So after a stay at Waihia and then a stay at Gisborne we are now at Napier and been here one week , so one to go.
Met some black swans before we got to Napier as we ate our sandwiches it was clear they wanted them............



Arrived at Westshore Napier at Sally and Alans abode. They have a big house which they have made the downstairs a comfortable stylish flat, all the extra touches and we have made ourselves at home!





Sally and Alan are just as nice as i thought they'd be ( they stayed at Bareges back in March), they invited us upstairs to their home which being upstairs has a huge veranda with bay views, we had an evening meal with them and they invited us to go to the farmers market the next morning on the sunday which was over at nearby Hastings, it was a great introduction to getting to know the area, and also to enjoy along with everyone else the treats on show plus have breakfast.................

They then took us to Te Mata Peak which Alan used to leap off from in his glider ( scarey!) and had huge views for miles around.




We finished off with an ice cream which as made with real fruit whilst you wait, at a stawberry farm................Tom had the unusual Boysenberry fruit for his ice cream......It was really nice of Sally and Alan to show us around and they are really good company.

Its been nice yet again to not live from the suitcase and of course get washing done and even ironing!

The flat is literally a hop skip and jump way from the sea..............the beach has black sand so thats a first since weve been here..

Weve had a walk around the town which was re built in Art Deco style after the awful earthquake they had in the 1930' s which left the town looking more like Dresden in the war.




The building are all diferent colours and designs and unique, so its a splendid jaunt around the town looking at all the style, which we did.



My ankle and achillies have been playing up for age but im getting by, they are fine for ages and then ping...............but hey ho it could be worse!

Weve had walks along the strand outside where we live, had a few gusty days so certainly had the cobwebs blown away !


Took ourselves off for a great day out in Lake Taupo and surrounds which was about and hour and half inland and as per usual always such a pleasure to see such views here............we cant get over how undulating and bendy the roads are, they open up the scenery at every turn, up hills and down, up int o large forests and down into dairy pastures of sheep and cows, of course we are spring .....so babies galore..............we even saw some tiny tiny calves with blue jackets on like horse blankets.........must have just been born and sadly werent with their mums............have noticed they arent kept with mums very long................lots of logging going on too and huge trucks taking the logs off to Napiers port.............

So we had a scenery blast on the trip to Taupo............i was on a mission to see volcanic activity and do something fast on boat!( says she who doesnt like getting her face wet in the pool).
Stopped at the Lake which is vast as is a volcanic crater, but it was sooooooooooo windy we pushed on to get to some steaming earth!! The views across Taupo showed us the inviting snowfields of Mount Ruapehu...............still snow capped and as always we wanted to go there but, not enough time on this trip to fit all in..................so steaming earth here we come.................found ;

THE CRATERS OF THE MOON.........ten mins from Taupo......so drove in and paid out 6 dollars each ,thats £3 !! how cheap is that for steaming earth! Great they have wooden walkway and you must stick to the path or be stupid and get burnt!...............volcanic activity was everywhere from tiny holes right by your feet to gaping holes that had exploded and shot out huge plumes of sulphur smelling steam.



We walked all over, some had bubbling mud pools..........

After that we went to a Thermal Park which is called the best therml region in New Zealand....................this had a lava flow which was fossilised and had eventually stopped at the river...........


Getting our fix of volcanic activiy we then drove to Huka Falls................and took the boat trip............ it wasnt sold out so there were just a handfull on that trip which made it quite jolly.........



hot volcanic streams were rippling into the main river.....it was good fun it headed straight to the falls and then into the whirlpool of the gushing waters , which rocked and spun us................covered in spray, he went in to it three times..........






.i think everyone thought it was great fun and good value for money................
then it was the long drive home, but as the scenery was so good we seeme dto fly home................or was tom driving faster??? he is starting to go a tad too quick round those bends................he says hes not!

Today we took oursleves inland for a short trip to a place called Trelinnoe Park, a gardens, but it as huge and took us about three hours walking around...............




.rodedendrums galore, lakes and masses of plants for us to smell and go oooooh aaaah.................it was weird as it was down a dirt track road for 4 kilomteres and when we got there there was just an honesty box to put in the £5 each charged.......................

we bumped into one couple but apart from that it was deserted, there was a cafe but it had been shut for a while by the looks of things....................anwyay we had brought a picnic and when we left there wasnt a soul anywhere................

So that is us up to date, saturday tomorrow, another week and we leve either friday or saturday for Wellington

Byesee bye for now folks xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx