Eriksen Road

It was time to move on from Kiwitea after four days of country style hospitality.  After we all enjoyed a cup of tea and a slice of Christmas cake sitting outside at the picnic table, Emma’s boyfriend Shimon helped Robin hook the car and caravan up.  Then we needed a bit of guidance to get our rig safely through the gates, and we were on our way, heading to Napier.

Robin and Shimon

We drove through Colyton, Ashurst and over the Saddle Road, where the huge windmills on Te Apiti Windfarm kept me mesmerized as the blades turned slowly round.  Hopefully Robin wasn’t watching them too, as he needed to keep his eyes firmly on the hilly road as he drove around all those corners. 

Te Apiti Windfarm

Once over the hill, it was up SH2 to Napier.  The closer we got to our destination, the hotter the temperature rose, reaching 30 degrees, that’s a lot hotter than we get in Levin!.  The Hawkes Bay area is well known for its rather high summer temperatures.

Goodness, it’s hot outside

We arrived at Eriksen Road NZMCZ Park in the early afternoon, a little hot and bothered, and ready to choose a site, set ourselves up, and have a late lunch.  Poor Gemma was rather hot too, and after a cool drink, slept the rest of the afternoon away.

Ready for the next few days

The attendant came to make sure we were NZMCA members, and to check our Covid certificates.  He told us that after low numbers in the park at Christmas, 35 vans had arrived after lunch. And we noticed many more roll in during the early evening.  It was a joy to sit outside in the cool of the early evening, watching the sky change colour, and we heard the roar of the stockcar races from nearby Meeanee Speedway.

Monday evening sunset

The main purpose of coming here to Hawkes Bay, as well as the usually hot and sunny weather, was to catch up with my sister’s family.  Sadly, Kathleen passed away four months ago, and due to Covid restrictions, we hadn’t seen anyone on this side of the family for some time.  We met up with BIL Dennis, my niece Lisa and her adult children for lunch on Wednesday at the Station Bar and Grill in Napier.  The meals were great, and there was plenty of news to catch up on, it was so nice to see them again.

Dennis, Lisa, Adam and Kate

So what else have we been doing?  A couple of Robin’s friends from the NZ Motor Home forum who were also staying in the park at Napier popped around to see us.  There was a visit to the laundromat, the supermarket, dump station and to fill up on fuel, all the usual holiday related happenings  And time to while away sitting outside enjoying the Napier weather, for morning tea, lunch, BBQs and in the cool of the evening.  Gemma enjoyed being outside on her lead with us, until she had declared enough was enough  and went back inside for a rest.

In the bottom of the wardrobe, playing with a hanging cord

There’s sure to be another small adventure or two before we depart.  We are staying put here  till after all the New Year crazies have been and gone off the roads, we decided.

Christmas in Kiwitea

It was nice to spent Christmas with the family this year, in rural Kiwitea, just north of Feilding.  We took the caravan up to Nicky and Robert’s smallholding, and with a bit of manouvering the caravan as tucked in behind the house. 

On the farm for Christmas

Grand-daughter Emma loves Christmas so knocked on the caravan door door  bright and early on Christmas morning.  This family always have a Christmas tradition of hot croissants with ham and cheese for breakfast,  delicious indeed, so much so that we have borrowed their tradition when we have Christmas on our own.  Then came the presents, and what a stack there were.  We ended up with a whole pile too.

Christmas presents galore

Robert has just been made “Master of the Hunt” and was thrilled with his gift of a new bridle in the club colours, and the plaque attached with his title. 

Robert, Master of the Hunt

Dog Noodle was thrilled with his gift too.  Every year he gets a pink plastic pig toy and one squeak from the parcel was enough to get him excited with anticipation, and he could hardly contain himself.   There wasn't much left of piggy by the end of the day, but he certainly had fun.

Well and truly destroyed

Christmas lunch was a feast of BBQ chicken, glazed ham, salads, yummy desserts and a glass or two of bubbly, eaten picnic style outside under the shade of the gazebo.  The girl’s boyfriends were there too, so it was nice to get to know them a bit better.  Also invited were some neighbors who live alone, so it was quite a lively bunch.  We were fit to bursting after lunch and I must admit to a nana nap in the afternoon.

