NZ Day 9. Onward from tangariro!

Note that this was a special day (Randi’s Birthday!!). We broke camp and headed out, heading south to the wine country of Martinborough. A long day’s driving, and who knows what gems we missed by racking up the miles!
Coffee in the little town of Taihape, which whimsically welcomes visitors with a sculpture of a gum-boot done in corrugated steel, followed by a drive through various scenery and farmland. A wind farm of windmills standing on a ridge, enough to compete with Cowley Ridge in Alberta, and the road going through a gorge, stuck to the right hand wall by faith!

Mt Doom (Mt Ngauruhoe) with a white wig on!

The big boot at Taihape

The big boot at Taihape

The Gumboot Manor Restaurant

And finally arrival at Martinborough, and in time for dinner out at Pepper”s Pavillions where we had a really nice dinner to celebrate aforementioned Randi’s birthday! My only disappointment was that the beers on offer were all either import or mass produced NZ beer. No craft brewery or local brew! So we had to make do with local Pinot Noir…again!