Catch up, you lot!

OK, so here we are, back home again. And once again I have slipped up on the blogging routine. I am not quite sure how to remediate this state of affairs in the future, but I think it may involve David taking over meal preparation when we arrive somewhere so I can exercise my creative bent on something other than food.

Not sure how that plan will work, so don't hold your breath, folks!

We had curtailed our travel plans back in Waitara. The decision was based on my not wanting to spend too much time driving - the Far North is a very long way away, don't you know?

So our aim was the Bay of Plenty and the Coromandel. There is lots to see in both areas and people to catch up with. So after our lovely two days at Tongaporutu, we headed off reasonably early for us on March 6th, to Tauranga. Our intention was to get to the Memorial Park which is adjacent to Barry and Pauline's place and score one of the free motorhome parks there. We got there about noon, but both spots were taken, there were thousands of cars and millions of kids - school swimming sports, I think. We got a recommendation from one of the motorhomers in situ and headed over to Tauranga Tourist Park - a lovely place as it turned out and we scored a site in the shade and beside the estuary - so lovely and it was cooler than the other sunny spots. Have I perhaps told you I don't like the heat?

The laundry method of putting the washing and soap powder into the bucket with a small amount of water and leaving it to vibrate as we travel was successful (I put it in the shower which is right at the rear of the motorhome - site of the most movement and vibration, methinks). So the first job was to rinse it all (under the outside tap by the motorhome), wring it out and peg it on our drying rack. And given there was a laundry on site, we got the sheets and towels washed too. Fortunately, they also have clotheslines so I didn't have to use the dryer or try to hang lots of stuff on the small rack out the window ...

We had a couple of days with Barry and Pauline, they of narrowboating fame on this here blog before they moved back to NZ late last year. One day they led us on a VERY VERY long walk (about 16 kms I think, or maybe 600kms, I can't remember ...) of which we took no photos (too exhausted) and which we survived but only just - a nana nap was required.

Another day they took us on a walk around Mt Maunganui - not so long and very pleasant.

There are large numbers of pohutukawa trees on Mt Maunganui, and their roots are very good at holding on ... In the early summer, they look just beautiful with their bright red flowers - they are known as the NZ christmas tree because they flower about then.

Pauline and I were waiting here on a bench for David and Barry to come past - they were deep in conversation and we thought they may not see us if we kept still ...

Difficult to see, but in the water over by the rock and in front of the woman in the kayak you can just see the flippers of a seal who was basking in the warm water and the attention. I was interested that the school kids were focused on what their teacher had set them to do and observe in the rock pools rather than on the seal - excellent teacher, I say!

This rock has had the addition of a stick to make it look even more like a kiwi.

One part of the beach at the Mount. There were lots of tents set up on the beach (just out of shot) for the junior surf lifesaving champs that weekend.

And we walked further down the beach (after coffee and a bite to eat) - quite a few people swimming, given it was a work day.

We then headed to Waikino to get re-acquainted with Brian who we met once about 10 or so years ago at my cousin Gordon's place in Surrey, where Brian was working for Gordon on house destruction, house building, barn construction. He showed us his photos from his times working with Gordon - he would come home in the UK winter, and as you know, that makes sense to me ...

Brian is an interesting man - he lives simply, drives an electric car, works as a volunteer for DOC and other community based groups with a focus on the environment, pots and nurtures cuttings of native trees and plants and donates them to re-forestation projects. On the day we arrived he had given away 360 plants in pots and there was barely a dent in his potting patch.

He took us to the oldies' dinner down to the local pub where we met several of his friends and neighbours. A good meal with convivial and interesting people.

Brian

When we left, Brian gave me two tamarillo plants (and I gave one to Pauline when we saw them again at Papamoa).

We headed back in to Waihi so that David could do the Gold tour - I stayed behind and blogged and blobbed. I parked the motorhome just beside the replica poppet head - made me quite nostalgic for my days working on the Waiuta Mine Remediation - no poppet head there now, but I've seen many photos ... Thanks, Jim!

On his return David took me for a short walk up to show me the open cast mine - now abandoned. It is very deep. Read more here. Mining now is all underground with lots of adits and tunnels under the town - spooky. Apparently the mining company has a policy of paying residents whenever the vibrations from blasting exceed a certain level. Not sure it would be the place for me to live.

