Day #8 - New Zealand Travel Adventure (Napier to Wellington)

After a breakfast of Eggs Benedict with wonderful homemade Hollandaise sauce, we left Napier at about 9 am. We drove up to the top of the hill for an overlook that showed the cruise ship terminal and the harbor.

We filled up the rental car tank because you cannot always find petrol stations along your travel route. The GPS navigator is quite helpful as there are many twists and turns along the way to Wellington that are not always obvious. After about two hours, we decided we needed some coffee and stopped in a small town called Dannevirke to partake of excellent “flat white” coffee at the Black Stump Cafe and Bar. The town was quite active on a Friday with many street venders. I asked the barista what the reason was and was told “it is market day.” We strolled the street (there seems to be only one main street) but could find nothing of great interest.

Back in the automobile, we continued towards Wellington as the weather turned more foul. Rain was light but constant and there were occasional winds gusts to make you pay extra attention to the road. As we approached Wellington, we had to travel through a narrow gorge.with a raging river and occasional rocks in the road from slides. I of course had to hit a rock that thudded on the undercarriage, but fortunately, we did not sustain vehicular damage. It would have been awful to get a flat tire on a one lane road in the rain.

It took about 4 hours and 20 minutes to reach our hotel in Wellington. For this evening, I chose a simple accommodation called the Capital View Motor Inn. The rooms are self contained efficiency apartments with Microwave, stove and refrigerator but we did not plan to use any of these things. We just wanted a place close to the Inter-Islander Ferry that we need to get on in the morning. I would not recommend this place to other travelers because it is too noisy at night and the internet connection is very poor. They allow a total of 300 MB for two devices which it not suitable for modern needs.

The Motor Inn is convenient located near the city center and the interesting Cuba Street that has many food establishments and stores. 

 Earline was on a mission to buy more New Zealand wool so we explored the extent of Cuba Street and also Willis Street that had two wool stores.

After obtaining her stash of four skeins, we walked back to Cuba Street and got a slice of pizza at “Heaven” wood fired pizza. They also had a great porter beer that made Earline happy. 

Tomorrow we go to the South Island.