Time to Wander Home

It was time to say goodbye to our new friends at the ICA Rally and start heading home.  Passing by all sorts of road works on the way.  Being Sunday, these rollers were parked up on the road side while the workmen were no doubt having a well earned day off from their labours.

Not working on Sunday

We were taking two days to drive home, stopping the first night at Taupo Airport, always a handy spot to stay.  This NZCA Camp is always busy.

Overnighting at Taupo Airport

It was a lovely clear day, with little wind, so the parachutists were out in force.  Sitting outside under the shady awning, we heard the small plane take off innumerable times from the adjacent airport, and then the paying customers jumped out overhead.  Some strapped in tandem with an instructor, while the more experienced jumped solo. 

We are not trying this!

Is it Beer O’clock time yet?

There was a knock on the door in the early evening, and whose this come calling?  It was Robin’s former colleague from their time together in New Zealand Post Headquarters, Fred, and his lovely wife Avis.  They had seen our names in the sign in book and tracked us down.  We had a lovely evening together, reminiscing about old times, holidays taken and future plans, as you do.

It was another gorgeous day for the last leg of our trip home.  And here is Mt Ruapehu looking wonderful as we drove along the Desert Road.

Mt Ruapehu

Hard to spot, but we noticed an army vehicle blending into the tussock as we neared Waiouru Army Camp.  The  rugged terrain and challenging climate makes it an exceptional area for open country training and live firing.  There are signs along the way waning the public to keep to the road and not trespass into this area due to military exercises.

Army truck

AS we were making good time, we decided to head on to Hunterville, parking the van at Queen’s Park for our lunch stop.  The township was named for George Hunter, who was a member of the Wellington Provincial Council, and is located half way between Taupo and Wellington.  This small town honours the Huntaway sheep dog, a dog which barks as it gathers and moves sheep, invaluable when farming in hilly country.

At Hunterville

The last leg of our journey went quickly, and soon we were home, unpacking the van in the scorching weather.  It was good to finally sit down when the job was done.  We had a great time away – now, when’s the next trip?

ICA Rally, Christmas at Putaruru

After two glorious days at Lake Ohakuri it was time to move on to our next venue.  But not before we had a walk along the jetty for a last look at the lake.  There was good fishing to be had here, with one lucky angler catching two trout over our time here.

Jetty on Lake Ohakuri

Then it was time to travel nice and slowly down the pot holed gravel road to join SH1 and make our way north.  First stop was the Tokoroa dump station, then fill up with fresh water from a nearby tap, and rest and relax opposite the sports grounds for a leisurely lunch.  Our stop for the next two nights was at John’s farm in Putaruru, where we were guided into the adjoining paddock, with a few of the other larger motorhomes for company.

Staying in the paddock at Putaruru

The other motorhomes were parked all around the house

The temperature on Saturday was promised to be 27degrees plus, but we awoke to a misty morning looking through the trees over the valley.  This is a glorious property indeed.

A misty morning

Morning tea was held in John’s extra large garage, and then everyone decorated their tables all ready for our Christmas Lunch.  Everything looked very festive indeed.  Ladies from the local Girl Guides were doing the catering, and what a great job they did, feeding us all.

Ready for lunch

The meal was wonderful, we ate our full, the bubbly flowed, and everyone was happy indeed.  And because we had been very good boys and girls Santa put in an appearance, carrying a couple of large bags.  Wonder if there will be something for us?

Santa came calling

On opening our parcels, this is what we found inside.  Robin was under strict instructions to share is chocolate Santa with me!

Christmas gifts

Then the Christmas cake was cut and passed around.  It wasn’t as if we really needed more food, but who can say no to Christmas cake?  Everyone wandered back to rest or snooze in their vans to let the big Christmas lunch digest.  The temperature had risen to 29 degrees in the afternoon so we decided it was much more comfortable sitting outside in the shade, chatting to our neighbours.  Gemma had a great time outside too, so many interesting little bugs and beetles to stalk in the long grass.  And goodness know what she found in the garden, but she spent quite some time there.

We have had a great time at the ICA Rally, our first, and were made very welcome indeed.  Time for us to move on in the morning, although most at the rally have two more nights at another venue.  So we bid them goodbye, and no doubt will catch up at another rally in the future.

Lake Ohakuri, ICA Christmas Rally

Traveling from Taupo along SH1, we turned off the highway, eventually arriving at a gravel road full of pot holes which took us to the lake.  Slow driving, watching where the holes were, but very scenic amongst the bush and trees.  Our site is a privately owned area on Lake Ohakuri, and the ICA group were fortunate indeed to have this site offered for part of the Christmas Rally.

First view of Lake Ohakuri

As we were first timers, we were warmly welcomed by rally organisors, Cathie and Martin, and helped to find a site.  We were a bit like the “lonely petunia in the onion patch”, having the only caravan amongst 20 or so motorhomes.

On site at the lake

We were formally introduced to the group at afternoon tea time, presented with our name badges, and the members were so nice and friendly.   Several members came and introduced themselves and declared, “you will really enjoy this group”, so that certainly was a great start.   The International Caravanning Association has recently celebrated 50 years in UK, so booklets, badges and stickers were handed out to all attendees. 

Celebrating 50 years

As part of the 50th celebrations the BBQs were fired up and a team was busy cooking steak and sausages.  Birthday cakes, bread rolls and wine were also supplied, and it was a great feast.