Poor Gemma was traumatized by the household cats.  The older cat PK (Psycho Killer) had gone missing for several months and only just returned home.  Meanwhile, the family had just acquired a young kitten, so both of the felines were rather put out with each other.  And then, we arrived with Gemma in the caravan, so there was a bit of hissing going on and Gemma couldn’t cope with this at all. We decided that it would be better for Gemma, and our peace of mind, if we kept her in the caravan, well away from the other two cats.  But that didn’t stop them from coming to the door, ready and willing to sort out this townie cat who dared to enter their patch.

PK on the caravan doorstop

Life on a farm doesn't stop jest because it is Christmas.  Thee were chickens to feed, so I went to help with that.  We could hear the chickens clucking away behind the trees in their chicken yard, quite a soothing sound, really.

Daughter Nicky with one of her chooks

Robert went to collect two steers to fatten up on Boxing Day.  And there was baleage to deal with, holidays or not.  It was mowed today and will be baled and wrapped tomorrow.

Hard at work in the hot sun

We had a lovely time here in Kiwitea, eating our meals on the picnic table under the gazebo, enjoying the warm sunny weather, and generally relaxing with the family.  It’s almost time to move on, where to next, I wonder?

New Step for the Caravan

We now have a new step, custom made for the caravan by friend Buddy from the ICA club.  This sturdy step was made from aluminum scaffolding plank to our requirements, as  our previous step had only two steps to get into the van.  The final step up was a killer, and my back and his knees were complaining loudly as we pulled ourselves up into the van.  The new steps don’t fold up, and we carry it inside  the door while traveling.  This one is so much better with three steps, thanks Buddy. 

Our new steps

The old set of rubber steps are having a bit of time out in the patio.  Gemma found them and thought they made a nice little fort for her to hide in.  She won’t be able to play in them forever as they will be coming up to Kiwitea with us at Christmas.  Grand-daughter Emma has offered to take them off our hands as she thinks they will be handy to use getting on and off her horses.  So that’s a good idea, they are being recycled and will be going to a good home.

You can’t see me, I’m hiding

Christmas Rally at Rangiotu School

Christmas is coming up fast, as are the pre-Christmas  get-togethers.  Last weekend we joined our caravan club buddies for the last rally of the year held at Rangiotu School.  The first school at Oroua Bridge was built during 1896 on 2 acres of land gifted by Enereta te Rangiotu. In 1996 the school, with a role of 24 pupils and four classrooms, was closed by the Government, along with a number of others through out New Zealand. The Te Awe Awe family requested the Government return the land and the school passed back into Rangitāne ownership. The school is now used for Hui, seminars, conferences and the like, and is also available for clubs clubs like us to use from time to time.

There was a chance to attend early on Thursday afternoon, so why not, we decided.  So a little band of three vans were parked in a row, and we enjoyed each others company in the sunshine.

Early arrivals on Thursday

Owen and Robin had a good catch up leaning on Owen’s tail-gate.  No doubt checking out the myriad of articles which Owen is known to carry, just in case!  We know he always has a handy ladder on board, and goodness knows what else.

Owen and Robin having a chat

Then Mr President and Mr Vice were captured on camera making quite hard work of the job of putting the flag up.  They got there eventually, but why was it so difficult, I wondered?

Owen and Don wrestling with the flag

During the day the members trickled in, and we ended up with most of our members attending.  The weather remained hot and sunny for most of the weekend o we were grateful we had a nice big shady tree to shelter under for our outside get-togethers.

Here we all are

We all managed to squeeze into the hall, actually a staff room, I think, to eat our meal together on Saturday evening.  Some had been busy barbequing, others cooked in their vans, or brought cold salads over for their meal. The tables were decorated, bottles of bubbly were popped, glasses raised, and we wished each other well.  It was wonderful to welcome Barry and Dianne who joined us for dinner, we hadn’t seen them for a while.  And Dot’s motorhome was misbehaving, so instead of enjoying a  weekend away, she drove up on Saturday in the car to join us for 4zees and the evening meal.

Merry Christmas

Dessert was provided by the club, lovely locally grown strawberries and ice-cream, to finish off our meal.

It's always exciting when new caravans arrive in the club.  Selwyn and Cath proudly showed me through their new to them Swift caravan which had recently arrived on the high seas.

Cath and Selwyn and their new van

Sandra and Don had also just changed their van, after deciding that that driving a motor-home was not for them after all.  Believe it or not, their new purchases was a Leisureline caravan which they had previously owned several years ago.

