Our last day in the East Cape, today we head to Napier. The weather has only gotten worse and we hear the news about closures and slips in Northland and the Coromandel so we hit the road early to get through to Napier before any potential road closures.
Before hitting the road, we grab breakfast from the Gladstone Bakehouse. I had a quiche which was pretty decent. The coffee was good once it cooled down.
We drove carefully through to Napier, there were many slips, rivers and potholes along the way. Very lucky we did not stay an extra night further north as the road between Tologa Bay and Gisborne was closed today but we were free to go south, at this stage.
Once we got to Napier, I was on a mission to get some new pants. Yesterday's adventure with the mushrooms had left my last pair filthy and I was looking bedraggled. Note to self - Road trips in winter are much messier than in summer.
Still being too early to check-in, we checked out some more lighting stores (for our kitchen). We now have a good idea of what we want, just need to source it in Wangas.
We kept driving around for a bit (yes, still in the rain), and grabbed lunch from The Hot Chick in Ahuriri. Super tasty chicken (I had the shredded chicken in gravy). Only disadvantage of this place was no real healthy options *hint hint*.
I couldn't go the whole day without taking a photo - this is a photography trip after all.
So, here's a snap of our accommodation for the night at Shoreline Motel. Rodney tends to book us a nicer hotel room for the last night on our trips, usually including a spa bath. A great way to relax and try to return refreshed, ready to head back to work on Monday.
We didn't realise that there were fireworks on tonight for Matariki or we probably would have been bracing the weather to capture them. I think at this point we have run out of motivation for fighting the weather.
Dinner was a basic grab from Noodle Canteen (was after something with veggies - anything but chips!) then we settled into the hotel and relaxed, making the most of the spa.
Not sure if tomorrow will bring any photos or if we will just head straight back and start setting up for the working week...