Nostalgic Napier

On the way to Napier, we stopped off at the Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre. Amoungst other wildlife, it had a Kiwi house, so we were interested in seeing one ‘in the flesh’, so to speak. Unfortunately, the centre had just had a power cut, so it did curtail some of the activities. But we did see a Kiwi, which was an albeno as well, although being nocturnal birds, we could only view it through an infra-red light. There was also a walk through the rain forest that took about an hour and was a bit more challenging than explained in the brochure, as the trail took us a few hundred metres up the side of a steep hill. However, we were rewarded with a great view of the valley.

When we get to Napier, we check in at Kennedy Park Resort, which was functional, but a bit too far from the centre to walk into. So, the next day, we get up early and drive into town. It’s a really interesting but quirky place. In the mid 1930’s it had an earthquake that pretty much levelled the town and had to be completely rebuilt. And clearly the town council decided that all the buildings had to be maintained as built, so there were whole streets where you could feel you were on a period movie set. We walk up a hill, through a pretty garden, to a great view point, Bluff Hill, overlooking the harbour. Then we are back on our way to Lake Taupo where we look forward to seeing hot mud pools and steaming geysers.