Don and Sandra’s new van

The rain came down overnight, so we packed up in the rain on Sunday morning.  But not before we had our final morning tea, with delicious Christmas Mince Pies courtesy of the club.  Goodness me, we seem to have been eating all weekend.  Many thanks to the Committee for a great weekend.

Traveling Home, Ngongotaha and Turangi

Leaving Hamilton, our first stop on the way home was at the Ngongotaha NZMCA camp in Rotorua.

What a transformation this place has had since our last visit.  Gone is all the uneven concrete slabs from the original days of being run as sale yard.  The whole area has been resurfaced in nice clean gravel and the long driveway has been sealed.  We were most impressed with these improvements, the camp was looking very smart indeed.    There weren't too many vans staying overnight, so there was plenty of room.

Plenty of room at Ngongotaha

The meeting room had been extended with a covered in seating area, and a new building had also been erected at the rear.  This was built to house NZMCA’s #1 motorhome – which was originally owned by the Association’s founders, Andy and Gladys Anderson, and now restored to it’s former glory.  Read all about it here.

Extended meeting room with the newly built garage behind

We also spotted something different at the back of the camp.  Power boxes!  That’s certainly quite new for an NZMCA park.  Not sure if they are ready to go at this stage, but I’m sure they will be popular in the winter.  Cards will have to be purchased to access these power points.

One of several power boxes

Moving on the next morning, we drove through the Desert Road without a single glimpse of Mt Ruapehu, there was too much low cloud hanging around.  Our stop for the night was at Turangi Park, another NZMCA site available for members.

Staying at Turangi

It was quite breezy the following morning and the wind was doing a great job of blowing the NZMCA flag around.

Time to get moving again heading homewards, and we decided to stop at Flat Hills Café for lunch.  They do the most delicious hot roast meat sandwiches here, well worth a stop.

Flat Hills café

It was roast beef for Robin and I chose pork, very tasty indeed.  I had a chat to the owner as this café is a popular stop on the tourist bus route.  He told ne that the buses stopping are now only two a day, down from five, because of the lack of overseas tourists and back-packers.  So it seems that Covid is having an impact not only on hospitality outlets, but transport as well.  No doubt he was happy that we stopped at his establishment for lunch while we were on the way home.  On the wall I noticed a sign listing items dear to  Kiwi hearts.  Who doesn't love pavlova and hokey pokey ice-cream? 

Lunch at Flat Hills café

Continuing on our way we drove through Bulls, a quirky little town with statues of big black bulls dotted here and there.  Oh look, there’s one over there!  I’m sure the uninitiated would get a real fright catching a glimpse of one of these.

Traveling through Bulls

We made it home safe and sound, unpacked everything, until we do it all again………very soon.

More work done at Hamilton

After a very relaxing time at the farm over the weekend, we hooked up and left early on Monday morning for our appointment with Motor Home Solar.  Our hostess Lynda had given us directions so that we skirted the expressway and those infernal round-abouts during the early morning commuter traffic.  Robin was guided as he backed the caravan into the workshop, then the car, and we took ourselves into the office to wait.  The car was going to be worked on first, to enable us to charge the house battery on the caravan while towing.

In the workshop

Gemma was not at all happy to be bundled into the cat carrier – we keep this light fold-up one in the caravan in case of emergencies.  We really thought she would kick up a fuss, scratch her way out of the fabric mesh window in no time at all, all accompanied by a load yowling, but no, fortunately she kept calm and quiet.  Then the office lady arrived, accompanied by her two small dogs – no wonder we were instructed to contain Gemma in a carry cage.  These two small dogs pranced right over to see this poor cat locked up, no doubt laughing in their little doggy minds.  We were most surprised that Gemma didn't start hissing and yowling at them!  Then, one of the little dogs demanded to get up on the sofa, sit on my lap, and be petted.  Don't know what Gemma thought of that at all.

Waiting in the office

As soon as the car was ready, we could get on our way, leaving the caravan behind to get an extra solar panel fitted, plus new batteries.  Where to now, we wondered, as we had the day to fill in.  We spent some time down by the Waikato River, such pretty surroundings,  and ate our lunch there.  Plenty of others had the same idea, mostly workers it seemed, it was a very popular lunch spot, with cars arriving.  Some remained in their cars to eat their lunch, while others sat in a shady seat or walked along the river bank. 

