Final Days on Safari

The last stop on our safari was two nights at Takapau.  It was nice to be on  power again, as we were still experiencing cool weather.  

 Takapau is a pleasant camp, with power, water, recycling, laundry, a dump station, showers and toilets, and most important for our group in the chilly weather, somewhere to meet and gather.  About half  of our members opted for power sites this time.  

Staying at Takapau

We ate together in the hall on Saturday night, enjoying our local fish and chips.  Then there was a safari wrap up, starting with the telling of embarrassing stories.  I started the ball rolling when I related my tale of woe as a young Mum driving a car with L plates, remember those, plus two kids and two dogs.  I was traveling up the Wairarapa side of the Remutaka  Hill when all the traffic came to a standstill.  When the cars started off again I found it impossible to do the dreaded hill start and kept sliding back, getting closer and closer to the car behind me.  Finally, the driver came to me and offered to start my car and drove it to a flat pull off area.  I was mortified, and stayed put till all the traffic had passed by, before slowly driving home to Lower Hutt.  Other embarrassing tales followed, most of them long forgotten and buried in the subconscious, as it turned out.

During our safari we had a competition to count the number of one way bridges (there were many) we drove over.  Turnbulls and Archers came very close to the number I carefully counted and noted down, so they were declared the winners.  Bouquets and Brickbracks over our trip followed, with Helen getting a special mention for her solo caravan towing over very demanding roads, certainly not a task I would be capable of.

Sunday was a free day with people out visiting friends and family, or in our case, a little shopping and attending to the laundry.  The grand finale was dinner that evening at Sawyers Arms in Tikokino.

Sawyers Arm for a country dinner

Muddy gumboots at the door

The pub was quite full with patrons  and our group was seated in the dining room on a long table, which suited us fine.  Menus were studied, our choices were made, and generously heaped plates  arrived at the table.

 

Final dinner at Sawyers Arms

Everyone departed on Monday morning, and the gusty wind made towing a little difficult.  We stopped at NZ Natural Clothing shop at Norsewood  to make a couple of purchases, then carried on till we found somewhere to stop for lunch.

Shopping at Norsewood

Our idea was to have a break at Mangatainoko freedom camping area across the road from Tui  Brewery.  But the heavy rain put paid to that idea, the grass was rutted,  very soft and water was lying everywhere.  So we carefully drove out again, and parked in front of Tui Brewery on the main road.

There's the famous Tui Brewery tower

Lunch was easy, we had planned ahead and made some bacon sandwhiches before we broke camp, and they were very tasty indeed.  Maureen and Russell pulled up in their campervan behind us, and popped in to say hello, then we were off, on the final journey home.  Up and over the Pahiatua Track, and we were on the home stretch.  As much as I always enjoy our trips away, it's always good to get back home, safe and sound again.

Akitio and Porangahau

 There was rain and high winds overnight during our last night at Pongaroa, leaving me feeling a little uneasy with the stand of large trees towering over our caravan.  Luckily nothing untoward happened in the dead of night, and we awoke unscathed.  The weather hadn't improved at all, and Farmer Paul who looks after the camp, called around to collect the fees.  It was a 46km trip to our next stop, Akitio.  Along the way we noticed a lot of damage to roads, edges crumbling away and many cones in place after a bad storm.  Looks like there is a lot of repairs  still to be done.

There was major work being done on a hill side adjacent to the road in one area, seems there must have been a huge slip there and work was being done to stabilize the hill face.  There were two diggers hard at work, one down low and the other right up the top of the hill.  I guess all the recent rain would not be helping with the hill work.  The Stop-Go man wasn't standing out in the rain getting wet, instead he was tucked up nice and dry in the ute with his sign close to hand, and waved us on after getting radio instructions from the other end of the road works.

Hard at work in the rain

Driving over the long one-way bridge across the Akitio River we reached our destination.  

Crossing the Akitio River

 The area was originally dominated by two estates, the Marainanga Estate of 38,000 acres and the Akitio Estate of 50,000 acres.  The region has been partitioned and subdivided over the years, with the Akitio Estate now at 9,000 acres is still the largest in the area.  This is a sheep and beef farming district and the small town has a school, volunteer fire brigade, a motor camp and a freed camping area by the beach.

Welcome to Akitio

The weather was not kind to us during our stay here.  The beach was on side, and we were parked across the road from the volunteer fire brigade.  Luckily the siren did not go off during the middle of the night.

Akitio volunteer fire brigade

We found ourselves a site on the grassy freedom camping area, plenty of room here for our group.  Water, rubbish bins and a toilet block was available.

