Time to Head Home

The four day ICA Christmas Rally had come to an end, so it was time to head home.  We decided to have an easy slow trip, and allow three days for our homeward journey.  Our first overnight stop was back to Ngongotaha, in Rotorua, passing along the very picturesque road past Fitzgerald Glade.  There is a nice cafe here, which we have stopped at previously, but not this time. We were aiming to get to Rotorua for lunch time.

Nearly at Fitzgerald Glade

The Ngongotaha NZMCA camp is always very busy.  It fills up quickly during the afternoon, and empties out again each morning.  Of course, some campers stay for days at a time, but we were amongst the overnighters.

Ngongotaha NZMCA Camp

Something obviously caught Gemma’s attention, probably a bird or two,  and she peered intently out of the window.  No, she is not allowed to chase birds, although she would dearly love to.

Let me out, Mum

Driving through Taupo the next morning we saw many cyclists taking part in the Annual Around the Lake cycle race.  This race draws contestants from all over New Zealand and overseas and as many as 5000 cyclists take part each year.  There are quite steep hilly parts of the road for the contestants to deal with, this is obviously a race for the young and fit.  We noticed several rest and water stations along the way for the cyclists to stop at, plus an ambulance or two parked up, just in case medical help was needed.

Around the Lake Race

Once passed all the cyclists, we traveled on to Turangi, another nice roomy NZMCA camp.  Not so many stayed here overnight.  Fish and chips from the local shop were on the menu for our dinner, and then the rain and the wind arrived overnight, and shook the van around. 

Our next night at Turangi

Driving along the Desert Road the following morning, I was thrilled to see Mt Ruapehu in all it’s glory.  This isn't always the case, depending on the weather,  so we stopped for a photo opportunity.

Mt Ruapehu

It was just as well we had stopped to take a photo when we did, and several minutes later the low cloud had rolled in, completely obscuring the mountain.  The temperatures dropped, and we drove through the mist.  By the time we reached Waiouru the weather had cleared.  Our looked forward to coffee break didn’t happen, as the coffee cart was closed!

Pea Soup weather

Our final stop of our trip was at the Marton NZMCA Park, a very pretty little camp indeed.  This used to be a former local council run camp in earlier times, and we remember staying here   many years ago with our caravan club.  We enjoyed the gifted trout fillet for dinner, I wasn’t quite sure how to cook it so pan fried the fish in a little butter – delicious.

Marton NZMCA Camp

From here it was about another 100km to home.  As we drove slowly past Otaki we saw the multitude of patched bikies who had gathered here for the funeral of a high ranking gang member  There was a heavy police presence on the road, with a helicopter flying overhead to keep an eye on the hundreds gathered. 

We soon made it home, unpacked, stopped for lunch, and put the washing machine on.  That’s it till our next trip away, and that’s coming up fast.

Away We Go Again

Home from our Anniversary Trip a week and a half, and off we go again.  Where to this time?  We are heading off to join the ICA people for the  Christmas Rally in Te Aroha and then Matamata, taking two days to travel up there.  So once again, the caravan was packed and we were raring to go.  It was fine when we departed, but then the weather got steadily worse.  Such is our temperamental Spring weather here in New Zealand.

The van is almost packed

The blue skies soon disappeared to make way for grey clouds.  Our first stop was Taihape by the railway station, lots of room there for our car and caravan, plus a handy coffee cart.  A bus full of tourists were making the most of the public toilets, then were soon on their way.  We lunched in the van, with something I had prepared earlier, plus a latte from the coffee cart.

Lunch stop at Taihape

Then the heavy rain came, and didn’t stop, following us as we headed north.  Our original plan was to spend the night at Taupo NZMCA Park, but as the parking is all on grass there we decided against it.  So we stopped at Turangi, a much better idea to be parked up on hard standing in such wet weather.  This large park was fairly empty, plenty of spaces here, but as the hours rolled by, more vans rolled in, happy to be off the roads in such wet weather, just like us, I imagine.

At Turangi NZMCA Park

There was a tap  on the door, and a lady asked us if we would be interested in a trout fillet.  My goodness, of course we would, and she didn't want any payment for it either.  They had obviously had a good day out fishing as we saw her take fish to several other vans as well.  It’s  a long time since we had eaten trout, and I carefully wrapped it up and popped it in the freezer to enjoy another night.

Freshly caught trout

Our plans for dinner was to go to a local take-away shop for a roast meal.  Last time we were in Turangi, Robin purchased fish and chips, and discovered that the roasts are so popular with the locals that they sell out really early.  “Call in by 5.00pm” he was advised,  so we did.  The roast pork meals were delicious, plenty of roast veggies, and very generous servings of roast pork and crackle.  We can certainly recommend them, and the fish and chips were very nice too when we enjoyed them last time we were staying here.