50th Birthday feast

Just look at this glorious view from the bedroom window the next morning, it really can’t get much better than this, can it?  There is good fishing here, we saw one of the members coming back from the lake side with a large trout.  It was going to be wrapped in bacon and cooked on his Weber BBQ for lunch, we were told, sounds delicious.  After breakfast we had several cat lovers call to come and visit Gemma. One couple had previously owned Birman cats so they were particularly keen to see Gemma.

View from our bedroom window

After morning tea there was a fair bit of organisation needed to get everyone in the right place for a group photo.  When everyone was arranged just so, the photographer set the timer on his camera, and ran around to join in on the end of the row.  I wanted some more photos too, so climbed up the small hill behind the vans and got a great overview. 

Such a gorgeous place

Craters of the Moon

This time, on our stop over in Taupo, we are staying at the National Equestrian Centre for three nights.  There are power sites available at reasonable rates, and vans have been coming and going.  Surrounded with lots of mature trees, which means plenty of birdlife around, much to Gemma’s delight.  How she would love to get outside and catch one!

There is a huge indoor arena so I went to see if I could take a peep inside.  No horses being worked inside today, but I’m sure it would be a very busy place when competitions are taking place.

National Equestrian Centre

The rain hardly stopped the previous day, and it was great to awake to blue skies today, so we decided to make the most of it and do some exploring.  First, a trip back to town (Taupo), taking a road which Robin wanted to travel as he wasn’t sure he had driven on it before.  Top up the diesel, and we were good to go.  Taupo is part of the volcanic area in the North Island of New Zealand that has been active for the past two million years and is still highly active. So today we took a walk through the “Craters of the Moon”, a geothermal wonderland, full of steaming craters and vents, roaring steam fumaroles, and bubbling mud.

Boardwalks and graveled paths made walking easy.  It was interesting to see birds and insects flitting around and the ground cover was mostly flowering manuka bushes.There were information boards dotted around, and for the weary (or elderly) plenty of seating to sit and enjoy the views.  There were plenty of tourists wandering about, and it was great to hear their travel stories, where they had been and where they were heading to next.  They seemed to be interested that Kiwis, like us, also like to visit these attractions.

Walking around the track, we heard the roaring of boiling hot steam escaping, and peeping over the edge of the large crater, we could see small pools of liquid mud, plop plopping away. A reminder of just how active and unstable this area is.

Boiling hot steam roaring out

Boiling mud in these small holes

It had been some years since our last visit, and it was certainly worth a return visit, especially since we qualified for senior discount.   Lunch was next, and we took another return visit, this time to Lava Glass, glassblowing, gallery and café.  No photos were allowed to be taken in the gallery, so many beautiful pieces of glass on show, but well out of our budget.  We enjoyed a nice relaxed lunch, then made our way back to the camp.

Tomorrow we are moving on to meet up with the ICA members for their Christmas Rally at Ohakuri Lake.  This will be a new experience for us, our first time meeting this group, and our first time visiting the lake.

Off to Taupo

We’re heading off to a new adventure, to meet up with members of the ICA (International Caravanning Association) in a few days for their Christmas Rally.  Our trip up was relatively easy, but Robin commented that with our new van being a little taller than the previous one, it does tend to catch the wind more.

And talking of tall, we followed this rather large horse truck for a while, and were intrigued by the personal number plate.  Bet our son-in-law and grand-daughters would like a plate, and a flash new horse truck, just like this.

Horse truck with a personalised plate

Stopping in Taihape to top up on fuel, I saw this glorious tree, glowing with colour.  Isn’t  it gorgeous.

Seen in Taihape

And we all know that we can’t possibly travel along the Desert Road without yet another photo of Mt Ruapehu.  I make no excuse for this, and can understand why the Maori people are so passionate about the mountains in their area.  As far as I’m concerned, Mt Ruapehu always seems like “my mountain” to me!

Mt Ruapehu under the clouds

There was extra colour on show as the elevation dropped nearing Turangi.  Neon yellow broom was in flower on the road side looking rather spectacular.

Broom in flower

We decided to stay at the National Equestrian Centre in Taupo for a change.  This venue has really had a lot of changes since our earlier visit some years ago, when it was decidedly scruffy.  Not so these days, everything looks nice and tidy, we have a very reasonably priced power site, and there is a good ablution block available.

At the National Equestrian Centre

Our Wairarapa Caravan Club  buddies Dave and Rae were also staying here so of course we had a get-together or two.  They are great company, so it’s always nice to meet up with them.

 

Dave and Rae

With a bit of spare time  before the ICA rally, we decided to stay here at Taupo for three nights.  We can relax, and have a look around, there’s always something of interest when you are traveling.

Cat in a Carton

The carton was finally emptied.  It was handed to us the day we collected our new van,   chocker-block full of manuals.  For all sorts of things pertaining to the new van, TV, oven, fridge, microwave, heater, lighting, satellite finder, roof vents, even the yet as untried washing machine.  You name it, we have a “how to make it work” manual for it.  They are now all tidied away in a folder.  And you know what cats are like with empty cartons, Gemma thought it was just for her to play in.

Things are slowly getting sorted in the new van.  The long container for the waste pipes was removed from the back of the old van and is now safely attached to the new van.  The cupboards are relatively sorted, although their may well be a few changes down the track.  Various hooks have been fitted for me to hang things on them.  And the clock is on the wall and our Romany Rambler sign is now in place over the inside of the door.

Ready or not, we are  gearing up for another trip away shortly, heading north.  We are off to new places on a new adventure.    

Thank a Farmer

So true