Camping at the beach

Dave and Deb joined us here in their campervan, as well as Stuart, who arrived to join his wife Helen.  We told Stuart how well Helen had been doing towing the van on her own, not something I personally would be able to do, I'm sure.  The beach, just out our door,  was covered in driftwood.  

Akitio beach

Morning tea sheltering between the vans, 

It was just one night here, so we packed up and set off again, to arrive at Te Paerahi Beach, Porangahau.  We backtracked part of the way, and then continued on, driving over multiple roadworks, the result of Cyclone Gabrielle which caused such a lot of damage about 18 months ago. 

 Along the way we stopped at the site of "The longest Placename in New Zealand".  There is a nice large area to pull off the road, and we discovered that self contained vans can stay stay for a night or two - we didn't know that.

That's a very long name indeed

The name translates to "The place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as land eater, played his nose flute to his loved one".  The story goes that Tamatea was so grieved over the loss of his brother that he stayed at the battle site for some days.  Each morning he would sit on the hill and play a lament on his flute.

Te Paerahi Beach was another freedom camping area, not one we had stayed at before.  A toilet block was available, plus a drinking fountain, but no tap water available to top up the vans.  There were other vans there too, but still plenty of room for our seven vans.

The wide sandy beach was beautiful, and most of us strolled along it during our stay here.  There were no piles of driftwood cluttering up this beach, unlike the previous one we stayed at.

Te Paerahi Beach, Pongaroa

What's at Pongaroa?

 What's at Pongaroa?  For such a small place, there are quite a lot of interesting things there.  We left Alfredton and drove on to Pongaroa, a slowish drive with plenty of hills, up and down again, over and over again.  In the middle of the village is a sculpture to commemorate a famous son, Maurice Wilkins, who was awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize together with his colleagues when they discovered the now familiar double helix of DNA.

Double Helix, discovered by Maurice Wilkins and colleagues

We arrived at the Pongaroa Domain, the name means many tree ferns, another pleasant camping area.

Russell and  Maureen couldn't decide the best place to park, so moved here, there and back again, getting their van stuck in the soft grass.  So it was Robin to the rescue with his handy strop to pull them out onto the hard again.

Getting ready

Robin to the rescue

Three of us opted for a power site and parked up the rise under some towering trees.  There were ewes and their little lambs just over the fence.  The others parked below us on the hard standing.

Three vans up the top

And the others parked on the edge of the road

We found out that Helen grew up in Pongaroa so knows the area well.  When having a coffee in the local cafe, she mentioned that she worked in the building as an after school job when it was a country store.  

Helen's first job here as a high school girl

The local pub, the Pongaroa Hotel,  has an interesting history, starting life as a BNZ bank.  The bank closed in 1936 and was used as a private house for 12 years.  It was then converted into a hotel, then a tavern, then back to a hotel again.  There are many interesting historic photos inside the building.

Pongaroa Hotel

We had Happy Hour in the pub, no doubt the locals wondered about us as we all walked in.  You know this is a rural area when you see the gum boots all lined up at the door.  We settled down in the dining room, checked out the menus and ordered our meals.    Generous country sized servings and very tasty indeed.

Helen, Russel and Maureen

John, Flo, Geoff, Eileen, Robin and Jenny

Robin, Jenny, Helen, Owen, John and Flo

The following day was clear but cold, and we packed a picnic lunch and the folding chairs, and headed off on an adventure.  Off we went to show our camping buddies the beautiful Waihi Falls, about a 45 minute drive from the camp.  The majority had not been there before.  Arriving at the car park we noticed a brand new toilet block, there was no sign of this when we did our reccie 6 weeks or so ago.

Brand new toilet block

The walk down to the falls was down a steep track, and I counted 105 steps.  Of course it was much easier going down than clambering back up.  We all walked at our own pace and the walking poles made us feel a little more secure.

Down the track

Waihi Falls were a sight to behold, roaring with sound as the water thundered 25m over the edge, sending light spray around to land on our faces.  Such a magnificent sight, so doubt the recent rain fall had made the flow even stronger than usual.

At beautiful Waihi Falls

Cameras were clicking as everyone posed for their selfies in front of the falls.  Then we all arranged ourselves for a group photo.

Geoff, two Helens in a row, Owen, Maureen, Jenny, Robin, Flo and John

Puffing and panting we made it back up the steps, and it was time for lunch.  There was a wooden shelter available with two large picnic tables and seats, but the wind was whistling right through.  Luckily there was a nice sheltered spot at the top of the walkway so we settled down there with our folding chairs and picnic lunches.  It was a lovely spot, sheltered by native trees, and we could hear the sounds of frogs croaking in the pond down the hill a little way.  So peaceful as we sat and chatted, eating our sandwhiches and making a hot drinks from our handy thermoses.

