Oli Reveals: IX

Another installment of Oli’s round-the-world emails:

Part nine, signals 9 weeks being away from the lovely country that is
England?

Yep, hi again, giving you some more text to read, should watching paint dry
become way too tedious….The ferry crossing to Wellington was pleasant,
found a zebra-stripped backerpackers hostel in the middle of the city and
stayed for a couple of days to soak up its famous cafe culture. The Te Papa
museum in Wellindton is really worth checking out- 6 floors exhibiting
everything New Zealand, from history to biology, its culture…After two
days in the windy capital, we hired another car and drove north to the
uninspiring town of Palmerson North. Sorry if anyone thinks differently,
but this place wasn’t that great, so we continued our scenic drive through
the foothills to the Hawkes Bay region of the North Island. The area around
Hawkes bay reminded me of the Picton-Nelson/ Marlborough region of the sound
island- very flat and fertile, with lots of farms and vineyards soaking in a
nice warm temperate climate. Spent two nights in Napier, a town to
apparently rival the art-deco crown that Miami has. For me, it’s one of my
favourite places to date, reminding me of a Cuban town (Holguin) I saw
earlier this year- beautiful pastel and chalk white art deco period low-rise
buildings with palm tree-lined avenues and cafes/bars spilling tables and
chairs out on the pavement. This place had a very relaxed feel, with people
reading and drinking in the sunshine, without care for time. On my second
day in Napier, I went for a drive to the neighbouring town of Hastings- not
quite as nice as Napier, but still having lots of character. Went to a
couple of beaches too and just gave me an excuse to find some desolate
roads, with some beautiful scenary to drive through and appreciate the
summer sun.

Next up, we continued up the eastern arm of the north island, detouring
inland to the eerie “Waikaremoana Lake”, a place in the hilly interior
surrounded by primeval forests, flat as a mill pond. It was very peaceful
to be there, but the 80km worth of gravel road required to get there and
back did our car bo favours. Gisborne was our next place to stay for a
couple of nights, where Cptn Cook first set foot on New Zealand. Again, a
very relaxed place where we found more travellers who were working locally
and living in the hostel. A few cafes and a birthday BBQ later, we left,
but filling up our car with two German girls who wanted to join us on our
journey to the east cape. After being stopped by sheep and cow herds, and
driving though a stereotype English countryside, we arrived at (almost) the
most eastern point in New Zealand on a wood-littered beach, and consequently
one of the first places in the world to see the light of a new day. Found a
great secluded hostel 10 metres from the sea, in Maraehako Bay, and did some
cool sea kayaking around the neighbouring bays for a few hours.Still
together, the four of us are now in the seaside town of Whakatane, quite a
busy place with some great coastal scenary to explore.

The last week or so has been quite relaxing for me, as opposed to the
sometimes rapid pace of the south island. It’s been really nice for me as
it’s given me a chance to write some more letters and chill out with a
coffee and attempt some more home cooking, which I love to do for friends
whenever I can. The weather’s been very kind to us and it feels so alien
that xmas is looming on me!! Hopefully you’ll like my relatively sedate
email, and I wish you all the best,

Oli