To NapierOct 31, 2005
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Captions & travelogue later
Picton to Napier - 297 KM - 10/31/05
Happy Halloween. Noisy birds woke us up at 5 am. Tui's. Very loud and melodic calls. They look solid black, with two white patches on the throat. They actually have very subtle green and blue feathers. This is the mating season so they are in full display mode with feathers fluffed up and white patches showing. Very difficult to photograph. Only got a couple of fair ones out of more than a dozen.
Lord of the Rings had a scene filmed in the park adjacent to the Caravan Park. We did a tourist walk to look at it and got a lucky photo op when a couple of parakeets, or lorakeets, flew into a tree above me. One of the most colorful birds I've ever seen. Couldn't get a photo of them in Australia, and failed on a dozen tries yesterday. While elusive for humans, the Caravan Park manager said they are non-native and considered a pest. They are very territorial and agressively run the native birds out.
The first 35 KM of today's drive was up and over a mountain. The road was very narrow, crooked, and steep plus heavily used by logging trucks (though I only met one). We had rain, fog, and a visibility less than 100 meters. Actually, this was good as the navigators couldn't see the 1000+ meter vertical drop they were inches from. The NZ guardrails are token at best - fence posts about 8 feet apart with 3-4 2x2 posts between, all connected by 4-5 small diameter wires. Definitely wouldn't catch a wayward Maui!
The road then dropped into a wide valley of farmland with small hills. Unlike the South Island where the fields held either sheep or deer, these were a mix of cattle, horses, and sheep - often in the same field which is unusual (sheep bite the grass off so short that cows and horses can't feed). Our first stop of the day was at the Paua Factory. Paua is an abalone shell that has had the outside calcium ground away to reveal the colors in the shell. A Kiwi has figured how to make a silk purse out of a sows' ear. These shells, which were once used for gravel are now turned into jewelry, and aren't cheap.
The drive was easy with good road, with shoulders for a change. We stopped at Abbotsee Tea Room for lunch. It was a late lunch as the tea room was near the end of the days drive. Good buffet, where we sampled "beef & kidney" stew. Not bad. Desserts looked great but didn't have room for them.
An Antique Car Club was having a rally in Napier, and staying at the Caravan Park when we arrived. In addition to some really impressive British and Italian vintage cars they had a Studebaker Hawk and a 70 Mustang Mach I Fastback. We celebrated Halloween with a hat contest. Billy won the pot at the "Cheat Your Neighbor" card game. To redeam himself he's treating us all to Ice Cream tomorrow night. Thanks Billy.
