Stunning landscapes and seascapes abound. Went down to the beach this morning to see Cape Turnagain. Then we drove as far as we could along a no exit road through Pipi Bank Station but when it turned into a track a bit too corrugated for our car, we headed back to Herbertville and along another no-exit road to Tautane station, where along the way we found yet more stunning scenery and a memorial to the family that owned the station.
From there it was back on Route 52, past the longest place name in the world, a quick detour to Porongahau, on to Waipukarau for a pie for lunch, and through to Napier. And there we had today’s back track. Seems Napier doesn’t need our help to compensate for the tourism downturn. Everything we tried had a no vacancy sign. So back to Hastings where we finally found a motel for the night. Very nice it is too, albeit at the risk of blow-out to our accommodation budget.
The landscape, though superb for the tourist, is extemely dry. More than once we’ve come across cattle being grazed on the roadside, sometimes with electric fencing, sometimes with farmhands keeping watch as the animals browse. Yesterday we had a short stand-off when one steer took his time before consenting to move aside. We were impressed, too, with the dog who raced past our car to do point duty and ensure the mob of sheep made the correct turn left instead of heading straight on.
Off Highway One 