Saturday was a pretty chilled out morning, although we did go into Lower Hutt for the market late in the morning to pick up a few groceries. It was a very quiet one though with a lot less stalls than usual. After the market me and Joss got dropped home, luckily, as Liz and Liza went to get their nails done. The following day was new years eve although we had quite a busy day out in the garden sorting out the decks which had got covered in dog hairs and leaves, as well as cutting back some of the bushes and trees behind the house. We were originally going to go into Wellington in the evening to watch the fireworks although we decided not to in the end because of the weather, so we stayed in in the end. It was nice to see the new year in with Joss and his family though. On the Monday we just had a relaxing day, although we did go over to Queensgate in the afternoon to buy a few things for our holiday to the Hawkes Bay the following day.
Liza made a pretty last minute decision to go away for a few days somewhere, and after a lot of deliberation of where to go, Liza decided on going to the Hawkes Bay area as it wasn't too much of a ridiculously long drive and was far more cost effective than going to South Island. She basically booked a small bache in the town of Wairoa situated about halfway between Napier and Gisborne on the East Coast. On paper getting there from Eastbourne was a 5.5 hour drive and we were hoping to leave nice and early although we didn't leave until close to midday in the end. Liz and Liza were pretty useless in a planning and directions sense so I was effectively in charge of getting us to Wairoa and finding out about things for us to do whilst we were away.
It wasn't long until we left Eastbourne behind and headed through the Hutt Valley and over the Rimutakas into the Wairarapa, stopping en route in Greytown for a drink. After Greytown we continued heading north, stopping in Ekatahuna which is known as being the kiwi bird capital of New Zealand. The drive north was pretty and we passed through several interesting towns and villages, next stopping in Dannevirke which apparently has a viking heritage. After Dannevirke we soon arrived at Napier which is famous for its art deco although I found it slightly overrated. The coastline round here was beautiful though, as well as passing several vineyards. We stopped in Napier for a drink, before one last push towards Wairoa, arriving about 8 hours after leaving in the end. Our bache was located by the river and was actually really nice, and also flat which made it a far more practical house for Joss.
On the Wednesday I didn't have a very good nights sleep, waking up at 5am. This worked in my favour though as I decided to go out for a walk along the river to the estuary where it went out to the sea, tieing this is in with the sunrise which was impressive. I also explored the main town area of Wairoa which included an old lighthouse. After breakfast we headed out for the day towards Gisborne, with our first stop being the Mahia Peninsula. En route we passed several orchards and picked up some peaches and nectarines which had been freshly picked from the side of the road. We soon arrived at the peninsula which was a beautiful stretch of coastline and the home to the largest tombolo in New Zealand. With dramatic rock formations and towering cliffs, as well as big sandy beaches it was a lovely drive in, and when arriving in the small village of Mahia itself we went to the pub for fish and chips for lunch.
After leaving Mahia we continued north for a short distance to the Morere Hot Springs. These natural hot springs were located in the rainforest and required a good 10 minute walk through the rainforest to access them which Joss loved. The facilities weren't particularly disabled friendly however but we made it work and Joss loved being the hot pools, although he for some reason preferred the cold plunge pool! It was even raining and thundering whilst we were there for a bit, although it was a lovely setting being in the rainforest.
From the hot springs we continued towards Gisborne, passing several orchards and vineyards, stopping in one of the vineyards for some wine tasting. Joss was even allowed to come inside which was nice for him. There was even a lovely sunflower field at the vineyard so the setting was very idyllic. When we arrived in Gisborne we had a little drive round the city which was very pretty with its towering palms and very hippie vibe. The city is the most eastern city in the world, hence the first city to see the sunrise. We had a little walk along the waterfront and picked up a few supplies from the supermarket here before heading back to Wairoa. We drove back along the inland road for a change of scenery and the road was incredibly remote, although there was some impressive remains of rockfalls along the way! We didn't arrive back into Wairoa until dusk so it was quite a long day.
On Thursday the plan was to go into the Te Urunewa National Park. The national park is a rainforest full of native New Zealand trees and a great example of how New Zealand was before human settlement. A particular highlight is Lake Waikemoana which is a lake in the middle of the rainforest formed by an earthquake creating a natural dam and flooding the area. The weather however wasn't great but we still decided to go for a drive into it. The road in was very windy and soon became a gravel track and after a while we decided to turn back as we were worried about getting stranded by a landslip, as well as a potential risk of a flash flood. There were several waterfalls coming off the sides of the hills and the river was pretty vicious. It was a shame we couldn't get as far as the lake in the national park but it was still a nice drive.
After turning back we got stuck behind a group of young bulls in the middle of the road which Joss loved. We followed them for about half an hour before they finally got put into their new field. When arriving back into Wairoa we didn't really know what to do. Wairoa itself wasn't the most exciting place in the world, and with the nearest proper settlements of Napier and Gisborne about 2 hours in either direction we couldn't really go very far. We therefore had a chilled out rest of the day and played monopoly, the rain persisting right until darkness! Luckily it cleared eventually and we took Joss in this outside bathtub the bache had which he absolutely loved!
Friday was when we finally left Wairoa and headed back south towards Palmerston North to stay with a couple of family friends for the night. We stopped en route in Putorino for a drink at the lovely rural pub, before continuing down towards Napier. Liz and Liza went to a couple of vineyards along the way which was a little boring for me and Joss who had to stay in the car but they were still pretty to drive through. We stopped for lunch in Havelock North, before making one last push towards Palmerston North. The weather set in pretty bad prior and as the Manuwatu Gorge was still shut we had to head over the saddle which was very exposed and scary to drive over in the weather. We eventually arrived in Palmerston North in one piece though!
In Palmerston North we stayed with a couple of Lizas friends who she met when Joss was born. Kyla and Mark had their daughter Eva at the same time as Joss and as they were both born about 4 months prematurely they were in the same ward so they became good friends for their first few months spent in the hospital. I met them at Joss's birthday party so it was nice for me to meet them again. We had pizza for dinner and a few beers so it was a really nice even
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