The open cast Martha mine

The Cornish Pumphouse which, surprisingly enough, was moved 300 metres - on teflon-coated concrete rails (I think - check it out in the link above).

The replica poppet head - you can see how big it is as the motorhome (2.4m) is parked behind it.

As we were going to stay with Mike and Helen in Tauranga on Sunday night, we decided to stay at Waihi Beach NZMCA camp on the Saturday night - there are lots of carparks we could have parked in along the beachfront, but I am always a bit wary of them on the weekend - local hoons do not fill me with joy.

Then, before heading back into Tauranga, it was back to Waihi - we had been trying to connect with Del and Al from nb Derwent 6 who were in NZ touring in a motorhome. But it had proved quite difficult to coordinate. But persistence paid off and we arranged to meet beside the poppet head, and I promised cheese scones and coffee. At about the time they turned up, a young couple in a car told me that whatever I had cooking smelled yummy. So a couple of scones (buttered of course) were donated to them. That did save the other four of us from total gluttony. But only just - there were still 13 scones among 4 of us ...

Hayley and Rob scored a cheese scone each - you can see them in the paper towels.

Del, Al, D&M plus scones - Del had to take the photos as he has the longest arms for selfies.

And then, for some unknown reason, David tossed my phone back at me and knocked over Del's coffee which went all over my shorts and the blanket protecting the seat. He swears it was accidental and that it just flew out of his hand, but I am not so sure.

If you follow me or Al on fb, you may well have seen this photo. See, I have forgiven David.

Into Otumotei in Tauranga we went, and it was great catching up with Mike and Helen - Mike and I worked together at Waiuta and Alexander on the mine remediation, Mike was site supervisor and Dean's right hand man. Mike and Helen came and stayed with us on the boat in 2017 and he is a great steerer. Hopefully they will come and see us again there, even if it is with a rented boat that Mike doesn't have to share ...

We parked on the sloping bit of lawn at the front of their section and Mike had to find a number of bits of wood to make sure that we were almost level - cannot have me rolling in to David overnight, now can we?

David and Mike on the deck, with beer.

Helen with wine. I think I had some too.

I am not sure if it was the overload of gluten or cheese, but we decided sometime around then not to go to the Coromandel (or possibly it was much earlier when we were trying to hook up with Del and Al and prior to the cheese scone gluttony). So the next stop was a whopping travelling time of an hour away at Papamoa.

Papamoa is a lovely place just a few kilometres down the beach from Mt Maunganui. As it is so close to Tauranga, we knew we could tempt Barry and Pauline, the exercise freaks, with a walk on the beach and a swim. Yep! They came to see us there two days in a row - two walks, two swims, two lunches and one dinner, I think.

David and Pauline at Papamoa Beach

Barry in photographer mode. David and Pauline were well ahead and I left them all to it and headed back to the motorhome - only one problem in that David had the keys in the backpack, dammit! One of those hills in the distance is the Mount - just not sure which one ...

While we were waiting for David and Pauline to return, Barry and I watched the kite surfer - well, more accurately, we watched his kite.

One night we met up with my nephew Jonny and his wife and two daughters over dinner at the Papamoa Tavern. Good food, good chardonnay (the Bastard Series which I had in Dunedin too - good and oaky as a chardonnay should be).

Jonny holding Charlie, Eva in the high chair, and Debs. Strangely enough, this is the first time we have met Jonny and Debs' wee girls. Not sure how that has slipped past us.

The catch up is not yet completed, so stay tuned. More tomorrow, I promise!

The saddest days

It is 24 hours now since David and I found out about the terrorist attack in Christchurch by a white supremacist from Australia. 49 people dead, over 40 injured, about a dozen of them critically injured.

This is just the most horrific act ever to take place here in modern history, and it has shaken us to the core.

David and I are usually happy to meet up with other campers, do the social chit-chat, and keep it light. Today, we have kept to ourselves - I am in the mode of if anyone said anything to me about our immigration policy being the root cause of this because we have new immigrants who are Muslim, either my head would explode from the effort of keeping quiet, or their heads would explode from the level of my vitriol.

