It felt good to stay put today. Our scheme to stay out of the rain has been successful. Slept in and walked down the street to a coffee place (there is one on every corner here) and got coffee and tea and split a muffin. Today’s adventure is to go to the town next door, Hastings, to the weekly Sunday Hawkes Bay farmers market. It seems a very popular spot since there were a couple of hundred cars parked in the field next door and hundreds of people milling around. The musicians were just setting up so we were a little early. This farmers market has a focus on fruits and veggies with some local honey, cutting boards, baked goods, meat, cheese, you name it.
Deb picked up some fruit and some kettle corn (remember we pack our suitcases in two days..) which we promise to eat before we leave.
We then drove to a local winery for a wine and beer tasting. The ginger beer was pretty good but the others were so-so. Deb found a wine or two she liked but not enough to buy a bottle (remember the airplane thing). They had a couple on stage providing music and within an hour of when we arrived the place was packed with friends, families, kids, a real local event. We decided to order a flatbread pizza and soak in the nice vibe here.
Then back to Napier where Deb hit the info center and did some gift shopping in town while I walked up the Marine Parade (walkway next to the beach) and soaked in some sun.
After some down time we walked to an Irish pub (The Rose) and had a nice meal and drinks, then a walk down the beach to see the sunken garden and our last view of the ocean before heading back inland tomorrow.
Every place we go we're impressed with the “public wealth”, that is, clean working public bathrooms, well maintained walking and biking trails, town centers with plants and flowers. Nicely done New Zealand.
Then off to bed. Tomorrow we drive to Hamilton partly using the same twisty road we came into Napier on. Goodbye ocean!!
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