style, it seems.

Courtesy Coach

We had a great trip, travelling on new roads, discovering new parts of the country, and sharing a nice lunch together.  Thanks to Bill and Val for the invitation.