Erikson Road

Just a final note about Gentle Annie – extra research has told us that “Gentle Annie is a long uphill road or trail without a resting place”.  Not named after an Annie at all, local, well known or anonymous.  So now we know.

Our group has been enjoying several days staying at Erikson Road NZMCA camp in Napier.  This camp has room for 180 vans, mostly parked on grass with a small amount of hard standing, with lovely raised beds with shrubs separating each area.  Murray and Sue joined us, and Bill and Val arrived a day or two later.  Many thanks to Eileen and Geoff who shouted us all a delicious Red Velvet cup cake in the afternoon, to celebrate Eileen arriving on these shores 50 years ago.

Staying at Erikson Road Park, Napier

Laundry always needs doing while on holiday, so we found a laundromat and took our big bag of washing for a ride in the car.  One of the regulars recommended we brush down the filter tray on the dryer, makes it work much better, we were told.  Makes sense, as we all do this at home, don't we.

Housekeeping at the laundromat

Our Weber BBQ got a real work out on Sunday.  Robin cooked our traditional bacon and eggs for breakfast, then we had toasted sandwiches for lunch, that’s the first time we had cooked them on the BBQ.  Then for dinner we had BBQ belly pork in maple sauce, so yummy, with roast kumera.  With a couple of extra veggies cooked inside the van, it was a great meal indeed.

Dinner cooked on the Weber

It’s always great to catch up with my sister and her hubby when we are up that way, they have now moved into a rest home complex so there were forms to fill in, and a declaration to sign.

Kathleen and Dennis, with me as “piggy in the middle”

Not so much sight seeing took place in Napier, it all seemed to be getting out and about and eating out.  Lunch that day was at Silky Oak Chocolates.  As it was such a hot day we both ordered an Iced Chocolate, so rich and decadent!  And of course a few hand made chocolates came home with us too.  Guess these items aren’t on our keto diet, but goodness me, did they taste delicious!

Decadent lunch

We went out for a Fish and Chip dinner at Takitimu Fisheries, our first visit there.  Certainly a popular place, with patrons queuing up and the waiting time for orders extended to 40 minutes.

Takitumu Fisheries

It was a lovely evening so we took a drive around the coastline.  The marina was full of expensive looking boats, and there  were several trendy restaurants full with patrons enjoying dining with a sea view.  After all the Covid doom and gloom with hospitality venues, it was good to see these businesses booming again.

Peaceful evening at the waterfront

Geoff and Eileen departed on Tuesday morning and Robin gave him a hand hooking up as there wasn’t much room between their van and the one behind.   They will be joining us again on Friday evening.

Lending a helping hand

The weather in Napier was glorious, hot and sunny and temperatures about 25C most days.  Just right for a trip to the iconic Rush Munro’s Ice Creamery in Hastings, a much loved institution dating back to 1926. With plenty of flavours on offer, it was hard to choose.  We both took a while to ponder the many possibilities.

Mmm, what shall I have?

And this is what we came up with, two lovely ice-cream sundaes.  The big one for him and the smaller one for me, so delicious.

We enjoyed these outside under the shady trees.  There were family groups galore, all tucking in to their tasty ice-creams.  Such a nice way to spend the afternoon.  Our time here in Napier is coming to an end, it has been a lovely relaxing stay here at Erikson Road.