ICA Rally, Urenui/New Plymouth

Our ICA Rally, dubbed “Naki to Kapiti” started off in the tiny village of Urenui – usually one of those places you drive through on the way to somewhere else.  Sadly, our intrepid leaders Bill and Val could not be here, so we were  designated second in command.  We arrived at Urenui School, ready and waiting to hand the goody bags out when  the other adventurers arrived.  The school grounds are very well kept indeed, with a War Memorial in the front, and a well used playground.  Families pay a small fee to use the school swimming pool over the holidays, and a steady stream of kids and parents came to make the most of these facilities. 

First to arrive at Urenui School

By the end of the afternoon, there was a total of 14 rigs on site.  We were getting worried, as two couples had not arrived – what if they had an accident, we wondered?  A phone call later all was revealed, they had got the dates wrong and thought the rally started the following day.  Whew – at least they were safe and sound, if not a little embarrassed!  We were having a fish and chip dinner for our first night from the local chippie, and very tasty they were too.  That kept everyone quiet, as they tucked into their fish, sausage and chips and freshly buttered bread, while sitting in the warm sunshine.

Fish and chips in the sunshine

Here we all are at Urenui School

After a leisurely morning tea the next morning we packed up, and drove 30km to our next destination, New Plymouth Raceway.  The gate into the grounds seemed a little tight, but as we all made it through without mishap, it was obviously wide enough.  Many thanks to Mike and Jane for helping with the parking here.  The two other vans joined us and received some good natured ribbing on their late arrival.  Buddy came to check out our fridge vent problem, and with Robin and Scotty both standing in as apprentices, fitted a new gas exhaust vent to the fridge for us.  We certainly couldn’t complain about the weather, it was HOT, and several of us were sporting sunburnt noses after our first day here.

View from the grand-stand

Helen quietly  mentioned to Robin that it was Jim’s birthday, so that was worth celebrating.  At Morning Tea so he got a round of Happy Birthday, then a chocolate or two from the Chocolate Fairy, me.  In fact, we all nibbled on a chocolate to help Jim celebrate his birthday.

Happy Birthday Jim, have a chocolate

There was free time to enjoy exploring New Plymouth, some walked through nearby Pukekura Gardens, others drove up to the mountain, or down to the sea front, and our extra fit members got on their bikes, the hot sun wasn't gong to put them off.  We drove down to see the lovely Te Rewa Rewa bridge, shaped like the ribs of a whale.  Arriving there we came to a glorious photo of Mt Taranaki framed by the bridge with the words “We’re giving the bridge a face lift but don't want you to miss a pic.  Take a photo of yourself with this backdrop until the real one reopens”.  So we did.

Was the bridge closed, we wondered, as we walked around the path.  No, it wasn’t but there were signs where work had been started on repainting the structure.  Streams of bikers whizzed past, and walkers ambled over the bridge, while we waited a turn to get a picture.  The mountain is there, just a bit hard to see without a snowy top.

Te Rewa Rewa Bridge

We then drove down to Lake Rotomanu, a very busy place with boats and water skiers in the water.  There goes one now.

Then we drove down to the coast to check out the beaches and the mouth of the Waiwhakaiho River.  Robin spent many happy years growing up here.  It was great to see so many families out and about enjoying the sun, sand, and water on such a lovely day.

Waiwhakaiho River

Stopping at the local butcher down town we were amused to see the door handle going into the shop.  A meat cleaver, no less!  Here we purchased some sausages and black pudding.  The black pudding ended up as part of our BBQed Sunday breakfast.

Meat cleaver handle and Sunday breakfast

After three glorious sunny days in New Plymouth we are moving on.  Next stop, Opunake on the beach.

To Wanganui and New Plymouth

The Regional Rally drew to a close, final farewells were said, and we got on our way promptly  There is an ICA  rally coming up fast, starting in Urenui in several days time.  Bill and Val had put a lot of time and thought into the planning of this, but sadly were now unable to attend, so we have been nominated second in command.  After stopping by to see them, and eating a delicious lunch, we then left with boxes of stuff, instructions, and the assurance that they are only a phone-call away to sort out any problems if they arise.

