Kai-Iwi

Our holiday was nearly over, and where would we stay for our final night? Somewhere heading towards the Wellington area, perhaps around Wanganui, was the consensus. The decision was to head to the Mowhanau Motor Camp at Kai-Iwi, a little north of Wanganui. None of us had camped here before, so that was a good reason to try it. The current owners had only taken over in December 2009, and already had made some changes, they told us, with more to come. A new hot water system had been installed in the ablution block, and a large children's play area kept the visiting youngsters happy. Four tourist flats have been ordered and will be installed on site shortly. The camp is nice and roomy, and just a short walk to the beach.

Our last night camping at Mowhanau camp

Across the large grassy area from us was a large converted bus. The windows and doors were altered to make it look like a gypsy caravan, we thought. The owner had a brand new black Harley motor bike, and he and Robin spent a little time conversing about Harley bikes and motors. We were astounded at his range of outside furniture and can only imagine that he must have had lots of friends coming to visit. Arranged outside his bus was a three piece burgundy leather lounge suite, two wooden church pews, a large wooden table, and a set of blue painted slatted timber outdoor furniture.

Geoff had been waiting all holiday for a chance to go out to breakfast, and his luck was in as the camp had a cafe, and served “all day breakfasts”. So four of us decided to go there for lunch. Robin and Geoff chose the Big Breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash brown, sausage, tomatoes and toast, and managed to eat every morsel. Eileen ordered Eggs Benedict, and my choice was French Toast with banana, bacon and maple syrup. With a coffee to finish, we were well satisfied and waddled away from the table.

All day breakfast at the camp cafe

We needed a little exercise after our large lunch, so walked down to Kai-Iwi beach with Peter and Elaine. There was a huge amount of driftwood piled up in the beach. Children were splashing about in the gentle stream which trickled down to the sea, while more hardy souls were swimming in the breakers of the bay. There was a warning stating that the water can rise very quickly so swimmers must take care.

Kai-Iwi beach

All too soon our two weeks holiday had come to an end, and this morning the six of us packed up, said our goodbyes and headed for our respective homes. We had explored new places, and enjoyed each others company. What a shame it is back to work for for us tomorrow.

Tawhiti Museum

Once the Tawhiti Cheese Factory, this building now houses a private museum which tells the story of Taranaki history using both life sized and scale models. The figures are created from moulds cast from real people, friends, relatives and neighbours of Nigel Ogle, designed and cast in the “body shop”. A former art teacher, Nigel enjoys developing new displays for the museum. There is even a display of Nigel himself at work in the “body shop”.

The Musket Wars raged between the Maori tribes throughout Taranaki between 1820-30. The lethal effects of muskets on opponents who lacked them upset the balance of pre-European tribal life. This was followed by the 1860 land Wars which saw the encroachment of European settlers into tribal lands. British soldiers arrived to keep the peace. Then the Forest Rangers were set up, locals trained to fight in the tough bush conditions, which were unfamiliar to the British soldiers. As we walked around admiring both the life sized displays and the tiny figurines in show cases, realistic sound effects floated around us.

Life sized displays featuring The Maori Wars

There are displays on early endeavours such as logging the native bush, and breaking in the bush for farming. The back breaking labours of making a living in colonial times are shown, featuring farm equipment of the times. Displays also showed sheep shearing, brick making, and coal mining. Around every corner was yet another lifelike diorama.

There is even a surprise in store for the unwary public. I watched in anticipation as Elaine opened the door on a “shed”, in reality it was an outhouse. She was certainly surprised, and more than a little embarrassed. (I already knew what she would find behind that door, so just happened to have my camera ready!) There he was, reading the newspaper as he went about his business .

So sorry to interrupt

The Farm Power Hall houses a huge collection of tractors, mowers, a steam powered roller and tractor, military vehicles and a host of smaller appliances such as chainsaws and mowers. This display kept Robin’s interest for ages.

Inside the farm Power Hall

Our visit concluded with a visit to Mr Badger’s cafe for a late lunch. Named after the character from “Wind in the Willows”, Mr Badger was reading a book nice and cosy by the cafe fireplace. A series of scale models illustrate scenes from the book, and various editions of “Wind in the Willows” were arranged along a shelf. There was another surprise in the cafe. Seated at one of the tables was yet another wonderful life sized model, gazing out the cafe window at the passers-by.

