That is such a different story from the last 3 places we stayed where there was little shade to be had and lots of scorching sunshine. Bloody climate change!
We left home late on Wednesday afternoon and only travelled to Tangimoana Road again - it's lovely and peaceful and just far enough away to feel like we are underway and not so far that it is a hassle after a full day's activities.
Craig, the farmer at Tangimoana, gave us a bag of lemons, oranges and limes, all for $1. We will definitely stay there again and again!
David had done a sterling job of most of the packing the motorhome which meant I could finish off some admin tasks and attend the Lodge residents' meeting and afternoon tea.
David, bless him, had dumped a heap of his bits into 3 shopping bags and plonked them in the shower cubicle, to be sorted later. It's the quickest way for him to pack - otherwise it can take weeks. I exaggerate of course, but what would our relationship be without the occasional injection of hyperbole?
The upshot of said dumping though, was that he could not find his 3 sets of glasses (reading, distance, sun) or binoculars later that evening when I was already in bed and he was searching by the light of the torch on his phone. Before panic set in, I got up and turned on some lights and found the items in the bottom of one of the bags he swore he'd already searched. He HAD searched it using a boy's look, but hadn't dug down to the bottom - and he was virtually searching in the dark Not a good look (literally) for a man who is partially sighted!
So that panic was averted. Since then however, he has misplaced said reading glasses somewhere in the motorhome. Neither of us can find them, so I fear a new pair will need to be acquired when we get home. He doesn't wear them often, so no need to source a new pair on this holiday. (Update: he bought a cheap pair from Chemist Warehouse in Pukekohe so I don't have to lend him my reading glasses each time he needs to actually see something.)
 |
| Dawn at Tangimoana |
We woke early in Tangimoana, and headed out without brekkie on our way to Turangi. Thursday was scheduled to be a big traffic day here in NZ because the Friday was Waitangi Day, a public holiday, and NZers just love to go away for a long weekend!
 |
| As we drove along Tangimopana Road heading for SH1. Ruapehu was visible in the distance. No traffic, so I could stop and take this photo out of the habitation door. |
 |
| Ruapehu as we approached Waiouru. Impressive sight. |
We like to be off the road by noon on holiday weekends, so an early start felt good. Almost no traffic for the first couple of hours. We were going to treat ourselves to a cafe breakfast in Waiouru but every cafe on the left hand side of the road were fast food outlets, so we drove up on Desert Road and parked in a Rest Area with a view of Ngauruhoe and had healthy fruit, yoghurt and home-made muesli.
 |
| Ngauruhoe from our lunch spot. Pretty impressive, eh? |
 |
| And from after lunch we found a spot to stop to let trucks go past - the drivers travel the road every day, so they go flat out. I don't, so I am more sedate. |
However the man who pulled up next to us in the late afternoon asked David his name and it turned out they had been in the same class at high school. Connections are often not more than 2 degrees of separation here in Aotearoa...
The next morning, we left slightly later than I would have liked but still we were the first out of the site - having filled with water and dumped the rubbish. We stopped for brekkie (baked beans on toast) beside Lake Taupō, and I discovered that lake waves have a different rhythm to sea waves. While sea waves are soothing and soporific (I think) because they are less frequent than a resting heart rate, lake waves are frequent and stressy. The black swans were lovely and friendly though - not like the aggressive white English ones that are also much larger!
 |
| Much smaller and still graceful. |
We parked up for that night just out of Reporoa - a lovely place but not enough shade in the afternoon ... And very hot. I had put some washing in a bucket and decided to rinse it off at the closest tap that already had a hose attached. I held the hose out over the bucket, and instead of water coming out when I turned the tap on, out came about 20 earwigs!! AAARRRGGGHHH!!! And then came the water, so my shorts and socks and knickers were infested with earwigs who were swimming, crawling, hiding. I shook them all out (well, I hoped I had) and hung the washing out to dry. Needless to say, I did a thorough check olater before bringing it inside ...
 |
| Mount Tauhara, known in Maōri as the Sleeping Lady, from our campsite near Reporoa. |
 |
| The Sleeping Lady at dusk |
Yesterday we drove to Welcome Bay near Papamoa because we wanted to see Pauline who we haven't seen for over a year. Her husband Barry died in October and we weren't able to go to the funeral. Pauline and Barry were founding members of the Zero Degrees Club that we started when we all lived in the UK.
Pauline came out to us for lunch and we taught her 5 Crowns. I shouldn't have because she and David beat me, dammit. We have asked her to come and visit us in Waikanae - she had better do so!
 |
| David declared he could get under the extended table to sit on the driver's seat, rather than going outside and in the driver's door. |
 |
| Kilroy was here. Five Crowns was about to get underway... |
 |
| She is such a gem, our Pauline. |
The Welcome Bay NZMCA Park is not a place we'd go back to - the road alongside it is a racetrack with chicanes and down- and up-hill rally features. Very noisy and no shade either - and yesterday was BLOODY hot. Heat, as you may have gathered, is not my favourite weather condition.
Today was a productive one - first stop when we got to Hamilton was to get water (after the floods and bad weather of the last couple of weeks, the Welcome Bay site's water was contaminated) and there is no water available at today's site. Our second stop was the laundromat to wash and dry the sheets, duvet covers, pillow cases, tea towels. While the washing was occurring, we had brunch at the cafe next door: eggs benedict. Yum. Then while the washing was drying, I went off to Spotlight and Burnsco - topper pad for Julia (ACP had forgotten to pack it), emergency pineapple lumps and emergency peanut slabs, replacement wool duvet inner (we gave one to my brother over Xmas), 2 new duvet cover sets, pillow case for the triangle pillow (I forgot to pack it), and collect the chair I had bought online. Both shops were having good sales so prices were reasonable.
One thing we have realised is that using Google Maps has lessened our capacity for navigating and for intuiting compass points! When we arrived here at Te Kōwhai, we parked next to the hedge, thinking we would have the shade for the rest of the day. But no. Brendan told us when he arrived home that we were going to shortly be bearing the full brunt of the sun. So naturally we moved - into the shade of the trees.
 |
| David playing the ukelele in the shade. Prior to this we were parked against that fence in the distance... I sent a video to David's mate Ron who is tutoring him - there's been much improvement! |
Today we have bought two meals: brunch (although I did make fruit salad, yoghurt and muesli at 7am) and a fish burger for David and toasted sandwich for me plus chips to share and a lamington each for dessert. Tomorrow we will be good, I promise!
 |
| This vacuum-packed parcel is the bedding we have brought for Julia's use. It is heavy. While we travel it is parked on our bed, in the evening it is moved to a seat. |
No comments:
Post a Comment