Thursday 28 February

Morere, Hawke Bay
We seem to be the only people staying on a campsite behind a cafe, just north of Nuhaka, at the northern edge of Hawke Bay.
We left Taupo this morning and took a route through some varied scenery to Napier. As well as some high mountain passes, up to 800 metres, we also went through an area of desert. It isn't true desert as the rainfall is too high but as the soil covering is mainly pumice there is  no water retention and few plants can survive.
I liked Napier, it had an air of quiet gentility. The centre with it's beautifully maintained art-deco  buildings, built in the 1930s after the area was devastated in an earthquake, echoed a past long gone. Groups of people sat outside the cafes surrounded by shops selling old and reproduction goods from the. It was all tastefully done.
We then continued round Hawke Bay, not sure where to stop for the night. We looked at quite a nice DoC site by a lake, but the sky was overcast and there were occasional smatterings of rain so we pressed on until we came to Morere. It's all a bit  Marie Celeste, the cafe has closed and there is no-one about. There is a house next to the campsite with a couple of cars outside so mabe the owners live there, but there is no sign of anyone. It should be a quiet night.
We saw so much logging today. At first impact it seems that most of New Zealand's mountain sides are forested. They are, but by row upon row of conifer plantations. Is the conifer an indigenous tree? Was native scrub cleared to develop this industry ? If so, how has that affected the native plants and animals. Logging takes place on such a vast scale, what happens to all the wood? Who profits from it's sale? How is it managed?