Less than one hour on the bus brings us to Taupo. This is the main starting point to explore the Tongariro National park and in particular to hike the Alpine crossing between the volcanoes there. It all looks nice and pleasant in the guide book, but the weather is putting us off: low clouds, chilly temperatures and rain forecast. We have been smart enough to put this activity on “the next time” list and just enjoy the view of the lake and the windy shores. Better proceed to the east coast and Hawke’s bay, which is famous for its wineries and fancy architectures. So we arrive in Napier in the early evening and check-in at “central backpackers”.
The beach city of Napier is a bit of a jewel on the north island, after the earthquake in 1931 which destroyed most of the buildings, it has been completely rebuilt in art deco style. It’s fancy! 
Lots of decorative concrete mouldings. The weather is still good and we take the chance to walk along the waterfront. The beach is dark, made mainly of round black pebbles. The rest of the city is growing on the hills around the downtown area. The activities of Napier are focused on the wine production of the region, which reaches its best in its Sauvignon blanc. We go for the wine tasting experience, which brings us into the room of aromas. All the good ways a wine can smell or taste, and all the bad ways: like horse, rotten egg, onion and cauliflower đŸ™‚ Very interesting, and very different from previous wine tours!
The low season is starting to kick in and in the evening it starts to get pretty chilly, but we still have to get out for some dinner. After we do so in a partially deserted main street it starts raining, so we get back to the hostel…to find out that it is actually CLOSED! We don’t have a key to enter the building and there are no instructions on what to do in case you are locked outside! A quick trip around the building and we find out that all rooms have their lights: either they are empty or they all went to sleep…facing the idea of having to sleep in front of the door like two complete idiots pushed me to a rude but effective behavior: shout! After a while we managed to get some poor guy to come down and open the door for us đŸ™‚
Sicuramente interessante la degustazione coincide con la linea europea, che ho sperimentato ma interesante pure come fare per non dormire all’addiaccio. Se vi fosse successo questo poteva diventare un’esperienza da raccontare, magari poco gradevole per chi la sperimantava, ma spassosa per chi la leggeva o la sentiva riferire. SarĂ un monito per non incorrere in altri casi. E che il cammino prosegua senza intoppi, questo l’augurio.Lella