Mr Badger in the Cafe

Our visit to Nigel Ogle’s Tawhiti Museum was a “must see” on our trip, and we were not disappointed. Each of the faces of the life sized models is completely individual, and the expressions range from worry, fear, anger, sorrow, thoughtfulness and delight. We can certainly recommend a visit here to anyone passing through this part of the country.

Yum, yum, Yarrows

“We must stop at Yarrows”, Geoff advised us, “they have lots of yummy stuff”. With a recommendation like that, we certainly had to break our journey this morning at Manaia, en route to Hawera.

Manaia, home to Yarrows bread factory and shop

We were continuing along Surf Highway 45, driving through one tiny little place after another, with all of them having a long abandoned dairy factory which used to be the heart of each town. Manaia was much bigger, with Yarrows Bakery breathing life and prosperity into the town. We stopped at the shop to each get a little of the yummy stuff for ourselves. There was a steady stream of customers as locals and travellers just like us travelling on their way to somewhere else through bought their bread, pies, cakes and buns. Good customer relations are very important at Yarrows, as the shop had a list of “Happy Tips” for staff.

We found our camp for the night at Hawera, ate some of our afore-mentioned yummies for lunch, then went down town to scale the heights of the Hawera Water Tower. For only $2 each, payable at the Information Centre, the door at the base of the tower was un-locked, we went inside, then it was closed behind us. “Just turn this lock to get out again”, we were told, “and come and tell us when you have finished”. The water tower was completed in January 1914 to provide water for fire-fighters after several disastrous fires. However, an earthquake caused the newly constructed tower to list 2ft 6in towards the south. This was corrected by undermining then re-setting the foundations. Major restoration was completed in 2004, and it is many years since the tower has been used for it’s original purpose.

Hawera Water Tower, and the narrow steps inside

Round and round and round we went, up the circular concrete staircase, stopping occasionally to get our breath back. 215 steps later, we had finally reached the top. The wind was fierce as we stepped outside to the observation gallery for the 360 degree view of Hawera. We could see the town spread out below, with farmland and the huge Fontera factory further out. Mt Egmont was partly covered with clouds again. As they say in this part of the country, “If you can’t see the mountain, it’s raining. and if you can see it, it will soon be raining”.

View of Mt Egmont, from the Water Tower

Another 215 steps later we made it safely back down the winding circular staircase. We must admit that our legs certainly knew we had done all that stair climbing. Surely after all that exercise we had walked off some of the calories from the Yarrow yummies that we had eaten at lunchtime?

Surf Highway 45

It was time to say goodbye to the Onaero Holiday Park, managed by the New Zealand Motor Caravan Association. This large camp has hundreds of campsites and we were parked down by the stream running into the sea. After the recent tsunami alert I had visions of huge walls of water racing towards us in the dead of night but luckily no such thing happened and we woke up safe and sound. Last evening we walked all around the grounds looking at the different camping areas and had good views from the top of the cliff.

Onaero Holiday Park campsites, and view from top of the cliff

Our route today took us along Surf Highway 45, so named because the Taranaki coastline has many well known surf breaks. Surfers from local areas and overseas ride the waves at breaks like Stent Road, the Kumera Patch and Fitzroy Beach. Robin felt a touch of nostalgia as we drove on past Oakura Beach. He had spent weekends and school holidays of his teenage years on this beach, as a Surf Lifesaver. As we continued along the road, we were intrigued to see hundreds of rounded mounds dotting the farmlands. These were created by ancient lahars which flowed down from Mount Egmont and created distinctive rounded hills over boulders.

Our stay tonight is at the Opunake Beach Holiday Park, a large camp with 90 powered sites and a brand new kitchen, laundry and ablution block. We made good use of the excellent laundry facilities and in between the showers, managed to get our laundry dry. Contrast this with the previous laundry duties undertaken at Otorohanga when the washing machine broke down, and the clothes had to be rinsed and wrung out by hand, and you can see why I am such a happy camper.

Opunake Beach Holiday Park

Opunake (punake translated from the Maori means canoe bow) is known as “the home of the big wave”. It was one of the first places in New Zealand to construct an artificial surf reef. Sir Peter Snell, one of New Zealand’s great middle distance runners, was born in Opunake. A large bronze statue in the main road honours his achievements.

Sir Peter Snell

Driving up to the cliff top lookout we had a wonderful view of rollers crashing down onto the beach. The bracing wind carried rain clouds inland, no wonder the Taranaki province is so fresh and green and supports many large herds of dairy cows.

