On the Road

Greetings from Napier! I collected an eclectic array of nice car camping equipment when I was in Wellington from second hand stores and their equivalent of Walmart--I got a nice new camping chair for 10 bucks and a stove for 30 there. I got my car all packed and left on Monday for a 2 week tour of the North Island. I’m trying to do it as cheap as possible so I can make my funding last until near Christmas, but we’ll see what happens.

After battling a crazy hailstorm out of Wellington I spent my first night in a hostel in Masterton. The hail storm got so bad I couldn’t hear anything, my windshield wipers froze up, and I had to pull off the road under a tree for a while; hail was about the diameter of a dime! Not much to see in Masterton, so I left early and arrived mid-day in Napier. Napier is a city on the Eastern Coast that was leveled by a 7.9 earthquake in 1931. They rebuilt most of the city in Art Deco architecture style, characterized by pastel colors, very bold, distinct features like lightening bolts and zig-zags…seems like it came out of the American 1950s. Besides the architecture, I haven’t found much to do here. The area is surrounded by vineyards, so I might go tour them.

I’m staying in a great campground here. It seems most of the campsites in New Zealand are really nice and include amenities such as a kitchen, hot showers, and laundry. The kitchens are really clean, usually made of stainless steel, include sinks, refrigerators, and gas cooking stoves and BBQs. Non-powered tent sites are $15/night pp and you can also rent cabins and units that have their own kitchens. I also noticed most motel rooms here also have their own kitchens. NZ is really set up for easy, self-sufficient traveling. I can really see why this place was voted the most backpacker-friendly place in the world.

I'll post some pictures as soon as I can!