Napier then on to Blackhead, (a marine reserve)

Had a good scout round the town dodging the showers, and found ourselves in Clive Park where ther is a Carrillon which plays 4 outrageous tunes every half hour. Tip toe thro the tulips, mareseatoats and doeseatoats and littlelambseativy (now follow the bouncing ball---- akidlleeativytoo wouldn'tyou), Pack up your troubles. Peter said what a load of bollocks ,but a hoot! walked around a bit more and bought a New Zealand 2011 Rugby Shirt, he must be the first.
Napier "The art deco capital of the world" well thats what they say.It is very nice if you like that sort of thing, I thought it was quirky nice. Napier was virtually demolished in 1931 by an earthquake, there are boards with photo's of before and after all round town, consequently when it was rebuilt they replaced what they had just finished building, in Art Deco style. We went into the art deco shop and saw things our Granny's used to have. We really liked the whole town and I suspect it may have a reasonable town website as the tourist board was quite switched on there. Back for another barbeque, Peter is getting quite proficient!
Finally dragged ourselves away from Bayview to head further south, but had to stop off in Napier for essential supplies. Got a bit carried away with the wine! there seemed to be too many offers we couldn't pass up! Fogetting we only have 10 days left in N Z we have a substantial amount to get through as we already have a good stock of beer! We also had to call into a tyre place as our front R tyre was getting a bit bald/scrubbed. The guy changed it for the spare and charged us NZ$10 which is about £3. 50 and also gave us a written report to give to the hire company.
Saw a bit more of Napier before eventually finding the road south( Navigators inspired guesswork!)On through some good growing country apples ,kiwifruit, peaches,tomatoes and lots of wineries.Quite flat but with mountains all around, it really is a beautiful country. We are heading for a beach site which is about 40K off the main road. Only 1 road in and out and eventually along another winding country road we descend into Blackhead Beach. A fabulous beach and a lovely bay. Turns out to be a rip off! $40 per night plus 2 One dollar tokens for the shower which are in the beach public toilets. There is a camp kitchen but no means of cooking, not even a gas bbq on site. If people didn't have their own facillities when they arrived they would be snookered. We have been have been paying $40 for some sites, but they have every mortal thing for your comfort the finishing touch was the coin operated rubbish skip it cost $2 to open and put your rubbish in. Huh! Crap camp, lovely position, 25M from beach but it rained. We managed a walk along the beach between showers, but mostly we sat reading in the van and attacking the beer and wine cellar.