Didn't manage to stay awake for the final of the rugby league 4 nations last night. NZ beat the Aussies so everyone's happy. Less likely was that Scotland gave the Kiwis a run for their money in the union. Missed penalty to take the lead with 10 minutes to go. Scotland have still never beaten NZ!
Didn't hurry over breakfast as it was raining and windy in Taihape. The sheep shearers were still asleep as I departed, stopping briefly at McD's for coffee and free wifi.
It wasn't long however before the rain stopped and it cleared up as I made my way along the "Gentle Annie" road to Napier. To say the scenery gets better each day is something of an understatement. If you want dramatic, lush, green rolling hills with steep snaking roads this is your road. Awesome!
After a short while I drove past a sheep station called Erewhon, apparently the "secret" setting for the book of the same name (nowhere backwards, almost) by Samuel Butler, written in 1872, which I've just started reading on my Kindle.
The Gentle Annie runs for about 130 kms and it really is stunning - hard to choose where to select today's "panorama of the day".
The other issue that was much easier to solve today was the "sheep of the day". They were everywhere, but this little cutie caught my eye:-
After dropping back down to sea level from over 1,000 metres it wasn't long before I was in today's destination, Napier. The "Art Deco capital of NZ". This is due to the town being totally destroyed in 1931 by an earthquake, so all the reconstruction in the following years was done at the peak of Art Deco. Loads of the buildings are very well preserved.
Sadly, Palmerston North was left unscathed by the earthquake.
Got checked in to the YHA Napier then took a walk around town and lunch in the most perfect organic foodstore / cafe / restaurant. The kind of place every small town would love to have.
There were a couple of cruise ships docked in port for the afternoon so I took my time over coffee to let the tourist hordes make their way back to their floating cities then got ready to go out for a leisurely afternoon ride.
On the subject of cruise ships - is that not the answer to the world's population crowding? At the age of 70 you could get to live on one of these. They could build thousands of them (jobs boost) and your pension could just be transferred over to the "Cruising United Nations" who'd run the whole show. All inclusive for life (or what's left of it) with limitless tack to buy at every port. Funerals at sea. Sorted ;)
So, with the dual benefit of flat terrain and no backpack I thought I'd give the bike a try. Ended up having a great ride down the coast, mainly on the bike path. Warm, windy and very pleasant.
Managed to rack up about 60 kms, including a cheeky wee 2nd attempt at a Strava segment (2nd overall, but that doesn't matter ;) as well as a jealous look at a Strava segment that looked very tempting.
This new concept of driving and cycling might actually work out to be a perfect solution. We'll see...
Found a great Turkish restaurant for dinner then an Irish pub for after dinner. A great end to another fantastic day in this amazing country.
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