NZ - Napier

We rested up in Napier for a couple of days. There was a nice walkway along the beach that went further into an industrial/shipping area.


We shopped for groceries, saw a movie, swam in the hotel pool, played in the playground, did some laundry and just generally hung around together.


One evening walk, Suzanne and I watched the cranes unloading and loading crates from a train. It was really impressive. Unfortunately, we didn't have a camera. It was a nice rest up for our winding up and down journey back to Wellington.

There were mountains on the way back to Wellington. We wound our way up around the mountains then went around and around back down again. Sharp curves going up and down. Quite the ride!

We took a break at the Pukua Bruce Sanctuary to see a kiwi bird. They also had an albino kiwi bird which is quite rare. Allison, James and I ran the trail of the nature reserve while the rest of the crew chilled out from the drive.

Feeding eels

There was an eel feeding and demonstration that we stopped for. Very impressive! These creatures live long, travel far and have amazing body changes. The females can live up to 150 years (the males only to 30 years). They live in the rivers as adults. Then, for some reason, they start to swim out into the ocean. Their bodies change, elongating their noses, changing their bodies so they can swim the long way to some island (I forget the name). They lay their eggs on the island and then they die. The babies are washed out by the current back into the ocean and carried on the ocean currents back to NZ where they swim up the rivers and grow up. Very neat! And they are big! Big enough to pull a lamb into the river to eat it!


After our break we headed back to Wellington for a few days of rest and play.