Thur 4 Feb - Wellington to Napier

We left Wellington reluctantly as we had so liked the city but needed to push on up the eastern side of the North Island to Napier. En route we stopped off at Martinhouse, a small town famous for its boutique vineyards but which did not particularly impress us, although in retrospect we were perhaps expecting too much. Then we drove on through Masterton, Dannevirke and Waipukurau to Hastings and Napier. Of these, Masterton was much larger than expected, Dannevirke made much of its Viking origins (Danes were encouraged to settle here), and at Waipukurau friendly and helpful mechanics at a garage came to our rescue when the battery on our MPV died. We reached Napier late afternoon and after an abortive attempt to find a cabin in a holiday park, settled for a very nice motel on the seafront. This proved to be excellent value for money, not only having the usual en-suite facilities, but a fully equipped kitchen, flat screen tv, DVD player, music system, extra king size double bed and a Jacuzzi! It was like having a small swimming pool in your bedroom, and all this for just £70 a night! We slept well that night.