Two days at Porangahau

After moving on each day we decided to take a rest day and spend two days at Porangahau, another small town on the east coast.  We turned off the main road and drove down the road to the coast looking for the motor camp.

The camp sign was hard to see on the road side and Peter drove straight past.  He soon turned around and the three of us looked around blankly wondering if we were in the right place after all. 

Where was the office?  One of the residents appeared and soon assured us.  “Open the gate and come in, and ring that bell”, we were instructed.  What bell?  Oh, that one hiding around the corner!

  Ring the bell for service

The owner soon arrived, and we were booked in.  We thought the price of $30 per night was a little high, especially in a rural area. The camp was rather “tired” and a  bit run down.  We were parked up in a pleasant area under large gum and macrocarpa trees, and the bees were buzzing amongst the hedge of lavender bushes.  It wasn’t too long before we had the caravans set up, and our chairs out to enjoy sitting in the dappled shade.

Beach Road Holiday Park

A trip down to the beach was the plan for the afternoon.  This is another very broad beach and once again, we had it almost all to ourselves.  It seemed surreal to find this beautiful sandy beach practically deserted.  The sand dunes along this coastline are fragile and in need of protection, and the Community Coast Care Project has been put in place to replant and maintain the sand dunes.  Boardwalks have been built to allow access to the beach and the dunes fenced off  to protect them damage. 

Porangahau Beach

We dined out that evening at the local pub, the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, on the recommendation of the camp owner.  My Scots blood warmed as I looked all around the walls, hung with many prints and posters showing the Scotland from centuries ago.

After checking the menus, we finally made our choices.  The kitchen was kept busy with many customers enjoying outdoor dining, or eating their meals in the bar.  We were seated in the dining room, under the gaze of a red deer sporting a fine set of antlers.  We heard one of the diner ask the waitress, “Does the Scotch fillet come over from Scotland?” Perhaps a reasonable query in a hotel boasting a Scottish name.

Most of our group fancied one of the variety of the burger meals on offer, while I ordered a sea food pizza.   Perhaps a shared sticky date pudding to finish?  Why not, surely half a dessert isn’t as bad as a full one, I told Robin.

Dining at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel

(After a week in the wilderness without any internet connection, TV reception and very limited cell phone coverage.  We are now at Waipawa and able to upload our blogs at the public library.  So do check out our earlier posts to follow us on our trip around the Wairarapa.)