Delicious food here

It kept raining off and on all night, and still hadn’t stopped in the morning when we were heading off again.  We could just make out Motuaiko Island in the middle of Lake Taupo through the rain and the mist.  The name Motuaiko is from the Maori language, with “motu” meaning island, and “taiko” being the name of the black petrel.

Motuaiko Island

There were very long delays at the Arimuri road works, we waited, and waited, and waited some more.  Finally we got the green light to go and came across another long line of motorists waiting to drive south.  This happed several times along this stretch of road works.  As it was a Sunday, none of the heavy machinery was working, just a few workers monitoring the traffic lights on the side of the road.

We are finally moving, and the other line is stopped in place

We are staying the night at Ponderosa Pop, (park over property) at Matangi, near Cambridge.  This is our first time here, and the helpful host guided us through the gate and around a corner to get us on site.  There are several long time stayers here, he told us, so it’s lucky he has a couple of large areas to park everyone.

Ponderosa Pop

We are moving on in the morning for the start of the ICA Rally at Te Aroha, so that will be interesting. It will be great to catch up with everyone again.  The ICA group only holds two or three rallies each year.

Big Day Out

Our  recent longer drives and one night stop-overs were because we were making our way to Te Anau to tick an item off our bucket list.  Arriving on Sunday, we are staying four nights at NZMCA Te Anau Alpine Park.

Staying at Te Anau

On Monday we booked a Southern Discoveries coach trip from Te Anau to Milford which included a cruise through Milford Sound plus a visit to the Underwater Observatory. 

There were several photo stops on the way up, the first being the Eglington Valley. 

Eglington Valley

The next photo stop was at the very pretty Mirror Lakes.  The lakes were just off the roadside, and it was a nice easy 5 minute  boardwalk there and back.  People everywhere, we certainly weren’t the only bus in the car park.

Mirror Lakes

Monkey Creek was the next photo stop, and the passengers were encouraged to fill up their water bottles with the cool, clear water from the creek.  It was so named by William Homer (of Homer tunnel fame) way back in the late 1880s when his dog Monkey splashed about in the creek.  The coach driver kindly took out photo for us.

Monkey Creek

There were roadworks on the way, and we passed workmen and a large machine slicing into the road as they were laying fibre cable for internet.  At the moment this is a black spot for internet coverage.

I was looking forward to going through Homer Tunnel.  It is 1.2 km (0.75 miles) long, and was  opened in 1953. State Highway 94 passes through the tunnel, linking Milford Sound to Te Anau and Queenstown, by piercing the Darran Mountains at the Homer Saddle.  William Homer and George Barber discovered the Homer Saddle in 1889, and Homer suggested that a tunnel through the saddle would provide access to the Milford area.  Government workers began the tunnel in 1935  The tunnel and the associated Milford Road were built by relief workers during the Depression.  The men had to live in tents in a mountainous area where there might be no direct sunlight for half of the year.   Progress was slow, with difficult conditions, and work was also interrupted by World War II, and an avalanche in 1945 which destroyed the eastern tunnel portal. These problems delayed the tunnel's completion and it was finally opened in 1953.

So there we were, waiting at the red traffic  signal to start our trip through the single lane  tunnel.  And out the other side where we drove under an avalanche shelter, certainly a danger on parts of this road.

The Homer Tunnel

Milford wasn’t quite what I expected, I must say, not much there except a hotel, car parks, and a large Visitors Centre.  Several excursion boats were moored up, and we followed the crowd to board our one.  After a welcome and safely briefing we were on our way.

Lady Bowen

Most people had rushed upstairs to sit on the outside deck, but we secured a table downstairs under cover.  First things first, we redeemed the ticket for our picnic lunch.  Wonder what was in them?  We were pleasantly surprised – sandwiches, two pieces of fruit, cheese and crackers, small bag of chippies and a Whittakers chocolate Sante Bar.  There was plenty of help yourself tea and coffee available too.  We ate the sandwiches, cheese and crackers and a mandarin each, and took the rest back to the van for later.

Picnic lunch box

Nothing says Milford Sound more than the iconic Mitre Peak, named by Captain John Lort Stokes of HMS Acheron in 1851, who found it’s shape reminiscent of the mitre headwear of Christian bishops. The Māori name for the peak is Rahotu, and the mountain is 1683m high.  The Captain pointed out places of interest and wildlife  as we cruised along, as we gazed at awe at the shear granite cliffs, then taking us right out to the entrance of Tasman Sea.  

Mitre Peak and a view from the stern

A medium sized cruise ship passed by as we traveled along, and the Captain commented that much bigger ones make their way into the Sounds too. Waterfalls abound, and the Captain nosed into Stirling Falls, giving those on the bow quite a splashing.  Never mind, getting drenched is meant to make you look 10 years younger, we were told.

Stirling Falls

On the way back we stopped at Underwater Observatory, one of the highlights of the trip.  The Underwater Observatory was built in 1995. The construction project involved building the viewing chamber in 3 sections in Invercargill and assembling them in Bluff. This unique floating underwater observatory is the only one of it’s kind in New Zealand.   After an interesting talk about the facility and wildlife we descended the spiral staircase to 10m beneath the water – 50 steps down. 

