Happy NZ Birthday Mitch!

May 16

Happy NZ Birthday Mitch! 🎂 Lucky for him, he’ll receive celebratory wishes on his NZ birthday today AND his American one tomorrow!

It’s time to celebrate with a three-hour drive to the West Coast. We hadn’t planned on spending three hours in the car today, on Mitch’s birthday of all days. Since we changed around our plans earlier in the week to do the hike, today had to be the day we drove to Whanganui from Napier. Rather, today was the day I drove, so Mitch could enjoy being a back seat driver, I mean passenger, on our westward journey.

Our first stop was Mister D’s for fresh made-to-order donuts. You place your order along with your choice of filling. A cinnamon sugar piping hot donut arrives with a syringe filled with coconut lime, chocolate, jam, custard or a choice of boozy flavors. Mitch had coconut lime and I had jam. They certainly didn’t suck. Since I couldn’t make Mitch a cake, this was the next best thing. Start the day with a donut. Hey, why not celebrate early in the morning.

The drive out of Napier was really beautiful as we headed west. The mountains, rolling hills and changing leaves were idyllic.

Our first planned stop was a gallery in Waipawa called Artmosphere. I checked the website last night to make sure they were open today, as shops here keep very finicky hours. When I drove up, the gates were shut and there was a closed banner flapping in the wind. Mitch called the store’s phone number and was told Derek, who was due to run the store today, was “unwell,” and she, Debbie, hurt her back, so they won’t be opening today. Alrighty. We pressed on.

Next was a stop in Waipukurau to stretch our legs. Walking around, there seemed to be a large Māori “Mongrel Mob” gang presence in the town. Not feeling totally safe, we quickly left, only to later read that the police were monitoring hundreds of mob members in the town today.

We drove to Palmerston North (“Palmy” to the locals) for a quick bite to eat and a wander around the city. As we were driving in it felt like we were back on the set of Lord of the Rings. The landscape was rolling hills and mountains dotted with sheep. It got really windy and then we saw the massive windmills on top of the hills as we climbed over the mountain pass into Palmerston North.

Palmerston North is a really big town and had some cool Art Deco buildings. We parked the car for a walk around the large town square. There was lots of street art like we’ve seen in other NZ cities like Christchurch.

We happened upon a shop called Stamp Art. It was closed (of course!), but when we peered through the window, we liked what we saw.

We called the number on the window and the artist said he could meet us at the shop in an hour and a half. We explored the town as we waited and had some pita and hummus at a nearby restaurant.

Grant Ogilvie, the artist, recycles vintage NZ stamps and uses them as a collage behind stencils. He started the hobby during Covid and turned it into a side business, where he now sells his pieces at his gallery and art shows.

Our favorite piece was the large postage stamp he made of an iconic kiwi stamp that was in circulation at one time. He wouldn’t sell that work to us, so we settled on a photo of it below. We bought another piece though, so come visit us in Denver to see the cool Kiwiana art on our wall!

I drove another hour west to Whanganui. Driving west here in the late afternoon means driving directly into the sun. Not fun. I could’ve used a few phone books to sit on to raise me up off the seat to block the penetrating glare of the sun.

We finally arrived in Whanganui to a warm and friendly welcome from Jenny, owner of Browns Boutique B&B, who showed us to our beautifully appointed suite. It was a sight for sore eyes after our long drive and we felt instantly relaxed.

After a short rest, we headed out to celebrate Mitch’s birthday at Maria Lane Eatery.

What an excellent find! Great drinks and delicious food, especially the pillowy gnocchi with roasted pumpkin.

After dinner, we headed back to our B&B for dessert and tea in our room. We retired for the night to luxuriously soft linens, an amazingly comfortable bed and total silence. Not a train in sight!