ICA Rally–Wanganui/the Mystery Bus Trip

Our last look at Hawera was a glimpse at the Water Tower.  Helen and Jim from our group had climbed this the previous day.   It is designated as a category one structure by the Historic Places Trust, and celebrated its 100th year in 2014.  The tower  take about 10 minutes to climb the 215 steps of the best known heritage building in Hawera for a bird’s eye view of the region and coast, a bargain at only $2.50.

Hawera Water Tower

We moved on to Wanganui Race Course, a 92km drive.  One by one the other motor homes arrived, making sure we parked a reasonable distance away from the fence-line.  This was so we didn't spook the race horses during the early morning training. 

Parked up at Wanganui Race Course

We were pleased to welcome Martin and Cathie who joined the rally here here at Wanganui.  At Happy Hour Martin presented Bill M with his 15 year membership decal, congratulation Bill on this achievement.

Congratulations, Bill

And because Martin and Cathie had a few challenges before finally arriving here at Wanganui to join in the ICA Rally, we presented Cathie with a box of chocolates to show we had been thinking of them.

The next morning we all excitedly waited for Neville and his big red double decker bus to arrive.  This was taking us on a mystery trip – how exciting is that!  First in, best seated, as the early birds climbed up the narrow stairs to the top deck.  Robin was tasked with ringing the bell at the rear of the bus, ding, ding, I’m sure he felt just like one of those characters on the long running series “On the Buses”.  But his most important job was to make sure no one from upstairs tripped and fell down the stairs and out the back entrance!  I kid you not, this bus did not have a back door so was open to the elements.

Double Decker bus, imported all the way from London

Our first stop of the day was to the beautiful Putiki Anglican Church.  Although sporting a relatively plain and modest exterior, stepping inside is full of Maori carvings, woven panels, and painted kowhiwhai panels.  No photos were to be taken inside.  Please google this church to see all the beautiful workmanship inside.

Putiki Church, Wanganui

This is the 5th church built in this area, and the lovely interior was overseen by Apirana Ngata, who led the Maori Art and Crafts School in Rotorua.  He agreed to bring his team of tutors and student carvers to Wanganui over a two year period.  Four local women were sent to Wellington to learn how to weave the tukutuku panels, and shared their knowledge with other local weavers.  All the timber has been richly carved with only the pews left plain.  The people were told “We will carve you the most beautiful church you have ever seen”, and they certainly did.  This lovely church was opened and consecrated on 5th December 1937.

Back in the bus again and it slowly ground it’s way up Durie Hill.  The imposing Durie Hill Memorial Tower was opened in 1925 to commemorate  the 513 young people from Wanganui and district who died in WWI. The tower is built of local shell-rock.  Some of our group were keen to climb up but this was not permitted because of Covid and the narrow winding staircase.

Memorial Tower

Many took the opportunity to  climb up the smaller tower on the top of the Durie Hill Elevator.  This gave an amazing view over Wanganui River and suburbs.  The local Maori people have a very strong connection to the Wanganui River and there is a saying here, “I am the river, the river is me”.

Elevator tower and entrance and view from the top of Durie Hill

Some of us took the opportunity to ride the  Durie Hill Elevator,  built in 1919.  This is the only public transport elevator in the country and is still used daily by locals and visitors.  At $2.00  a ride it seemed a bargain and I followed a little later with Scotty.  The other passenger on board kindly took our photo, Scotty, me, and the young elevator operator.  After our ride down we walked through the long, rather ghostly tunnel to finally reach the street.

Going down – and the long tunnel at the bottom

We waited on the footpath at the bottom for the bus to drive back down the hill and collect us.  But……. it drove straight past, with the others on board waving out the windows.  Seems Neville had forgotten all about us, drove over the river, then had to do a U turn and make his way back to collect  the missing passengers!

Our next stop was to the St John’s Club for lunch.  And what a tasty lunch it was, we had pre-ordered our meals and they were speedily  cooked for us when we settled in to the dining room.  Battered scallops, steak and fish seemed to be the most popular, and we had ice-cream sundaes to finish our meals.

Then Neville took us on a tiki-tour around town and out to Castle cliff Beach for a look-see.  I had climbed up the steep narrow stairs of the bus for the ride back to camp, and can attest that every little bump in the road is definitely magnified ten-fold upstairs!  What a great day, thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Mangatainoka Reserve and Tui Brewery

Our last night on Owen and Helen’s safari was spent camped on the river bank at Mangatainoka Reserve.  (There was another addition to our numbers, Dot arrived after a night away, and brought along her sister Mary.)  This is a very significant stretch of water, in the history of beer brewing.  In 1889 Henry Wagstaff stopped on the banks of the Mangatainoka River to boil up a pot of tea.  The water tasted so good that he decided to build a brewery, and so Tui Brewery began.  All these years later Tui Brewery is still going strong, producing plenty of Tui beer, incidentally, Robin’s beer of choice.

Parked up on Mangatainoka Reserve for the night

While we were camped here, it would be rude not to walk across the road to the famous Tui Brewery, don't you think.  It took us no time at all – the beer drinkers were happy, while others had coffee and hot chocolate.

After our refreshments it was time for a little walk around.  It had obviously been a while since our last visit and we found out that the new brewery building full of shiny vats was erected in 2016.