As anyone who reads about our laws and the policies that underpin them, would know, NZ's immigration policies are really strict. And our refugees policy is also strict - no refugees gets in here without strict screening. So none of the people killed were any threat to NZ. But that white australian f__ker was.

I am ashamed, I am angry, I am so so sad.

And plans have changed x lots

We had planned to do a trip to the Far North after a week at home, but our trip had to be foreshortened when David’s cataract operation was delayed until 21 March. We could still do the trip, we thought, so off we set to Taranaki to stay in Waitara Holiday Park which my sister Dee, her husband, son and daughter in law are running now.

While there, we had sought their advice on where to break the trip to be well-positioned to get north of Auckland; and were all set to follow that. But in the shower that morning, I realised that I wasn’t looking forward to so much driving over the next couple of weeks as the distances to be covered would mean that we’d be travelling every day and rushing around – inevitably missing things, not being able to stop at the brown signs and having to stick to a timetable.

So I asked David if he’d mind if we left the Far North until after we come back from the UK, and on this trip just go as far as Tauranga. He was fine with that, so we decided to head that way via the Forgotten World Highway from Stratford. The weather was so beautiful and the mountain was totally clear of cloud, so there was another change of destination and we headed up to the carpark at Dawson Falls, did a walk to Wilkie's Pools (across the swing bridge ...), had an icecream at the cafe, decided not to eat dinner at the Lodge, and stayed in the carpark for the night. For FREE!!!

It was such a gift to be able to park there. 

As a Taranaki person (I lived there from aged 2.5 to 17) I am a bit obsessed with this mountain ... When I was at Woodleigh School (primary), the view of the mountain from our playground was amazing, but it was ubiquitous and I don't remember noticing or remarking on it. Somehow though, it got into my bloodstream, and when I left home, I missed both it and the sea - especially as I moved to Hamilton, an inland city with neither a substantial mountain (I don't count Pirongia, sorry) nor the sea.

In the carpark, this was the view from the driver's seat. The closer peak is Fantham's Peak - it is a volcano in its own right. There is a very interesting exhibit in Puke Ariki (the museum in New Plymouth) about the history of the volcanoes of this province - it is definitely worth a visit.

The view to and across the Taranaki Bight.

Easy to see the tree-line - I am not sure what the height is where the trees stop, but I will get my on-site researcher (pictured) to find that out, in case I am asked by anyone ...

The path to Wilkie's Pools is wheelchair- and pushchair-accessible, and is very well made and maintained. DOC people are great at this stuff.

Fantham's Peak is out of sight but the summit of Taranaki is clear

The stream below Wilkie's Pools - there were no photos taken of the pools. That was for two reasons - mine was that I could not stop on the swing bridge to take photos (a bouncing child I'd had to ask to stand still while I was on said bridge); David's was that he spent a fair amount of time conversing with a Welsh woman who grew up just a few miles from where David's grandmother came from in Merthyr Tydfil

 

Sunset. Still a fair number of cars in the park - lots of people were tramping and had stayed in the mountain huts overnight. In the morning, I chatted with a guy who had climbed to the summit the day before and come down to a hut on Fantham's Peak, slept overnight (not much - there was a snorer staying too ...) and then come down before 9am. Such energy and fitness!

This was the end of the road down through the forest from the carpark, as we left in the morning - we didn't hang about for breakfast as, given it was another beautiful day, we knew there would be lots of people coming up. And it is a rather narrow road with few places for passing oncoming traffic. We had thought about having breakfast in Stratford, but just out in the sunshine where the treeline finishes, there was a good space to pull over off the road - I prepared a cooked breakfast and saved us at least $40 - yay!!

 

In the morning sun, the upper and lower boundaries of the tree-line are very clear.

Not easy to see, but to the right of the power pole is Mt Ruapehu which is in the middle of the North Island.

This is the view from the Public Dump Station in Stratford. Fence staples needs replacing, but hey ...

In the late afternoon, up in the carpark, while I was sitting outside enjoying the sunshine, David had the maps out and was comparing distances and travel times that resulted in a further change of plan (I sense a pattern here – again …) – we decided that we would come back via the Forgotten World Highway (always my preference as the mountain is in view on the way west) and travel up via North Taranaki.

