We had planned a leisurely drive up to Hawkes Bay from the ferry but as it ended up leaving Picton about 3 hours late we didn’t get into Wellington and get the car unloaded until after 4:30pm. At least we did get to see the Marlborough Sounds on the way out of Picton, the sea was a bit choppy but not as bad as it was forecast the day before! It was close to getting dark by the time we were back on the road on the North Island for the 4 and half hour drive up to Napier. We arrived about 9:30pm to our motel room with a spa bath in the bedroom!
Napier was levelled in a big earthquake in the 30s and was completely rebuilt in the style of the time so there are a lot of art deco buildings which were pretty cool. Once again it was raining heavily but we wandered round the town and drove up the hill to get a view of the bay and the town. Then we drove into the Hawkes Bay wine region to find somewhere for lunch before we drove over to Taupo. On the way to the winery we’d chosen, the engine light and traction control light came on in the dashboard, as well as the cruise control light flashing! We weren’t far from the winery so we carried on and called the car hire company from there. They told us it was a known issue with the Forrester and we could keep driving with it!
We tasted a couple of wines at the Black Barn Winery then we had a bit of a wait for lunch as the restaurant was busy so we drove up to the mountain lookout nearby for 360 degree views of Hawkes Bay. The rain had cleared a bit so we got a good view of the region. After a delicious lunch we drove on to Taupo.
