Road Trip Day 8 - Eskdale Holiday Park, Esk Valley, Napier

I woke early the next morning, with an urge to find the long drop. When I went to open the door however, I was abruptly stopped by the WASPS all over the glass. At some point during the night, the "few" wasps had turned into many and they were chilling out all over the van. After watching them for a bit, I determined they seemed to not be agitated or moving a lot so I carefully slide open the door and slowly exited the van. Once outside the van I could now hear a very loud buzzing and see them flying everywhere. Moving as slowly and smoothly as was possible while fighting adrenaline and my bladder, I scurried to the toilets and back. 

Bursting into the van, I woke Sonny and explained the situation. He was not exactly pleased but we decided on a plan - to pack up as best we could inside the van, then head off to have coffee and breakfast somewhere without stinging insects. This plan was executed flawlessly and about thirty minutes later we were parked beside Lake Tutira drinking coffee and discussing the day ahead. 

We were one week into our grand tour, and after two nights of free accommodation, we decided to "splurge" a bit and stay at a holiday park. A quick search on this fantastic app I found called Campermate and we located three pet-friendly holiday parks in the Napier area. I made a quick table comparing attributes (laundry, wifi, paid vs. free showers, cost, etc) and we settled on a smaller place, located 18 km north of town in the winery filled Esk Valley. It turned out to be a perfect choice.

When we arrived, the very kind host showed me the huge back field they had, and said we could set up camp there, by the river, to allow the dogs the most space to run around. The facilities were basic, but well-maintained and clean, and the laundry and unlimited hot showers were just what we needed. Even better, the owner was a Hiace fan as well, and he praised our little campervan. 

We settled in and quickly began turning ourselves back into respectable people. I started laundry while Sonny cleared our rubbish and recycling. We then took turns taking showers (heavenly!), and I cleaned out the van. The shelf I built when holds our large water container had been slowly cracking as I recycled a found board for the bottom. Therefore, my only agenda for the day was a trip to a hardware store to procure a new piece of wood as well as more fuel cans for our stove and a few other bits and pieces. 

By two o'clock we set off to run errands with clean clothes, bodies, and van. After a bit of a run around which included borrowing a tape measure and digging through the ends and pieces pile, I got what I needed, cut to size, for only a dollar!

We had debated going to the nearby vineyard restaurant for dinner, but discovered it was closed that night. Instead we bought real food and brought it back to the holiday park where we cooked a delectable dinner that didn't come from a single packet. After dinner we worked on the van and Sonny spent time writing an application for a course he plans to attend in August. We read about Napier, and discussed our plans for the next day and the time beyond. We hoped to tour Napier in the morning, as well as complete Sonny's paperwork for his visa application so we could get his interview time sorted as this was the only immovable blockade to our fancy-free vagabond life.