So off we went heading on our way to another place suggested by Dee and Murray, on the banks of the Waikato River. But as we came through Onaero, I thought of the still 3-4 hours of driving, and decided I would far rather stop at Tongaporutu. So there we stopped – not just for one night, but for two!

 

Tongaporutu: I posted several times about this place late last year...

Drinks and nibbles with other campers - all of the others pictured live onboard fulltime. Please note thast neither of the women in the sunshine are actually a trumpian orange, but I lightened the shadows so people were visible. So Rose and Ann look slightly more colourful than in real life. Sorry, ladies.

This was the last of about 10 photos of the approaching sunset - be pleased I spared you those.

 

Mel with his new friend, Moosli who lives with Kevin and Marilyn from Egmont Village. Lovely people!

The river mouth - next stop Australia ...

High tide - perfect water for skiing. Where is my dad when you need him?

That water is so smooth that it is slippery when skiing.

 I think it is safe to say that I am obsessed with Tongaporutu, as well as with the mountain.

 Jim and Judy called in on their way back from Auckland and Hamilton, to have dinner and bring emergency supplies of chardonnay - I had run out the night before and was reduced to drinking riesling - shock horror!

Changes afoot

Late last year, I dropped a saucepan lid from the level of the cupboard shelf (about 400mm) on to the kitchen floor, and dammit, it cut the vinyl!!! What is that about? I would expect that kitchen vinyl would be tougher than that. I have never known vinyl to get a cut in it from a pot lid from 400mm or from bench height, for that matter. So we cogitated about what to do: live with it, pay an exorbitant amount to replace it. It wasn’t until I was talking on the phone with Mick when he suggested claiming on insurance, that it occurred to me that we do pay that for a reason, and this could be it.

Long story short (for a change) and we now have this:

Hopefully it is more sturdy, and hopefully it will always look cleaner than the bright shiny black vinyl did - it showed every speck of dust, flour, every dirty footprint ...

It has the advantages of being non-slip (not chosen with that in mind, but it’s a bonus for us older people) and of making the kitchen look much lighter. I haven’t yet been in it with a hangover or when feeling queasy or giddy, so I am unsure what the optical effects of the pattern may be...

Of course, Luke was our ‘move it’ man who shifted the washing machine and freezer out to and back from the back porch and the fridge to the hallway between the kitchen and dining room. Rewards were cheese scones, a pork roast and a couple of beers, plus a care package of leftover pork for his sandwiches.

I’m not often up this early anymore …

Before dawn at Rata Street

Dean and Phaedra came to stay on their way back from New Plymouth. They had an early ferry to catch and David had a hospital appointment. So I was up before dawn to see everyone off.

Of course, I went back to bed – I’m not silly!

Socialising down south

Our last few days in the South Island were spent in the company of friends, by and large.

We stayed a couple of nights at Rangiora Leigh Campgrounds which are closer to Loburn than Rangiora. It used to be a Christian camp and the old cabins certainly reflect that – they have double glass doors and the only other windows are high up on the front wall. Must be depressing in overcast weather, and not much better in the sunshine …

However the camp itself is great – relaxed, friendly, well equipped. The permanent residents we met were very hospitable and chatty which is nice. Sometimes it can feel a bit daunting to arrive at a place where the residents are a bit standoffish, understandable, but daunting.

The pleasure we had there though was mostly around connecting again with friends made when I was working for Dept of Conservation on the West Coast. Dean had texted asking if he and Phaedra could stay with us in Waikanae the following week, so I phoned him. It turned out that Loburn is only 20 minutes from where he and Phaedra live, so we arranged for them to come to dinner the next night. I then called Gavin who has recently moved from Greymouth DOC to Rangiora DOC, and asked him to join us. Thai Chicken Noodle Salad and Jack’s carrot salad, plus yummy dessert (lemon curd and cream with blueberries – very very yummy indeed) made by Phaedra. It was wonderful to catch up with them all. Strangely, we took no photos ...

Earlier that day we had been out to lunch at the Thai Aroma restaurant in Rangiora with Jack and Joy who we stayed with on our way south a couple of weeks earlier. Lovely food and a very nice oaky chardonnay as provided by Jack. The restaurant was ideally situated in that there was plenty of room to park a motorhome nearby if any over-imbibing has occurred. Not necessary for us that day, given I had dinner to prepare for Dean, Phaedra and Gavin.

