11 March 2018, Sunday.
We thought it would be nice to watch the sunrise over Pacific Ocean.
Marine Parade before 0700 hrs. The beach was relatively empty.
Passionate Photographers at work…
Approaching viewing platform.
Shortly, intense light pierced through the cloud…. superb illumination.
Looking out from viewing platform.
It looked like a glittering gold path to infinity
With occasional lonely bird proudly making its way across the horizon.
A little clip of golden water rolling in…
Some exercise on the viewing platform….
Side view of platform with golden colored sea.
Our pictures….
Professional photographer took a picture of two of us and shared with us…. We thought it is lovely… one of the best picture we ever had.
Lonely tree by the beach front.
We thought we saw early birds catching worms….
Looking back towards the Marine Parade driveway…buildings were tinted with light golden color.
Cyclist enjoying the morning sun….We love the ambient here and I noted this is a place to spend more time if I make another trip to this region.
A short walk to Veronica Sunbay – an arcade facing the sea.
<The Veronica Sun Bay Originally erected in 1934 to commemorate the Hawke’s Bay earthquake of 3rd February 1931. This memorial is named in honour of HMS Veronica and the outstanding service given by her officers and crew at the time of the disaster. Rebuilding of the Sun Bay was accomplished through the initiative and leadership of the Rotary Club of Napier and contributions from the citizens of Hawke’s Bay and the Napier City Council. This plaque was unveiled at the dedication of the rebuilt memorial. It took place on the Sixtieth Anniversary of the earthquake – 3rd February 1991.>
Reflecting (crystal) ball standing at the center of the arcade.
Our pictures at Veronica Sun Bay. This is a wonderful site with the reflecting ball sparkling under the Pacific rising sun.
Reflecting in the crystal ball is the Colonnades…. A stretch of yellow wall along the Marine Parade drive way. This structure was erected in 1937.
<Based on internet information – http://www.napier.govt.nz, this area was build on a foundation of rubble removed from the devastated town centre and deposited on the beach in 1931-32 – after the massive 1931 Napier earthquake.> ** picture of Napier Soundshell and Colonades.
Opposite the Napier Soundshell is this stretch of green patch flange by beautiful vegetation.
My wife kept taking pictures as she moved along…
And a silhouette view….
And noticed a motionless lady in the background.
struggling with handset setting… to get a good shot at the art piece.
And the pictures….
And Tom Parker Fountain in the day time.
Our pictures at Napier Marine Parade….
Napier is full of attractions (www.napier.govt.nz) . It is worth to spend more days here and explore. We enjoyed the little fraction that we saw. We hope to come back again for all the attractions that we missed this time.
Back to Kennedy Park Resort, we packed and load up our luggage. Then we took a little time to explore the facilities…
Kennedy Park offer several type of accommodations (other than the en suite unit that we stayed in, they have single room, family room and caravan parks)….
It also have facilities for families to enjoy…
They even have little paddles for kids to move around the park.
Trying out tumbling before checking out…
On our way to Hasting Farmers Market, a little stop over at an Orchard along the way. There are some grapes in the Orchard.
Apples plantation.
Lovely Big Red apples on every tree…
Our pictures at the Orchard
1100 hrs…Arriving at Hasting Farmers Market. There were probably hundred cars in the car park and by the side of road that led to the market.
At the entrance to the market….very unique countryside aura.
Strolling around the market…it looked like a carnival where people came for shopping
People were relaxing and enjoying the wonderful hours.
A video clip on the relaxing ambient at the center of the farmers market.
The stalls sold fruits, honey and meat products…
and some unique produces – only available from few stalls.
Our pictures at Hasting Farmers Market…
It was a fantastic experience and we had honey, grapes, blueberries…
From Farmer’s Market, we made our way back to Napier for lunch at Mission Estate Winery. 30 minutes drive and entered Mission Estate Vineyard.
The grape harvest looked very good….
Our pictures at the Vineyard.
The little road leading to the winery and restaurant.
At Mission Estate Winery Restaurant.
We chose to lunch at the garden lawn.
Some wine before our food was served…
The soup looked plain …. but tasted superb.
and very delicious serving.
Bought a bottle of Rose Wine before we set off.
Long straight road lined with maple trees as we drove towards the exit of this winery.
Picture taken before we drove out.
Interesting view as we drove between the trees…
The distance is slightly more than 100 KM. I thought it was going to be easy drive.
Shortly out of Napier, the terrain became rough and difficult. The stretch of 120 KM took me nearly 2 hours.
At last, we set sight on Lake Taupo.
Checked into Motel at Lake Taupo. A little worn out… refreshed by nice floral at the Motel premise.
After a little break, we decided to head for Thermal Spa Park.
Relieve to see the car park was full of cars. (Information from internet – warn visitor of potential car break in. )
We made our way to the thermal stream. Along the way we saw people were making their way back…
It is about 600m walk to the thermal stream…Arriving at thermal stream.
It is a river with cold flowing water. Hot steamy water gush out from a spot underneath the bridge. It is warm water near the bridge and 10 deg water elsewhere.
Many people have wonderful time enjoying the warm water spa amid crisp cold air.
Further away from the bridge…. it becomes more prominent that hot water stayed near the surface. It was relatively cold below the surface. Nevertheless, it was very enjoyable spa for us.
Good time passed quickly…. and the sun started its descend. Time to make our way back to Lake Taupo.
By the time we reached the shore of Lake Taupo… the lake was lit with orange sunlight.
The eastern sky.
The orange color became more intense…
Took a picture of mountain at the opposite bank… Yes… that is the place where people go for day hike. It gave me a feel of remote and mysterious.
From dark Orange to pinkish.
Suddenly everything is stained with reddish pink… purplish pink when mixed with the blue sky. Beautiful and romantic !
A short video clip on Taupo sunset.
Our pictures…
It was dark when we move on to Countdown. Shopping at Countdown.
The fruits and vegetables are very fresh and cheaper than Singapore. Avocado is more expensive (In Singapore – the typical price is 3 avocado for $5). White carrots – we have not seen that in Singapore.
I notice chocolate are significantly cheaper. A bar of Cadbury cost between S$4.25 to S$5 in Singapore. Here it cost NZ$2.50. The mark up in Singapore is excessive!
Back to motel, we had fresh salad and instant spicy noodles for dinner.
End of Day 2 :
We started the day with Pacific Sunrise at Napier Marine Parade, enjoying attractions around the Napier Viewing Platform. Explore Kennedy Park Resort, visit to Apple Orchard, Hasting Farmers Market and had good lunch at Mission Estate Winery. After long drive to Taupo, we had enjoyable time at Thermal Spa Park and Sunset at Taupo waterfront.
A last cheers…. for a very enjoyable day from Sun rise @ Napier to Sunset @ Lake Taupo.
Note : I recommend friends who is coming to NZ North island to spend a little more time at Napier to explore the varieties that it has to offer. Stay at Kennedy Park Resort – inexpensive, safe and it has something for everyone !
Return to : NZ North Island Day 1
Continue to : NZ North Island Day 3
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