Ooops, there was a problem soon after, but nothing to do with Bill and Val, rather, our own silly fault.  Crossing the busy road at Sanson to pull into the truck stop for fuel,  we were too close to the car in front and the side of our caravan scraped the back right hand corner of the car.  That took a while to sort out, take photos and exchange details, and luckily the damage to both of us seems very minor.  We have since been in touch with the insurance company, spoken to the assessor, and will get the damage repaired  when we return back from this trip.

On the road again, we traveled to Wanganui to stay the night at the Wanganui East Club.  Since we were last here, this facility has gone from being free to stay, and there now is a charge.  At only $5 per van a night we were quite happy to pay this small amount for safe overnight parking, and we had the place to ourselves with no other vans arriving.  Being a Monday, the restaurant was not open, as we predicted, so there was no meal out for us that evening.

Staying the night at Wanganui East Club

Next morning we drove over the iconic Dublin Street Bridge and headed for our next stop, New Plymouth.  I always enjoy gong over this bridge, it looks just like it has been constructed from aa Meccano set, I always think.  The Dublin Street Bridge was first opened on 3 November 1914 “for traffic, trams, vehiculars, and the people of Wanganui” as was reported in the Wanganui Chronicle at the time.

Dublin Street Bridge

It was a hot day for a drive, thank goodness for A/C inside the car to keep us and Gemma comfortable.  The plan was to stop for the next two nights at Bell Block NZMCA Park.  There were very few other vans on site, and the custodian told us that numbers had been down lately, probably due to people not wanting to travel too far in these Covid times.

Staying at Bell Block NZMCA Park

It can be notoriously difficult to catch a glimpse of the mountain while staying at New Plymouth.  Cloud and rain do their best to hide the mountain from prying eyes.  No, we didn’t see Mount Taranaki (Egmont) in all it’s beauty, but how about this, the next best thing.  We discovered this mural at Fitzroy while we were visiting the laundromat.

This mural shows the mountain framed by the lovely Te Rewa Rewa Pedestrian Bridge.  And take it from me, the view is even lovelier in real life.

Next stop, Urenui.  ICA Rally, here we come.

More Happenings at Naenae College

Our rally continued at Naenae College over the weekend, and we certainly couldn't complain about the weather.  It was hot and sunny, and everyone was so pleased having the large shady trees to shelter under.  There was a momentous occasion when Harry Shackleton, patriarch of the Wairarapa Caravan Club, was awarded Life Membership of CCNZ (Caravanning and Camping New Zealand).  Harry and his late wife Lorraine had been involved in CCNZ, our parent organisation, for many years and he had served on the Executive Committee for quite sometime.  The award was presented by Alan Dale, Keeper of the Records.  All this came as a complete surprise to Harry, and to most of us present.  Many congratulations Harry, this award is richly deserved.

Alan Dale and Harry Shackleton

We had two guest speakers on Sunday evening, first was Tamsin, who is in charge of the special needs unit at Naenae College,  “Te Whare o te Atawhai”, and had been working here for 13 years.  Eligible pupils get funded and can stay at the school from the age of 13 years till 21 years, although most opt to leave after 5 years or so.  Tamsin related the trials and joys of working with these children, and finds it a marvelous fulfilling role.

Our other speaker for the evening was Taylor, who is the Property Manager of the college.  He is also a Kaumatua, and teaches Kapa Haka, rugby, soccer and golf.  I was amazed when he related he could trace his Scots ancestry back to the time of Mary Queen of Scots, and told of one of his forefathers arriving in New Zealand in the mid 1800s and marrying a Maori girl.  Taylor was such an interesting speaker and is justly proud of both his Scots and Maori heritage.  In fact he showed me his family tree on his cell phone, scrolling back through pages and pages.  That is real family history indeed, going back so many generations.  Many apologies for the blurry photo, obviously my camera was misbehaving on the night.

Taylor and Tamsin

Gemma wasn't the only pet at the rally.  Here she is trying her best to get into Dot’s camper van, but her lead only let her in the door. She really would have liked to get further inside, but……. that's as far as she could get.  The other pet at the rally was Judith and Alan’s lovely rescue dog.  Half Jack Russell and Papillion, this litter was kept in awful conditions before being rescued from the puppy farm.  He is a gorgeous dog, although still a little shy after his bad start to life.  He has found a good home with Judith and Alan and is much loved.

