Moving on from Ponderosa Pop we traveled on to Te Aroha passing through Tatuanui. Here we just had to stop to take a photo of a silo masquerading as a can of Dairy Whip Cream at the Tatua Dairy factory.
Fancy some cream with that?
Then we drove on to the Te Aroha council freedom parking area for the first two days of our ICA Christmas Rally. Two caravans and about 20 motorhomes just about filled up this area in no time at all. There was plenty of meeting and greeting, and catching up with members we hadn't seen for a while. 4zees was outside in the sunshine, and then in the evening we met in groups in hosts vans. We were nominated to be a host van, pulled names out of the hat, and had an interesting evening chatting away and partaking of supper with two other couples.
We took over the freedom camping area
Te Aroha is a pretty little town and we went to have a look around. We found St Mark’s Memorial Church, built in the Gothic style in 1926 of stone and brick. This church is now known as Te Aroha Co-operating Church. Another interesting building is the War Memorial clock Tower, built in 1955. The weather here was almost tropical, we had hot muggy days, then the rain clouds gathered in the afternoons and the rain came down, sending us all scurrying indoors.
In Te Aroha township
After two days here it was time to move on to Matamata. Not a great distance at all, so we took our time, stopping for lunch on the way. But first we stopped at the Kaimai air crash memorial, erected in memory of the three crew and twenty passengers who died aboard NAC flight 441 which crashed into the Kaimai Ranges in 1963.
Kaimai memorial
Our lunch stop was at Wairere Falls carpark, plenty of room for us to park for lunch. There were plenty of cars parked up in the middle car park, full of keen walkers and trampers off the climb the tracks to see the WAirere Falls up close. We took the easy way out and took a photo instead of these magnificent falls, they must be even more beautiful after heavy rainfall in the ranges.
Lunch stop at the Wairere Falls
After this pleasant interlude we carried on to Matamata Club, where we were spending our last two nights. Doug did a great job of squeezing us all into the grassy area, no mean feat with so many vans. He wanted the two caravans parked up first, then slotted the motor homes around us. We enjoyed Happy Hour in the club bar, and most of us stayed on for a bar meal afterwards, sure beats cooking!
Doug on parking duty
The Maori name Matamata means “headland”. This was the name of a new pa (village) established in 1830 by Te Waharoa on a ridge of high ground. These days Matamata is a very wealthy horse breeding town, and is also well known as the area where Hobbiton is situated. In fact, the information centre is a replica Hobbiton House, and is the most photographed info centre in the country.
Matamata Information Centre
There is a wonderful sculpture in town, commissioned to honour horse breeding and horse racing in Matamata. The thoroughbred industry has become a large part of the local economy and several race horses have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. As well, many local trainers and jockeys have been inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. Sculptor Adrian Worsley created “Thoroughbred Horse and Jockey” combining recycled copper, brass, stainless steel and wood.
Created by local sculptor Adrian Worsley
The catered meal at the Matamata Club was the grand finale to our rally. Father Christmas and his helpers welcomed us all into the dining room and gave us all a Christmas gift bag.
Doug and Father Christmas (Desmond)
The meal was wonderful, hot ham, roast lamb, plenty of salads and veggies, plus a huge dish of prawns in a very tasty sauce, I really enjoyed that. A delicious selection of desserts too, with tea and coffee to follow.
All enjoying the dinner
But the meal wasn’t over yet, there was the Christmas cake to cut. Wavyne was asked to do the honours, she had earlier been awarded her 30 year presentation.
Wavyne cutting the cake
It was a wonderful evening, the food was great, and we congratulated the chef and his staff when they popped out to see us all.
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