We took a different road heading back to camp, in fact it wasn't the road Robin intended to take at all, but we got there in the end.  We commented on the huge amount of pine trees all over the hills, new plantings, some half grown and pine forests maturing.  I'm always interested in rock formations as we drive along too, these looked interesting.

Rocks protruding from the hills

Finally back in Pongaroa, we stopped at the cafe/store for an ice-cream.  After our mammoth drive up and down all those hills, we felt we deserved an ice-cream to finish off our outing.

We can go every which way from Pongaroa

Off on Safari, Masterton and Alfredton

 Straight after the conclusion of the combined rally we traveled to the Masterton NZMCA park to meet up with our fellow members who would be joining us on the safari trip.

Masterton NZMCA Park

The instructions were to top up with fuel, have full water tanks and empty waste tanks, and have plenty of supplies for the week.  There were limited shops and fuel stops along our safari route.  There were five vans overnight, with one arriving the following morning.

We are going on safari

We enjoyed lunch and 4zzees outside in the sunshine on Sunday, but the cold weather arrived on Monday morning.  Robin gave a briefing about the day's travel, and we all set off to Alfredton Domain.  The drive took us through some pretty farmland, with plenty of cattle and sheep grazing contentedly.

The turn from the road into the Domain was rather sharp and we had to go through a narrow gate, so it was important to have the car and caravan lined up correctly.  Robin started the entry, checked in the mirror, then decided to back up and try again.  This approach was much more successful, after all, we didn't want to scratch the side of the caravan, did we.

Originally named and known as Moroa, Alfredton was formed in 1868 and was part of the Small Farms Association.  These days it is a tiny village with a school and a church.  The Domain is an attractive place with ewes and small lambs everywhere.  The calls of our beautiful native bird, the tui, were heard overhead in the large trees.  We sorted ourselves out and found a park for the night.

Staying at the Alfredton Domain

A free camp, with water available, and a rather rustic toilet block.  There was no internet available in this rural area.

Rather rustic, but functional

Otorohanga, Hamilton and on to Bowentown

The Otorohanga NZMCA site is brand spanking new – and has only been opened a short time, so it was the first time here for all our group.

We all parked up in a line, leaving a little room for a couple of other vans who also arrived.  There is a huge open grassed area behind the hard standing, so plenty of room for a large number of vans.   I swapped a few more books in the little shed, and the friendly custodians called around to see us.

Overnighting at Otorohanga

Another misty morning –this time at Otorohanga

The next morning we left to go to the dump station at Te Awamutu at the Mobil petrol station, to find it surrounded by workmen and it appeared to be out of action.  As it turned out, they were replacing the compressed air stanchion and were happy for us pull up along side them and empty out around them.  The chaos continued when a young mum pulled up too and started vacuuming her car out.  But we all got our chores done, and left the workmen continuing with swapping the compressed air units over.  It would be quite a squash with these three services all in a row at the best of times, but add workmen to the mix and it was like Grand Central Station.

Chaos at the petrol station

Our next stop was at the Classic Car Museum at Hamilton, rather a favourite of ours.  We all arrived safe and sound and parked up again in a row.  There is always quite a large number of vans staying here, but this time, everyone was informed that the grounds must be cleared the next morning for a private weekend booking.  Just as well that we had planned to stop for just  one night.

Staying a Hamilton

Part of the fun at staying here is having lunch in the diner.  Decorated in the 50s theme, with a menu to suit, the diner really takes us back to our teeny bopper years.

That's us enjoying our “spiders”, with Val, Bill and his sister who came to visit

Another morning – covered in mist once again.  Obviously that’s what happens in this part of the country.  We headed off for the final part of our safari trip.  And passed through the town of Paeroa, stopping merely to snap a picture of the famous Lemon and Paeroa bottle on the edge of town.

World famous in New Zealand, L & P

We continued driving through the Karangahape Gorge, stopping for road works along the way.  It looked like there had been several slips lately which needed cleaning up.

There was no time to stop as we whizzed past the historic pub, closely followed by the lovely old station, offering train rides along the old track.  We will have to come back again for another look without the caravan hooked on behind.  Through the bustling town of Waihi we drove, and down along the coast to Bowentown.  Arriving at last for the first ever Leisureline Owners Rally, it’s sure to be a great weekend.