We must thank our sponsors for their generosity to our club in donating items for the Regional Rally, it was most appreciated, and certainly was a big help.

Our sponsors for the rally

After the Closing Ceremony on Monday morning, it was time to take the club photos.  Here’s our club Heretaunga, what a lovely bunch we are!

Heretaunga Caravan Club members

We said our goodbyes, packed up and drove away.  We have another rally to attend very soon, the ICA Rally starting in Urenui in a few days time.  What a busy life, it’s all go at the moment!

A Trip to Taylorville

The highlight of our Regional Rally weekend, as far as I was concerned, was the mystery bus trip to Taylorville – I’d never been there before so it really was a complete mystery to me.  The bus arrived and we all climbed aboard – we had been instructed to take a packed lunch, water bottles, and cups, hot drinks to be supplied.  The trip took us over the Hayward's Hill, around Pauatahanui Inlet, past Kapiti Island in the distance, to our destination at Raumati.

The big blue bus

A walk up the long driveway and we arrived at Taylorville, the dream collection of a workaholic retired transport operator with a love of early American cars, and a two acre section no longer required for parking his working trucks, which had been moved to another yard.  Mr Taylor has collected and been given all manner of mementoes of the past.  The owner gave us a talk about his collection, then we were free to wander about, admiring trucks, cars, and all manner of things which took our fancy.

While Robin and the men were checking out the cars and trucks, I discovered the diner.  And got my photo taken next to Elvis!  With red counters and furniture, a jukebox, black and white lino on the floor, and Coco Cola emblazoned everywhere, it was like stepping back into Happy Days TV programme.

The Diner

There was a jail for the baddies, rather spartan but that’s what they deserve.  And a replica of a fully furnished little old homestead.

Jail and homestead

We ate our lunch inside the cozy saloon, welcomed by one of the dancing girls.  Willie Nelson serenaded us and we admired the western furnishings – cartwheels hanging from the ceiling, calf skins scattered everywhere, antlers and western paraphernalia displayed on the walls, this place screamed “Wild West”.  This was my favourite place at Taylorville.

 

Lunch in the Saloon

What else was there to see?  Robin was rather taken with the Texaco bowser.  This clever design has a clock in the front and houses a fridge inside, rather clever, he thought.

Is it a bowser, a clock or a fridge?

Back in the bus we climbed, and due to several earlier road accidents the trip home was rather slow.  As we were crawling along the road we could look down onto the cars in the inside lane and were appalled at the number of drivers we saw texting on their phones.  Younger drivers, all of them, us oldies know better, don't we? 

It was a great day out, many thanks to Owen and Helen for arranging this for us.

Regional Rally at Naenae College

It was our club’s turn to run the Central Districts Regional Rally this year, which was held at Naenae College.  So we packed up the van and headed on our way on Thursday to finalise plans for the three day weekend, Wellington Anniversary Weekend.

Packing up at home

The early birds from our club arrived and we went over plans for the weekend, checked the bathroom facilities in the hall, and found our where the water supply and rubbish skips were hiding around the buildings.    It was a fairly relaxed day as the guests from Wainuiomata and Wairarapa Clubs wouldn’t be arriving till the next day.  Also attending the rally was a couple from Tauranga, and another from Gisborne, it was great that they traveled so fat to join us.

Early birds from our club

The following day the others rolled in, and Sue and I set ourselves up on the Registration Desk to welcome everyone and hand them a goody bag on arrival.

Jenny and Sue

In the evening it was the Banner Parade and Official Opening.  The banner holders assembled outside, then carried the banners around the hall.

Banner holders Derek, Don, John and Dave

The rally was officially opened by Chris Bishop, National List MP, the National Spokesperson for Covid-19 Response and Shadow Leader of the House.  He is a born and bred in the Hutt Valley and still lives locally.  Chris told us that his parents have recently bought a van, and were very interested that he was coming to open our caravan rally  weekend.  Perhaps they might want to join our club?

