This is the view I got from the peak of Te Mata this afternoon:
Monthly Archives: September 2011
Art Deco
Napier is known for it’s Art Deco architecture, and it fashions itself the ‘Art Deco Capital of the World’. So Marion (whom I met previously in Opotiki) and I set out to walk around the town and see the sites. It was quite a bit longer than originally planned (the loop below is what we ended up doing – all 14km of it).
The part marked ‘Big Hill’, well that is indeed a big hill cutting through the middle of the town. But first, it was to the waterfront area, where most of the tourists will flock to. Just a series of pictures to follow for that part. The first one is actually of my hostel, a pretty nice place really.
Competing against yourself
I heard of (and seen for myself) the whole ‘Starbucks on multiple corners of the same intersection’ phenomenon. I can understand the need in giant downtown cities with access to thousands of customers. But giant grocery stores in a town of 50,000?
Probably have to expand that picture for full effect. Countdown is the equivalent of a Loblaws here in New Zealand – it tends to be a bit more upscale for shopping than the other options. Thus, I don’t shop at it when there are other options (New World, and the cheapest – PaknSave). While I was diligent in my research of this odd phenomenon of seeing two same-name grocery stores sitting across the road from each other by going into both of them (they are indeed, the exact same prices inside and everything), I took the third option – the PaknSave sitting just beside the Countdown in the forefront of the picture. Yay for cheap groceries! Tasty burritos for dinner tonight for me! I’m excited!
Angry Bird
Many people probably think about this when you see Angry Bird(s):
But, I am referring to a real bird instead.
Early morning on Monday, Steff and I packed up and headed out from Gisborne, with Napier being our destination. I had found a couple interesting hikes to make stops at along the way. The drive itself was around 2.5 hours, so we had plenty of time.
Round and round in circles
Or giant ovals, as it were.
After another day of work on the lemon orchards, Steff and I took off to a national event being held near Gisborne – the NZDBF BRN. Or, to most of us, the New Zealand Dirt Bike Federation Beach Racing Nationals.
It was pretty fun watching these guys and gals go round and round in circles…for about 30 minutes or so. They also had ATVs racing from time to time. But it was mostly about the bikes – which went VERY fast along the beach – over 100km/hr.
“I think this is an animal track”
That was something Steff mentioned as we hiked up a densely forested hill, our second hike of the day. The first was a peaceful walk through a protected area called the Grays Bush Scenic Reserve.
Grays Bush was a short (ie 20 minute) stroll through protected old growth forest. It was pleasant though nothing remarkable. Certainly not quite like what was to come…
When is Captain Cook not Captain Cook?
Gisborne is considered to be one of the first cities to see the morning sunrise, though having been at the East Cape lighthouse earlier in the week to try and have an even earlier experience, I wasn’t keen enough to wake at 530am to try again. However, there were quite a few good little walks that I went on during my stay in Gisborne. For the most part the town is a bit of a flat plane, with hills surrounding the outside. The most prominent of the hills is just north of the city, called Kaiti Hill. It overlooks the bay (called Poverty Bay – such a happy name!) and gives a good view of the surrounding city. Not to mention, this was also the place that Captain James Cook first sighted and stepped onto New Zealand soil, way back in 1769. There was a nice obelisk monument at the base of the hill…surrounded by industrial lumber yards and you couldn’t actually see the water from that spot…kind of hard to visualize Captain Cook stepping off the boat in that situation.
When I got to the first lookout, I realized I forgot one of my key pieces of travel paraphernalia – my camera. So my cell phone stepped up to the task (and performed about as expected – poorly). Still, better than nothing. The designated ‘lookout’ actually had pretty poor views – lumber yard anyone?
Blowout
Canada played in their 2nd Rugby World Cup game yesterday, and while they showed resilience, they were still completely pounded into oblivion by the French. Rugby is very much a game with two tiers of teams, and is one of those sports that you very VERY rarely see an upset such as Canada overtaking a team like France. So while Canada can hold their heads (and beards) high for staying within reach of France after the 1st half, it very much was a game to simply get through and look forward to more reasonable competition – such as against Japan, in just over a weeks time.
Still, as a Canadian, it’s fun to cheer for them in spite of their lesser status in Rugby circles. They’ve played with a lot of heart so far and it’s good to see such support, even all the way down here in NZ. Lots of Canadian flags in stands. I do think that we should change our colours to lumber-jack plaid, some of the guys look exactly like lumberjacks in my mind. A great fit for Canada though as the hair isn’t just for show (it strikes fear into the hearts of other men) this guy was the MVP for Canada in their win against Tonga.
How would you enjoy the human equivalent of a grizzly bear, coming at you at full speed? Not very much at all I imagine…