Road trip in North Island - Day 11

2 January 2017

The most challenging day behind the wheels!!

It was very cloudy as expected the next morning. I dropped the American lady to Taupo and drove towards Napier. The drive was so beautiful that I stopped at most of the lookouts for a short stretch. Ian had also passed on a tip while driving, to take a stretch every 1 hour of driving to avoid soar muscles. I was applying that tip right away.

The view of the falls from the scenic lookout

I stopped at one of the lookouts to discover this gorgeous waterfall. It was raining by this time. The visibility as I headed higher altitudes got worse and I was struggling to keep pace with my driving. This was the most challenging one so far when it came to driving. The whole route was over an endless range of mountains and tall trees covering the sky above.

View on the way to Napier

I managed to stop at few more spots for a stretch when the rain gave break. It was post lunch when I reached Napier, another coastal city. It was light drizzles and as it was a public holiday, carpark wasn't an issue. I checked in at Youth Hostel on one of the main roads, located perfectly overlooking the beach.

View on the way from Taupo to Napier

I shedded my luggage at the hostel and got into my hiking shoes and did short walk just around the city, Bluff Hill walk. The sky was very cloud and the views weren't very colorful, yet the harbour looked stunning. Overlooking the city from the viewpoint, I realised, I had already fallen in love with yet another New Zealand city, Napier. The city has a vintage feel and flaunts its own character quite different from the rest of the country. It is also bestowed with lot of sunshine, warm weather and very old architectural structures.

From the bushes, I headed into the town for some grocery shopping. It being a holiday, the city was so quiet and not many people on the streets. It felt so homely here.

At the National Aquarium, Napier

I made a yummy dinner and sat around a table and struck a conversation with a japaneese girl across the table. She was writing a postcard to someone, I couldn't control the excitement and asked who was she writing the card for. She said it was for her granny in Japan. She continued her story and told that she was here doing a English course for past one year. She makes sure to drop atleast one card every month to her granny. I was glad to hear to her story. She was completely taken aback when I read, pointing at her card, are you writing Happy New year 2017, Ha Ha. She caught me in a bit when she realised that she had written the numbers 2017 in English.

At the National Aquarium, Napier

Later in the evening, I visited the National Aquarium. I'm always fascinated by places like Museums, planetariums and aquariums. For the reason that I get transported to another world when you are in there. I spent generous time going around and reading every bit. There live penguin feeding events were over for the day by then so I requested if I can revisit next days event on the same ticket. They were very kind to say yes.

At the National Aquarium, Napier

I was happy to have another day of hot shower back in the hostel. After enjoying a good meal, I went back to my books after a long time (about 2 days now).