We were supposed to head south from Wellington to the picturesque village of Picton but weather again intervened so instead we headed north to Napier.

We went on a tour with the first stop at a sheep station. There we watched the sheep dogs herding the sheep actually running them in circles and then into a pen. That was followed by a shearing demonstration that was much more interesting than it sounds. It’s always good to see experts at work, shearing a sheep in one minute 30 seconds. We had coffee and scones at the café at the station and then got back on the bus for a trip to Te Mata a 1000-foot hill with a panoramic view of the area.

The ride up to the top of Te Mata had a lot of hairpin turns but wasn’t too scary. Once on top the wind was fierce but the view was breathtaking. There were ramps for hang-gliding but they had all been closed. There was also a hinking and bike trail to the top.

The bus tour was over but instead of going back to the ship we got off in the city of Napier. Much of the center city had been destroyed by a earthquake in the 1930’s and was rebuilt in the art deco style. The main street looks a bit like South Beach in Miami.

The area around Napier is noted for wineries so we stopped at a wine store and picked up four bottles of local wine before taking the shuttle bus back to the ship.