Down by the river for lunch

Next stop was to the large shopping centre, The Base, to get a couple of things.  If we needed to be reminded that Christmas is coming fast, just look at this  huge Christmas Tree.  It  looked wonderful, with the sun glinting on all the decorations, and would probably look even more festive when it was lit up at night.  We enjoyed a delicious mixed berry ice-cream here while we waited to the call to tell us the caravan was ready to collect.  Mind you, the weather was so warm that I was fighting a losing battle to eat mine before it melted away.

Huge Christmas Tree

At last the phone call came through to come and collect the caravan.  That took a little time, as we had to wait while the workers were in a staff meeting.  The account was paid, and we were free to go.  I was worried that the staff would remove the batteries we had been using, borrowed ones belonging to Bill, but no, they were still safely there.   We gave them our old sick batteries to dispose of, and placed Bill’s ones on the floor of the caravan to take them home and return them.  It was very kind of him to offer us these batteries to tide us over  for a few weeks.

Thank you Bill

By this stage is was after 4.00pm and the traffic was horrendous as we slowly made our way with all the other cars, trucks and buses to finally leave the city behind.  Hamilton is a very busy city, with an explosion of both housing and industrial buildings going up everywhere.  The city is fortunate to have so much flat land available for development, but it certainly adds to the traffic woes.

One appointment down, one to go

Up here in Hamilton we had our first appointment for the caravan on Friday.  This was the annual service, and checking out our hot water heater recall.  After staying overnight on the factory driveway, the workmen were ready to move the caravan into the factory on their trusty forklift and start work.  We were surplus to requirements, so picked up the cat, hopped in the car, and left them to it.  It was time for breakfast at the local café, so we parked the car under a shady tree for Gemma’s comfort, deciding we could safely leave her there for a half  hour while the temperatures were still relatively cool. 

Now, what’s for breakfast?  There weren't too may customers at that time of the morning, so service was very prompt.  We decoded on French Toast for him and poached eggs for her, both very tasty.

Friday morning breakfast

We whiled away several hours down at Hamilton Lake Domain,  looking over Lake Rotoroa.  This is a lovely place, and very popular with walkers and joggers.  There are waterfowl galore to watch, and we noticed an elderly man carefully put his radio controlled boat in the lake and sent it this way and that.  Our caravan was ready to collet in the early afternoon, everything had been attended to, we were told, and we now have a C02 monitor installed as part of the hot water recall.

Our next three nights were spent at a Park Over Property not too far from the city in Flagstaff.  Such a lovely peaceful place after the hustle and bustle of the city, and friendly hosts.

Relaxing on the farm

Our hostess Lynda has several horses, including two pure bred Arabian horses who had done very well when she competed in earlier years.  And her husband John, she told us, has a passion for plowing competitions, so that is why and old plow is proudly on display.  Lynda is a true countrywoman, and commented on the number of rabbits around the property – she often takes her rifle out at dusk to keep the numbers down!

It was “Beer O’clock” before we knew it, then Robin got on with the task of firing up the BBQ and cooking sausages for tour evening meal.   What a life!

This is the life!

ON Sunday we went to visit my nephew Shane and his wife Kirstie who live in Te Awamutu.  It’s been a while since we last saw them, so it was a good catch up, and to reminisce about the recent passing of his Mum, my elder sister Kathleen.  Shane and Kirstie had recently purchased an English  caravan, and proudly showed it to us.  Welcome to the club, we told them, and make sure you join NZMCA, you wont regret it.

Nephew Shane and his new van

While driving out for our family visit, we spotted a, intriguing sign in nearby Kihikihi, the Orakau Battlesite, of 1864.

The Battle of Orakau was also known as Rewi’s last stand, and was immortalized in Rudall Hayward’s 1925 silent film (remade as a ‘talkie’ in 1940) of that name. Rewi’s men began building a redoubt-shaped pa at Ōrākau in late March 1864. The British stationed at Kihikihi soon observed this development. Brigadier-General G.J. Carey sent an armed force under Majors von Tempsky and Blyth to investigate. Within two days more than 1400 troops had arrived at Ōrākau, where the fortification was still incomplete. With the arrival of some Waikato reinforcements the number of defenders was about 300 – up to a third of them women.   The Maori warriors were soon out of food, water and ammunition. It was an unequal fight, with 160 Maori losing their lives, to 17 deaths for the British troops.

Centennial Plaque to the battle

It’s always interesting to check out these unknown to us pieces of history as we travel around our country.