Takapau, Napier and Home Again

Our time in Takapau was rather like being in a holding pattern.  We waited to hear whether the family 21st Birthday Lunch would go ahead on Saturday, dependent on an announcement from the Prime Minister on Friday evening.  Not that she was the least concerned about our social life of course, but with cases of Covid rampaging through Auckland, she was making the decision whether the bulk of New Zealand would go from Level 2 to Level 3, as Auckland was.

Sitting tight in Takapau

While we were waiting, we did some more sightseeing around the area. The sleepy little town of Takapua is a bit like a ghost town these days, but must have been rather prosperous in it’s time.  In fact, the caravan park where we are staying used to be quite a busy sock manufacturing business some years ago.  The local hotel is now closed, but is still rather a handsome building.  It doesn’t look derelict, so I do hope someone is living in it, and taking care of this building.

The old Takapau Hotel

We went for a drive on a chilly, drizzly morning and called into the sleepy little village of Ormondville.  For those train lovers amongst you, Ormondville Station is “a modified Vogel Class 5 station building, the only surviving Class 5 station left on the operating system”.  The station, built in 1880, has a Category Two listing with the New Zealand Historical Places Trust.  There are old vintage wagons dotted about.  The station building is also available for self-catering homestay accommodation, “offering a complete railway nostalgia experience in a rural setting”.

Ormondville Station

And how about this “crossing sign” found in Norsewood?

Next stop was Norsewood, one of several southern towns hacked from the bush that covered most of southern Hawke’s Bay. This was burned and felled by Scandinavian immigrants who were brought to New Zealand in 1872 to clear and farm the land.  We called onto New Zealand Natural Clothing, formerly Norsewear Factory Shop, famous for a wide range of woolen clothing.   It was lovely and warm inside, with the wood burner giving out plenty of heat.  Lots of knitwear to check out, but interestingly enough, Robin was the one who came out with parcels, not me! 

The official announcement was delivered on Friday evening, our part of the country was staying in Level 2, so we were free to travel to Napier and join in with the family celebrations on Saturday.  Leaving Gemma in charge of the caravan at Takapau, we drove up to Napier to meet up for the family lunch.  I remember when Kate was a little girl, how did she get to be 21 so fast?  It was so nice to meet up again, and share in this special day.  Sadly Kate’s grandparents (my sister and BIL Kathleen and Dennis) could not attend the birthday lunch.  As they reside in a Rest Home and because of the Covid cases at the moment, all Rest Homes have gone into Lockdown, with no one except staff and essential provisions allowed to enter, or the residents permitted to leave.  It was sad they couldn’t be with us, but so much better to be safe than sorry.

Kate’s 21st Birthday Lunch

Lunch over, we said our goodbyes and drove to Hastings to the lucky Lotto Shop, which has sold more than it’s share of winning tickets.  With a huge jackpot of $50 million which had to go on Saturday night, we couldn't pass up the chance.  But really, what would we do with all that money?  As it turned out, there were 10 winning tickets which spread the money around, but we weren't one of the major ticket holders.  Perhaps we have won a smaller prize instead, we will have to get the ticket checked.

The Lucky Lotto Shop

We packed up on Sunday morning, after doing the chores, fresh water in, grey and black water out.  Mind you, that’s Robin’s job, I had inside things to do.  We decided to stop at Mangatainoka Reserve for our lunch break.

Mangatainoka Reserve

Oops, we found out that I had forgotten to turn the water pump off while we traveled, and somehow, not sure how, water from the tap had sprayed all over the place.  I’ll have to do better, next time.  Just across the road we could see the tower of the nationally famous Tui Brewery, Robin’s beer of choice.

That’s the world famous Tui Brewery over the road

It was mid afternoon when we arrived home, unpacked the van, cleaned the fridge and bathroom, and put a load of washing in the machine.  That’s it till we go away on the next trip.  We were lucky with the weather while we were away, it was mostly clear and fine, but rather chilly overnight, with several good frosts.  Just as well we have our diesel heater to keep us warm.