Tale of two Lakes

It was a short 27km drive from one side of the lake of Karapiro Lake to the other, leaving the Motor Camp behind to freedom camp at Moana Roa Reserve.  We were awaiting the arrival of Dot and Derek who were driving down to join us from Auckland behind the wheels of their new  motor home, Gypsy Rover.  We had arranged to overnight together here at the Moana Roa Reserve.

Moana Roa Reserve

It wasn‘t too long before they arrived and we set up our vans looking out over Lake Karapiro, several miles south and from where we had camped the previous night.  It was rather wet underfoot, but the setting was wonderfully tranquil.  There was a lot of catching up to do, as their motor home had only recently arrived in New Zealand, and this was the first time we had seen it.

Lake Karapiro

We dined together in the new acquisition, and raised our glasses in a toast to welcome our friends and their motor home back to New Zealand.  We are sure to have many happy miles travelling around together.

Cheers!

It rained and rained all night, making the ground even more slushy than the night before, but the next day was a beautiful morning.  We saw rowers out on a training run on the lake.  There wasn’t much packing up to do, driving through the huge Kinleith Pine Forest, and we were soon on our way for our next stop at Mangakino, .  We had stopped here previously for lunch on our way north, and decided it would be a good place to stay overnight.  There were several others enjoying this site as well.

Lake Maraetai

The 16 ton paddle boat Otunui (built 1907) was hauled out and sitting on top of a double trailer on the grass, waiting to be painted, but the wet weather during the week prevented this.  Quite a crowd watched as the boat was slowly backed down the boat ramp into the lake.

On the grass

There she goes

Back on the lake

The paddle wheel turning

The town of Mangakino originated in 1945 when the government leased a block of land from the local Maori tribe to build a service town.  This became the base for the construction of dams and power stations along part of the Waikato River.  Maraetai 1 Powerhouse was commissioned in 1952, followed by Maraetai 2 in 1970, although both are regarded as a single unit and is the biggest in the Waikato system.  All powerhouses on the Waikato River are remotely operated from the control room in Hamilton, which monitors and controls the output of each station on the river.