Here are some photos of her part of the country
Map of Hastings relative to Palmerston North, Auckland and Wellington.
We spent an hour people watching at Waimarama beach and then took Zara for a walk to Pakowhi regional park. Despite being overcast, the cicadas and wetas were chirping, and it was very hot.
After the black sand on the west coast, it was fun to travel coast to coast and wriggle my toes in golden sand only 24 hours later.
Zara is cute so I included a bonus photo just of her. Note the water trail below from all the dogs and children jumping in the river and then running across the bridge!
Hastings has some beautiful parks and gardens. Nadja's favourite is the Chinese garden
There was also an aviary, a huge playground for kids, a river running through with lots of little bridges, and a beautiful hot-house. It was pretty extreme on that day!
Unfortunately as we were walking, Nadja told me a number of stories of encountering strange people on her early morning walks there, who she assumed were high on non-medicated drugs.
For our final morning in Hastings, we got up at dawn, intending to capture a sunrise at Te Mata Peak. Unfortunately it was raining, but very impressive nonetheless.