There were lots of viewing windows, and we all moved around, checking out the marine life.  And to see the black coral, which is actually white.  The fish swimming nearby are not fed, they are just going about their business, and no doubt looking in the windows at all these strange creatures looking out.

Black coral and fish life 10m down

Cruising back to the dock, we all disembarked and made our way to our bus.  This was a non stop ride back to Te Anau and I’m sure several were nodding off as we drove along.  And why not, it had certainly been a big day out, from 10.30am to 6.30pm with lots of lovely sights along the way.  It was a great trip indeed, we would certainly recommend it.

Twizel and the Clay Cliffs

Another lazy start to the day, once again we only had a short trip to our next stop, 61km to Twizel.  We stopped at another “photo stop” overlooking Lake Pukaki on the way.  This one had a huge car park, plenty of room for those towing caravans, and there were cars, campers and another caravan ahead of us.  Just look at that glorious view, with Mt Cook (Aorangi the cloud piercer) looking back at us across the lake.

Lake Pukaki

Arriving at the Twizel Combined Services Club, we went to book in for the next two nights, $10.00 per night.  Park anywhere, we were told, around the back on a grassed area.  All alone so far, but who knows who might roll in later in the day.

Twizel Combined Services Club

Twizel is the largest town in the Mackenzie District, and the  town was founded in 1968 to house construction workers on the Upper Waitaki Hydroelectric Scheme. After a quick look around the Twizel shopping area, we decided that yes, it has grown since we were last here.  Robin wanted to find Lake Ruataniwha, not too far away.  Lake Ruataniwha is an artificial lake in the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island of New Zealand. It was formed in 1977–1981 as part of the Waitaki hydroelectric project.  Each year rowing regattas take place on the lake. 

Lake Ruataniwha

We stopped at High Country Salmon cafe for a drink, what a busy place, heaving with visitors.  Many of them were purchasing fish food to feed the salmon in the pools, this was a real favourite with children.  There seemed to be plenty of overseas tourists in the café, many family groups eating sushi and rice bowls, all helping the local economy.  After my coffee I helped out too, and bought some salmon from the fish shop to take back to the caravan.

High Country Salmon

The next morning we packed a picnic lunch and set off to see clay cliffs near Omarama.    We had heard about them but only recently discovered that you could drive up close.   The cliffs are on private land, protected under QE2 Covenant, and there is a charge of $5 per car to go in the honesty box as you proceed through the gate.  It was a long dusty drive up an unsealed road to reach the car park.

The information board explains that these eroded cliffs are formed by the active Osler fault line which continually exposes the clay and gravel cliffs.  Wind and rain has eroded into the canyon walls, producing gravel debris which has been washed out during flash floods.  The debris has accumulated in alluvial fans that slope down to the Ahuriri River.

Clay cliffs of Omarama

It was a stinking hot day, and crowds of people were slapping on sunscreen, hats, and setting off up the track.  After a nosy around, we returned to the car with the windows wound down, and ate our picnic lunch.  But not before we asked one of the friendly visitors to take our photo for us.  I’m sure I heard him mention “how cute” –  we are a bit old for cute, I would have thought!

Dwarfed by the grandeur

We were reasonably close to the settlement of Omarama so decided to drive though and check it out.  Omarama has wonderful conditions for gliding and is a spectacular soaring site.  World and national gliding records are broken here on a regular basis.  The conditions provide a unique opportunity for long distance and high altitude flight.  This place seems to be thriving, the Wrinkly Rams café was full of customers, they offer a Merino sheep shearing show as well, and we noticed plenty of other cafes and pubs doing very well too.    No wonder the sign for Omarama features a Merino ram.

Omarama, a busy little place indeed

Our last bit of sightseeing for the day was to visit Lake Ohau.  The isolated Lake Ohau Alpine Village was in the news for all the wrong reasons in October 2020 it was overcome by fire.  Fanned by strong winds the fire destroyed 48 structures and burnt through more than 5500 hectares of farm, and DOC land, and damaging infrastructure such as power lines, fencing and reticulated water systems.  At the peak of the fire 11 helicopters and more than 100 people were deployed responding to the incident.  The fire was later found to be caused by a powerline maintenance fault.  We drove around the village to find that some homes had been replaced, some were still being built, and there were still empty sections awaiting rebuilding.

It was rather windy down by the shores of Lake Ohau, and the wind was whipping up waves in the water.  This lake is not glacier fed like some of the others we have seen recently, so is a much darker colour.  Plenty of mountains crowding around the brooding looking lake.

Lake Ohau

Returning to Twizel Combined Services Club, we settled down with a cuppa.  From being lonely petunias the night before, we have now been joined by two large buses, two more caravans and a motor home.  Our time here has come to an end, and we will be moving on in the morning.