Rain, Rain, Go Away

Posted on February 15, 2023 by If It Was Today

For the past few days, every time I put a location into Google maps, I’d get this warning…

And if you are unfortunate, you’ll get this warning…

This example was for a trip from Gisborne to Napier – the one we took just before the storm hit. Gabrielle has passed. Gisborne is still completely isolated so it is an extreme case, but the flood waters are still causing problems all over. Yesterday our path was blocked when a road was closed due to flooding, even though Google thought it was still open. Fortunately a friendly local told us to follow her, and led us to one of the bridges that was still open. When you see the rivers, you understand why it is a problem.

And today we had more rain. Not like earlier in the week, but still. Fortunately Martinborough is in wine country, so we did what one does in wine country, even if it isn’t raining.

As always, there is lots of interesting vegetation, though this one isn’t native to New Zealand. This is a Cork Oak tree, and this picture is a closeup of the bark.

We also spent some time wandering around Martinborough, which is a pretty little town built around a square that is reminiscent of Sonoma.

And after a couple of wine tastings, it’s time to relax, since we’ve had more than enough excitement over the past few days. Tomorrow we are off to Wellington for the final stretch of our visit.

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Gabrielle

Posted on February 15, 2023 by If It Was Today

Remember how I said the storm wasn’t going to be a problem?

Turns out I spoke a bit too soon. At 7:00 PM the wind was gusting and the rain was teeming down, but the tent was holding up fine (though it was very noisy inside) and we were planning to stay put for the night. But as we were getting ready for bed around 9:30, the owners “evacuated” us down to the main house. Apparently things were going to get a lot worse overnight. So we spent a fitful night listening to the wind howl, and woke up with no power, no cell service, no internet, and all the roads closed. Before you start feeling too sorry for us though, I’ll point out that we simply headed back up to the tent (which had survived the night just fine) and spent the day reading, playing Yahtzee, and enjoying the stunning views. Here is what we had for dinner -not exactly roughing it.

We were fine, but others were not so lucky. The rain caused serious flooding – here is a sequence of pictures from our tent showing the river early in the storm, yesterday after it had passed (but the water was still rising), and then again today as it was beginning to ebb. The sequence shows land in the middle of the river, then all water, then land beginning to re-emerge.

And note the trees all under water in this one.

Yesterday the roads were all blocked or under water, but by today they were beginning to open up. Here are a few photos showing the scale of the destruction on the roads. – and this is after the cleanup is well underway.

I have to say that we feel vey lucky. Four days ago we stayed in Gisborne, and today Gisborne is completely isolated and running low on supplies. In Hawkes Bay, where we were staying, tens of thousands of people are without power, likely for days, and perhaps for weeks. Homes were damaged or destroyed. All that happened to us was that out “glamping” was a little more like “camping” – we were without power and internet, and couldn’t take a shower for two days. And we experienced it all with this view.

As I said, we feel very lucky.

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Camping in a Cyclone

Posted on February 13, 2023 by If It Was Today

Okay, okay, “glamping” isn’t the same as “camping” and we are only on the edge of the cyclone … but you get my point. We’ve been sitting in the covered space outside the tent all afternoon, reading and enjoying the sound of the rain on the canvas. We have a lovely view out over the river valley, although with the rain we have a very hazy view. But still lovely.

This morning we stopped in Napier to buy nice warm merino wool sweaters and enjoy the art deco buildings lining the street.

I have limited coverage here (it is a cyclone, after all…) so I’ll leave it at this and perhaps post more photos later.

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Storm’s a Coming

Posted on February 12, 2023 by If It Was Today

I’m talking about Cyclone Gabrielle, which is already being felt in Auckland. We are further south in Napier, where the effects are expected to be less, though still significant rain and wind. Nothing to panic about, though we were told that some locals are stocking up on everything from bottled water to toilet paper. I’m pretty sure that’s an over-reaction. It better be, because for the next two days we are glamping. Pretty luxurious, but it’s still a tent. At the edge of a cyclone. I’ll let you know how it turns out…

Today we drove from Gisborne to Napier, successfully dodging the rain pretty much the whole way. The scenery was nearly as stunning (and the road nearly as terrifying) as yesterday, but we arrived unscathed. Napier is another town known for Art Deco architecture, courtesy of the same earthquake that hit Gisborne a century ago. Here are some examples.

Gisborne has a number of interesting sculptures along the waterfront.

And as always, fascinating trees unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

We finished the day with a walk along the beach. The waterfront is lovely in Napier, but it isn’t really a beach for walking barefoot through the surf. More stony than sandy, with a steep falloff and strong currents. So even if it wasn’t for Gabrielle, we would have been sticking to the paved path along the shore. But it was still a lovely way to end the day.

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Gisborne

Posted on February 11, 2023 by If It Was Today

Today we drove from Whakatane to Gisborne through an amazing mountain gorge – a sheer cliff on one side and a steep drop off on the other. Not stressful at all, right? No pictures though – all eyes were on the road. It was a stunning ride, but you’ll just have to take my word.

