New Zealand Explorer Motorhome Tour - Day 15

We left Napier to check out the gannet colony at Cape Kidnappers, but with grey skies and drizzle in the air we decided to sit and enjoy a tranquil cuppa in the motorhome whilst listening to the waves lapping the shore.

It was a wonderfully scenic route to Martinborough with more verdant cattle and sheep-filled hills. However at our stop at the Nature Park Pukaha Mount Bruce we learnt of the devastating impact that the deforestation has had on the local bird population.  It made us think twice about our perception of the beauty of the landscape.

This was reinforced when we finally caught sight of our first kiwi birds. Sadly, not in the wild, they were a captive pair as part of a breeding and repopulation programme. Because kiwis forage at night, the enclosure was in near-darkness and our eyes had to adjust to the dim red light before we could appreciate the curious creatures and their long bug-snaffling beaks less than two meters away.

We did not have time to explore Martinborough but it looked well geared up for flat bicycle rides around the vineyards.

We could not resist driving to North Island’s southernly most point at Cape Palliser and climbed the 253 steps up to the base of the cast iron lighthouse.
The fur seal colony entertained on the shoreline and we were enthalled by the vibrant yellow of flowers growing right up to the shore.

At a lunch stop a group of kind locals shared some of their freshly caught Lobster and marked our map with their highlights on our journey south.