Scenic Route

Traveling from Napier to Rotorua, decided to go up the coast and then head over to Rotorua. This made more sense than backtracking part of the same way that I'd driven earlier. The map showed a road that went past some lakes, and it looked like it might be a nice ride. Went up the coast and then headed cross country.

Shortly after turning, there was a sign that said it was 251 km to the destination, and that 155 km of the road was windy and unsealed. It turned out to be more than an adventure than anticipated. This made it very interesting when going around hairpin curves and switchbacks in the mountains. Fortunately, did not pass more than 10 cars during this stretch, and 20 or so houses/farms.

Came around one curve and there was someone in the road and a car in the ditch (next to the mountain, which was the right side to be on). It was a couple and they had just slid off the road. Stopped, but there was no way we were going to be able to get the car out of the ditch. It had just happened and they were fine, but pretty shook up. Offered to give them a ride. None of us were sure what was ahead. There had been a campsite back 10 miles the way we'd come. They'd elected to wait to see if someone was coming the other way. We didn't come to another town for about 1 hour, so hopefully that was the right choice for them. Obviously, there was no cell coverage in this area.

Made it safely, but it was a draining drive of six hours!