One thing that Gisborne is known for is the number of Art Deco buildings in the downtown area when the town was rebuilt after a major earthquake in 1917. Here is a small sample.

And of course, the other thing in Gisborne is the endless beaches.

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Wow

Posted on February 10, 2023 by If It Was Today

When we were planning our trip to New Zealand, everyone who had been there (and even a few who hadn’t) talked about the stunning nature walks. Today I got to experience that for myself. I had to climb half a hill to get to the starting point for the walk.

But what goes up, must come down … then up again, then down, then up… you get the idea. More stairs. So many more stairs.

But it was worth it.

One thing I immediately noticed was the complete absence of annoying bugs. No biting insects, not even annoying things flying around your face. I love that.

And the plants. So many plants.

I liked this one – combining the walking path with the plants helping to shade the path.

And the views. Oh my…

After the walk we had lunch and then we went for a walk along the beach and a swim in the ocean. And in the evening we had a fabulous dinner at the restaurant just around the corner. I don’t believe in heaven, but if I did, it would look a lot like this.

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Whakatane

Posted on February 9, 2023 by If It Was Today

We checked out of our hotel, and then went for another walk along the beach in Mount Maunganui.

Then it was a short drive down along the Bay of Plenty to Whakatane where we has a lovely lunch. All week we’ve been noticing that restaurants were all out of the salads on the menu. Today we discovered why. It is because of the Auckland floods. So we have finally discovered one area where the flooding is having an impact on our holiday. But, all considered, pretty minor.

After lunch, we headed out for … wait for it … a long walk along the beach.

The patterns in the sand always amaze me.

I’ll leave you with another flower picture as you ponder what we will do tomorrow.

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Rinse and Repeat

Posted on February 8, 2023 by If It Was Today

Yesterday we walked barefoot along the beach, climbed Mount Maunganui, had lunch, and then walked along the beach again. So today … we walked barefoot along the beach, climbed Mount Maunganui, had lunch, and then walked along the beach again. To change things up, we decided to go to a restaurant for dinner.

We opted for the less difficult path up Mount Maunganui today. You’ll note that I didn’t say “easy” because it was still rather steep and a great workout. Along the way we saw sheep grazing and the water tower.

And as always, lots of interesting vegetation.

After climbing to the top of Mount Maunganui, we decided to take the easy path around the base, because … why not. All in, it came to 8 km, which isn’t a bad walk, especially given the hill.

And then, after lunch…

Unfortunately tomorrow we’re off to our next stop, but I’m pretty sure we will be back and we’ll stay a lot longer next time.

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The Happy Place

Posted on February 7, 2023 by If It Was Today

I know that I’ve mentioned several times that the weather in New Zealand was wonderful, especially in light of the fact that it was minus 30 degrees at home. But today was the day that it really hit home. We were hiking through tropical forests and walking barefoot along the beach and … well you get the idea.

Mount Maunganui was at the top of my list. There are a number of paths up and around the the mount with varying degrees of difficulty.

This is the easy path that winds around the base of the mount with views of the sea.

And then there were the more challenging paths to the summit. The path started out relatively manageable…

But then it got … interesting.

It was challenging, but the views were stunning.

Along the way, the vegetation was lovely.

And the trees growing out of the rocks were inspiring.

There were also a few trees that were clinging to eroding cliffs. We came across a few trees that came down during the recent storms. It wasn’t difficult to imagine the same thing happening to these trees in the future. But hopefully…

And after Mount Maunganui there was the beach. We could walk barefoot along the beach for hours. Come to think of it, we did walk along the beach for hours.

It is Jan’s happy place.

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Tauranga

Posted on February 6, 2023 by If It Was Today

It was raining lightly when we picked up the rental car and headed to Tauranga. While planing this trip we didn’t realize that today is a major holiday in New Zealand – Waitangi Day. This meant the roads were busy with people heading home at the end of the long weekend. Fortunately, they were mostly going the opposite directions so our traffic was light.

We were drawn to this area for two things. The first is Mount Maunganui which is an extinct volcano and a Mauao Historic Reserve. It’s known for hiking trails of various difficulties and stunning views (if you take the more challenging trails to the top). The other attraction is the beaches.

When we arrived the top of Mount Maunganui was wreathed in clouds. Of course it was. But by the time we checked in and had lunch it was sunny, so we decided to take a look.

One of the easy paths goes around the base of the mountain and we decided that was our speed today. Lots of amazing trees, as always…

Most of the shore is rocky and the path is set back, but in one area we could walk along a sandy beach. I came across this scene with a small stream.

And then we spotted a Cormorant…

We only went part way around Mount Maunganui (tomorrow, all the way…) and then checked out the main beach (we will be back tomorrow). On our walk back to the hotel we saw something that we haven’t seen since we arrived in New Zealand.

… a flat and level path through a park. I’m joking of course, but not by much. Tomorrow we will make up for the easy walk today.

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