Day 20 - Wed 31 Oct

How can it be the end of October already. And it's starting to hit home that we're approaching the end of the trip with just a few days left. :-(

Flowers near Clearview

First up we headed back to the wineries to purchase our carefully considered selections. A couple of bottles of this, a couple of bottles of that. Who knows how we'll get it all home, and how much tax we'll have to pay when we get there!!

From there we drove to Clearview Winery which Hugh and Kathy yesterday had highly recommended for both food and wine. This turned out to be a good recommendation as we stayed for a fantastic lunch and walked away with another couple of bottles of 2000 Reserve Chardonnay. Why stop now ....

We then continued on South West between the Raukawa and Kaokaoroa Ranges, passing such towns as Pakipaki, Opapa, Pukehou, Otane (slogan: "The Living Lifestyle" - hmmmm) before turning more Westerly at Waipukurau.

Vikings welcome Vikings in New Zealand?
What would later be called the Dannevirke District was originally settled by Europeans in the 1850's, but in the 1870's, an Immigration and Public Works project was launched by the government to open up the area as a key point on the track between Napier and Wellington. A Norwegian was in charge of the Immigration policy and recruited a large number of settlers from Denmark, Norway and Sweden, who arrived in 1872. The Nordic immigration and culture have been continued from that time with many descendents of these original families still remaining in the area.

As we continued down SH 2 through strong gusty winds, we encountered the surprising spectre of a ferocious viking warrior brandishing his sword at us. Welcome to Dannevirke the sign said. Nothing about this in the Lonely Planet! As we continued through town we passed a longboat-styled playgrounds, the Longboat Motel, and lots of streets and businesses with Nordic sounding names.

The long and winding road

Driving on from Dannervirke we passed through the impressive Manawatu Gorge, following a muddy-brown river along winding roads through a narrow valley. We emerged from here into Palmerston North. Being mostly a university town, this is not a typical destination for tourists. We chose it predominantly for its location half-way to Wellington. However, it's a cute town with plenty of parklands and greenery and seems like a comfortable place to live. A nice campsite too, close to town and with beautiful tall trees shading the entire area. Almost like staying in a forrest, with facilities. Found a cute restaurant too. The Aqabar. Great food and cheap, and obviously very popular with the locals.