Day 12 : Gentle Annie and Art Deco

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Drove the Gentle Annie today.
Was a bit surprised how quickly I did it. Pretty much a single days drive.
Amazing view from rest stop
What a drive though. Great scenery, and I'd heard that the road was a bit dodgy. Turns out the whole stretch is now sealed. I think they were finishing it off as I drove through there (ha ha)
There is a video to come.


View The Gentle Annie in a larger map

Napier

I started looking for some sort of accommodation as soon as I left the mountains.

I was heading to Napier for the Art Deco fest there. I'd been camping for several days and I wanted to clean myself up before meeting up with my Uncle and Aunt. This festival has turned into a bit of a pilgrimage for them. They spend the year combing Op-shops, then get dressed up in period costume, and live out of a hotel room for the weekend.



There was no accommodation on the way in. No hotels, B&B, or Hostels. Just farmland.
Eventually I was heading into the Napier town centre and there was not going to be any 'room in the Inn, for this little black duck' once I'd reached the city.

Made a last ditch effort and turned off into the suburb of Taradale, hoping for a vacant room.

Stopped at one place with a Vacancy sign illuminated.
They were full, and had neglected to turn on the 'NO' part of the neon sign out the front.

Second place just up the road also had the vacancy sign illuminated, and they were full, but in their case it was to help out travellers.

Their view, is that anyone who wanders in off the street must be cruising all the local establishments, and they see it as a responsibility to fix folk up with a bed for the night. Even if it means that the punter stays at the competition.

These guys were amazing!

Ballina Motel
393 Gloucester Street
Napier
Freephone: 0508 22 55 42
Phone: 06 845 0648
Fax: 06 845 0649
Email: info@ballinamotel.co.nz
http://www.ballinamotel.co.nz/

They phoned around, and found me a room in Hastings, which is a town neighbouring Napier.

Ended up at the Frimley Lodge Motel and first thing I did was shower, shit and shaved. Really nice to sit on a loo where flies or mosquitoes don't float up out of the bowl when I lift the lid.

Not that I'm complaining about bush loos. It's always nice to pull into a camp-site and see some sort of cubical construction in amongst the trees.

Frimley Lodge 

Very clean inside, and great big flat-screen TV bolted to wall. I've been wondering when these would filter down to the cheaper places. It's like WiFi, these sorts of amenities are so cheap these days that I've come to expect them.

Recently refurbished, the Frimley is an older style motel, made contemporary with the neutral grey colour schemes.

Only hassle was that the Bathroom mirror was in an inconvenient spot??? I unhooked it from the wall and balanced it on the window sill.

311 Pakowhai Road,
Hastings, Hawke's Bay,
New Zealand
Phone: +64-6-876 0519
Freephone: 0800 800 936
E: info@frimleylodgemotel.co.nz
www.frimleylodgemotel.co.nz

Gentle Annie videos








Rest stop graffiti on the Gentle Annie










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