We’re Off on Safari

A group of seven vans left Foxton to go on Safari, led by Owen and Helen.  We will be traveling to all sorts of exciting places over the next couple of weeks.  Driving  up SH3 through Patea, we stopped to get some reasonably priced diesel.  This gave me the opportunity take a photo of the Aotea Canoe, a Patea icon, which stands in the main street.

Then it was on to Hawera for the next two nights, staying at the NZMCA Park.  We were second to arrive, with the others coming in thick and fast.  There  was plenty of room for us all, luckily - you never quite know till you arrive just how busy these parks will be.

Hawera Muller Park

There was even a welcoming committee which came waddling towards , a mother duck and her teenage ducklings, it seemed. “Don’t feed then around the vans, or we will never get rid of them”, we were told.

Quack, quack

We met for 4zees in the little gazebo, not terribly warm as the strong wind whistled through.  Part of the structure was made from recycled materials from the old hospital building which formerly stood on the site.  And the table is a poured steel wheelwrights table used for making wagon wheels.

Gazebo, built 2014

There was a bit of a panic in the early evening when Don discovered his car would not start.  Pat came to the rescue with a set of jumper leads, and Owen drove his big black 4WD over to supply the power.

Don, Owen and Pat

Sadly, that didn’t fix the problem, so Robin came out with his trusty multi meter, which showed that Don’s battery was in a very sad state indeed.  This was confirmed when the motor mechanic arrived a little later.  There was only one answer to the problem, the battery needed replacing.  Better to find out now instead of further into the trip when we could be in the middle of nowhere.

Owen and Robin checking the battery

The following morning we went our separate ways.  A group headed out for the day at the Tawhiti Museum.  Four of us went in our car up to the Cheese Bar in Stratford to stock up with cheese, but to no avail, the shop was on holiday time and was closed.  Never mind, we checked out where the local dump stations were, and how easy they would be to access when it was time to move on.  And stopped at White Heather Caravans to check out their accessories.  The mountain was looking lovely too, still a little hazy but plenty good enough for a photo or two.

Mt Egmont

Geoff and Eileen arrived in the late afternoon, making our numbers eight vans, with one other joining us in New Plymouth.  Do hope that nasty wind drops, it’s no fun towing in such conditions.