Chris Bishop with MC Robin and our President Owen, then he happily posed with the pair of us

Mangatainoka and Foxton

After two lovely peaceful days at Norsewood we drove 62km to Mangatainoka Reserve, passing through the town of Dannevirke, with it’s Viking welcome and farewell signs, sadly my pics came out fuzzy.   Dannevirke, meaning "Danish creation" or "Danes' work" is known for its Scandinavian heritage, which dates back to 1872 when 21 Danish and Norwegian families arrived at the port of Napier and built their initial settlement in a clearing of the Seventy Mile Bush.

For all the beer lovers out there, Mangatainoka is the home of Tui Breweries.  The Tui Brewery has been around in one form or another since Henry Wagstaff discovered how good the water tasted in the Mangatainoka River in 1889 and decided to build a brewery. The most recognisable part, the Tui Tower, has only been around since 1932.

The famous Tui tower

It was a very hot day at Mangatainoka, and quite a few locals, and some hardy campers, were splashing about enjoying the coolness of the river, which runs jut behind the camping area.  A couple of small canoes joined in the fun, and we saw a serious angler with his line, a trout or two can be landed if the fisherman is lucky, o we have been told.

Mangatainoka River

We spent a lazy afternoon sitting outside under the shady awning, chatting to neighbours, and generally relaxing.  There’s nothing like a bit of R&R while on holiday, is there?  As the day rolled on, several vans packed up and left, with their spaces quickly filled as more vans arrived in the early evening.  This is a very popular  free camp.

At Mangatainoka Reserve

The next day we traveled down to Pahiatua and drove over the interesting concrete bridge.  I’m always impressed by the interesting bridges we find on our travels, and though we have traveled over this one many times, I love the look and the shape of the  lovely arches

Then it was up and over the Pahiatua Track, and look, more wind turbines.  Viewed from afar, they aren’t to threatening, but up close on the hill, they seem so huge!  I blame this fear on an engineering TV programme we saw recently, when one of these blew itself to pieces.

More wind turbines

Our trip took us via Palmerston North to top up with fuel at the Truck Stop, and go to the “new to us” dump station, for the necessary emptying job.  Thank goodness this chore is a designated “blue job” so I don't have to attend to it.  Not a bad outlook for a dump station I thought, in a such a pretty park like setting.

At the dump station

After our drive of 88km we arrived at our destination, the newly opened Foxton NZMCA park.  This is set in the grounds of the Foxton Race Course.  Why not stay here for a couple of nights, we decided, before heading the last 20km or so home.  We parked up close to the fence, as the race horses do early morning training.  If we are up early enough, we may get a glimpse of them as they gallop past our window.

Foxton NZMCA Park

And look at this gorgeous sunset, taken from Dave’s home, not too far away, when we popped in for a cuppa and a chat in the early evening.

Sun set at Foxton

We may still be on holiday, but the next morning we decided to drive into Levin to the walk-in vaccination clinic at the Events Centre for our booster shots, as long as there wasn't a huge queue snaking out the door, we decided.  There wasn’t, so we walked in the foyer, registered, and were shown where to go and sit while we waited.  After a short wait, we were both ushered into one of the cubicles, and the nurse told us the facts, made sure we were well, and got our verbal consent.  Then a quick painless jab, and we went to sit while we waited our recovery time, and we were good to go.  The whole process was quick and efficient, our nurse took the time explaining  everything and asked if we had any questions.  Go home, rest, and drink plenty of fluids, we were told.  We can do that, we’re still on holiday!  Maori Wardens were outside in the carpark directing the traffic, and one was inside the hall bringing people inside in the correct order.  Congratulations to all involved.

 

At the vaccination clinic

On the way back to camp we stopped off at Lewis Farms.  Unfortunately, the asparagus season is now over, but we bought some raspberries, keto crackers, an ice-cream for Robin and a coffee for me.  That will keep us going for a while.

Our morning purchase

On our last morning at Foxton, we were awake early enough to the sound of horses on the track.  And there he goes. And when the horses and jockeys had finished, the lawnmower came out.

On the track

After breakfast, it was time to hook up again for the last time, and drive home.  During this Christmas trip we have traveled 884 km.

Time to head home