"Gentle Annie Road" and Napier

Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Tue 16 Dec 2014 06:10
39:29.46S 176:55.17E
The drive from Ketetahi to Napier could be either be two sides of a triangle on major roads or across the hypotenuse over the hills. It was a wonderful 136 km ancient Maori track which has now been made into a sealed road. We saw one car!
We stopped at a river crossing and parked below the ancient suspension bridge alongside the river. Nobody around except the local farmer and his two dogs - he cast a lure into the river. Helen itched to have a go but the dogs were large fierce cattle dogs! This was unauthorised freedom camping but nobody seemed to mind—in fact there was nobody.  The suspension bridge was all wooden apart from the wires doing the suspending, and was built to enable the farmers to send their stock to market.  The fields were full of healthy beef and sheep and as we approached Napier there were dairy herds and the alluvial soil as we came down from the hills was growing potatoes, maize, vines, apples and other soft fruit, asparagus, avocadoes and strawberries were for sale at the roadside.
We completed the journey on Sunday morning and drove into Napier, the art deco town of New Zealand that had been destroyed by an earthquake in 1931and rebuilt in the latest style. 
It rained all day and after lunch and a walk round Napier we came to rest at the Bay View Holiday Park——not the best but given the foul weather it did the job. We were in need of the facilities, we dumped brown water, grey water and refilled with fresh water.
We checked the forecast and it predicted more rain in Napier for the next few days whereas Wellington 300 km to the south said it would be full sun and cloudless skies. We left the next morning!