Joy with David

Jack in his very attractive short purchased in the Islands and made in Fiji - I checked the label...

More friends catch up was to follow, as we made our way in to Christchurch to see Lucy and Rob and their son James. We couldn’t fit in their driveway without hanging out over the footpath, so I reversed out on to the road and we parked there, with the ramps under kerbside wheels to make us level. Surprisingly it was very quiet – strange, as we were very close to both a supermarket and a service station, and right next door to a childcare centre/kindergarten – although that didn’t start business until about 8am.

We spent a fabulous evening catching up with Rob and Lucy – we met them about 30-odd years ago, Rob and his then-sidekick Ron did some of the first renovation work on Cherswud, our 1919 Johnsonville home, but we lost touch sometime after they moved south. Facebook is a big help when trying to find people, and that proved to be the case with them. I had reconnected with them early last year when I was staying in Christchurch for work, and they came for lunch over the New Year when they were having a few days in Wellington. Funny how with some people the reconnection is instant and the years between just fall away.

And then it was northwards, as we were homeward bound. We had planned on stopping somewhere in the mountain range between the east coast and Murchison, but the fire hazard was extreme as there has been no rain in the South Island for months and the place is tinder dry. So rather than stopping somewhere on the way, we slogged on to reach Murchison NZMCA camp – a well-placed area that, at $3 each a night is pretty much free.

A fairly long drive again the next day to get to Nelson to visit WOW, the World of Wearable Art Museum. On display were the place-getters in the 2018 competition. Some amazingly creative garments that took many hours to construct.

 

The Kakapo Queen - description below

A castle, constructed of wood etc

WOW Tools of the Trade - description below

 There is an ongoing display which I think gets changed each year - not sure about that, but I am sure you can find out on their website if you are keen. The exhibition is called Bizarre Bras ...

Bizarre Brass and description below

Not sure this needs any explanation ... but isn't it cool?

Now which man would brave these sets of teeth?

Clever, some of these artists ...

The breast cancer awareness bra - very classy!

Then it was back to Stoke to park outside Chris and Ann’s place (we reconnected with them on our South Island trip late last year), followed by food and wine and laughter. We organized to catch up again with Salvi and Ange who are in Europe at the moment – they are going to come and join us on the narrowboat before they come home for the first NZ superannuation payment that is due on 1 August … And I remember when Salvi was just a very young man in his early 20s, and the rest of us were significantly older at 25, 26, 27 ;-)

And then our last friend stop was to stay in Richmond (about 15 minutes’ drive this time) at a motorcamp about a mile from Jack and Sarah’s place. More laughter and good food (nachos and roasted stone fruit with cream) and wine (sparkling rose) and then a walk back to the camp.

As our ferry check in was mid morning, we overnighted at Koromiko in a field that is open to NZMCA members at a cost of $5 per van. A beaut place to stay before and after the ferry.

We had a beautiful crossing back to Wellington – I sat in the sun at the lounge in the bow. Bliss.

Leaving Picton

David says I look like I'm steering, but no! I'd be at the stern and would never be able to see the bow of this huge thing.

I think this is when we were heading out of Tory Channel

 

The panorama shot. Tim did ask why they put a sticker on the window that spoils the view. Good question, but it wasn't in my sight-line.

Hills to the south of Wellington.

Cape Palliser Lighthouse and the rocks on the Eastbourne side of the entrance to Wellington Harbour - a time for the crew to concentrate hard, as there are rocks on the Seatoun side too ...

A cruise ship berthed in Wellington - not a very big one as they don't fit in our harbour.

For the sake of comparison, you can see a Picton ferry on the right of the picture - so the cruise ship isn't huge, but it is a damn sight bigger than the ferries are ... We berthed beside the other ferry. One disadvantage of taking a vehicle on the ferry is that you have to go down to your vehicle while the berthing is taking place, so you don't get to see any of it.

A lovely drive home to Waikanae, and the very barest necessities of unpacking - mostly the dirty laundry so the washing machine was going flat out for a few hours...