And here is the famous seven storey brew tower, built in 1931, so brewers could use gravity to turn malt into beer. Strangely, the builders forgot to put in a lift and stairs, and this quirk has only added intrigue to the site’s long history. The tower is now classified as a Category 1 Heritage Listed building and has been earthquake strengthened.  Advertising photos often  show a bevy of beautiful Tui Girls leaning out of the windows, but they weren’t there when we were visiting.  As the evening drew in, and the skies darkened, we could see the tower all lit up across the road from the camp site.

Tui brew tower, afternoon and evening

So, it’s been another day, and another brewery,  GodsOwn and then Tui.  Robin must think he’s died and gone to heaven!

Homeward Bound

We packed up on Sunday morning, and said our goodbyes to the Dick and Elly, the camp owners.  Dick had kindly brought us some freshly picked mandarins from his tree, which were gratefully accepted. Before departing, we moved closer to the tap to replenish our water tank, parking beside the large 5th Wheeler which Dick is working on before heading off on a trip.  We always enjoy staying here, and are sure to be back again before too long.

Topping up the water tank

Travelling southwards through central Hawkes bay, we stopped off at Waipawa, the oldest inland town in Hawke’s Bay, to use the dump station.  Waipawa was founded on the banks of the Waipawa River by runholder Frederick Abbott in 1860. The town, originally named Abbottsford, was located next to a ford in the river. Settlers preferred its Māori name, Waipawa.  The tall clock tower was made as a war memorial and was unveiled on July 1922 by Governor General Lord Jellicoe to remember those men who died in the First World War.

Clock tower in Waipawa

Plenty of stock along the way

Our lunch stop was at Woodville, parked alongside the attractive Fountaine Square.  Eating our chicken sandwiches in the van, we noticed a steady stream of cars stopping at the very handy adjacent ablution block.

Lunch stop at Woodville

On our way again, we whizzed past the “world famous in New Zealand” Tui Brewery tower at Mangtainoka.  For those who don’t know, Tui beer is the beer of choice for good keen Kiwi blokes, and is supposedly made here, so the adverts tell us, by a bevy of beauties in skimpy clothes!  But you can’t believe everything you see on TV.

Tui Brewery Tower

We turned right at Pahiatua township, over the interesting concrete arched bridge  to start our trip over the Tararua Ranges on the Pahiatua Track. 

Pahiatua Bridge

The blue skies had disappeared, it was getting cold and windy, and the weather was trying it’s best to rain with dark clouds gathering overhead.  But all Mother Nature could conjure up was a little drizzle here and there along the way.  Thank goodness for that, there is nothing worse than unpacking the van in the rain, so we were safe from that indignity.  I’m always amazed at just how quickly we can unpack the van when we return home, compared to the time it takes to pack up for a trip away.  With the fridge and bathroom cleaned, the van put back into it’s space, the laundry bag taken indoors, we are all ready for the next trip away.

Two Towers, a Tunnel and a Elevator

Sunday at Wanganui involved a real treat – a trip to Durie Hill.  Although we had been to the top of the hill before, we had never been up in the historic elevator, so were very pleased that a visit had been arranged during our caravan rally.

To get to the historic elevator we had to walk through the 205 m long tunnel.  Luckily it is painted white and is well lit or it could well be a  rather spooky for nervous travelers.

Jenny and Dot at the entrance to the tunnel

The vintage elevator is at the end of the tunnel, and entering was certainly like was stepping back in time.  Zena Mabbot has been operating it since 1971 and stands in front of a newspaper article when she started her job – although she now only works 3 days a week, she told us.  We were charged $2 each for the 66m ride up to the top and saved us walking up 191 concrete steps.

Zena, the long serving elevator operator

The Durie Hill Underground Elevator was built to provide residents of the garden suburb easier access to the growing city. Built in 1919, it is the country’s only public underground Elevator and is still used on a daily basis by locals and visitors.    The Elevator engine is a converted electric Tram engine, which used to use castor oil as lubrication.

Our elevator ride stopped with a shake and a shudder and didn’t line up with the floor – too much weight perhaps, so we hauled ourselves up and out the door.  Several of us took the challenge of walking up the spiral staircase of the elevator tower – and sadly I forgot to take a photo of this interesting building.   It was so windy at the top  I took a quick photo of the river before we climbed down again.

View from the elevator tower

There is a second tower on top of Durie Hill, the War Memorial Tower which is registered as a Category 2 Historic Place. The tower is the official Wanganui Memorial to the 513 people from the district who died in the First World War and was unveiled in 1925.  It is constructed of cemented marine sandstone containing shell fragments (called shellrock) from a nearby quarry. It is 33.5m high (104 feet) and the rock is estimated to be more than 2 million years old.

War Memorial Tower

Only three of us climbed this tower, Barry and Derek who were much fitter than me and arrived at the top with no trouble at all.  I was much slower, but really pleased that I made it all the way to the top too, huffing and puffing all the way.   There is a heavy safety frame on top of the tower to stop any accidents.

Views from the War Memorial Tower

We saw quite an assortment of padlocks attached to the safety frame.  It seems that these “love locks” as they are known, fastening a lock marked with lovers’ names to a public place and the key thrown away symbolizes everlasting love.  Wonder if they come back and cut them off if the love match turns sour?

Locked in love at the top of the tower

After the mammoth task of climbing all those stairs we were faced with the downhill journey – this seems to use a different set of muscles and I will probably pay for all this exercise!  Many thanks to the Rally Captains for a great afternoon out.