Head North You Say? Part 2: Getting to Napier.

As it was raining quite heavily in Wellington, we decided to drive over the Rumatakas to the Wairapa (via the mountain pass from hell) in a vehicle that we didn't know, in winds upwards of 70kph. It all worked without a hitch and we found ourselves in the sun as the rain hadn't crossed the mountains yet.

We decided to hit up Castlepoint, a famous surfing spot that I'd been meaning to check out for a while now. Getting there was longer than expected (there's a misconception we have that 100km = 1 hour of traveling because in Canada that's very often the case. You're driving down 400 series highways upwards of 110kph which covers any traffic you might hit) Here, it's more likely that if you budget an hour for each 60 km you'll be closer to being right. Especially when you're in a 15 year old diesel that can only go up most hills at 70-80 kph.

The trip was worth it though.

(yes, this was for you Denyse)

It's a really beautiful spot. The small village around it has just enough of everything to be a nice destination for a summer weekend; The beach is long and mostly abandoned and there's a tidal flat that gets completely drained during low tide. There's actually a fairly strong trade in fishing charters, which has lead to another example of Kiwi ingenuity:

That boat's about 40 feet long, maybe bigger. The trailers are pulled by tractors with double and triple back wheels into the ocean so they can launch. Much like a system we saw for tour boats in Abel Tasman, but much, much bigger.

It was a great place to start our trip, and, luckily, didn't put us too much off course for our first major stop. Napier.