Opunake Beach from the cliff top lookout

A little bit of Culture

It’s not much fun at the beach on a rather damp day, so we took a trip into New Plymouth. Walking along the Coastal Walkway I was almost run down by a skate boarder as I gazed up at the 45 metre tall Wind Wand. Designed by sculptor Ken Lye, the Wind Wand has become the symbol of the Coastal Walkway. Topped with a red globe which is lit up at night, it is designed to bend and move in the coastal breezes.

The Wind Wand, by Ken Lye

The walkway is concrete with sturdy strong timber constructions protruding towards the sea to take the walker even closer to the water. The walkway is protected against the surging waves by huge anthracite boulders which had been thrown up by the eruption of Mount Egmont. Turning to walk in the other direction along the walkway, we looked out onto the Sugarloaf islands which are the remnants of a volcano which blew asunder a long time ago. Robin spent his formative years in New Plymouth and remembers scrambling up to the top of nearby Paratutu, one of the other remnants of the volcano, several times in his youth.

Across the road from the walkway is the Puke Arike Museum. We peeked into the small theatre which had a continuously running film on the construction of the Coastal Walkway. What was that we were seeing? Rows of “glow in the dark” blue seats – they really looked quite weird. We had the theatre to ourselves as the film unfolded. Three consecutive mayors were involved in the construction, and plans are underway for further extensions. The walkway is extremely popular and well used by walkers, bikers, skaters and runners.

Glow in the dark seating

The museum tells of the history of the region and really deserves another visit. We were aware of the time ticking away at the car park meter and got back just in time before the time ran out.

Puke Ariki museum

Down the coast to Onaero

Three vans headed south in convoy while Pamela and Don went north to enjoy the hot pools at Miranda. No hot pools for us, we have to start the homeward journey to arrive back for work commitments next week. We travelled along State Highway 3 crossing into the Taranaki region. The wonderfully dramatic rock outcrops of Mahoenui contrasted with the green of the native trees covering the hillsides. Coal miners worked these hills in years gone by, but the coal mines have long since been abandoned.

Mahoenui rock outcrops

We reached the coast at Awakino and stopped at the the interesting little village of Mokau. Perhaps we will stop here for the night? The decision was made to carry on to the NZMCA motor camp at Onaero. We hit the road again and travelled over Mt Messenger, driving through a tiny one way tunnel hewn out of the rock. Let me tell you that it’s not easy to take a photo out of a moving car. First step is to get the camera ready, then perch the reading glasses on the end of your nose, so that you can see the image in the camera screen. But this also means that the view out of the car window is distorted – so you must concentrate on the camera. Extend your arms holding the camera right up to the front screen window, focus and press the button. If you are lucky, the image you are trying to capture has not yet flashed by at 100 kms per hour!

Tunnel at the top of Mt Messenger

Before too long we pulled into Onaero Bay Holiday Park. After setting up the caravans and a quick lunch, Geoff and Eileen joined us in a trip back up the road. We wanted to check out an interesting looking small brewery we had driven past a few miles back. Geoff and Robin both appreciate a good drop of well brewed beer now and again, and Eileen and I just went along for the ride.

Mike’s Ales organic brewery

Mike’s Organic Brewery has been in operation since 1989, with the current owners taking over three years ago. The company produces a range of organic beers, and Geoff and Robin test tasted the beer varieties of Strawberry Blond, Pilsener, Lager and Dark Ale. The proprietor explained the how his boutique beers were made. There was quite a bit of hissing and gurgling going on in the vats as the processes took place. Robin decided on Lager to take back to camp, and Geoff chose Pilsener.

Brewing up the beer

While all this tasting was taking place Eileen and I were sipping on plunger coffee outside in the garden bar. A large black rooster was crowing away, and a glossy black hen brought her three little chickens around in case we had any food for them. The babies looked delightful, with feathers just starting to come in through their fluff. Hops were growing over the adjacent fence. But then they would be, wouldn’t they? This is a brewery, after all!

Resident hen and her babies, and hops growing on the fence

Wagons ho

After 3 very pleasant days at Otorohanga Holiday Park it is time to hook up the caravans and move on. This small camp is about 35 years old and is set amongst beautiful mature shady trees. The on site hosts couldn’t have been more helpful and friendly, and make a point of using our names when they talk to us. With large area of native trees planted in the adjacent Kiwi House attract a huge number of wild birds. It is a delight to hear them all chirping away as they settle down in the evenings.

The only little hiccough that we had was doing the never ending washing. I rose bright and early to put a load on before we went sight seeing, went back a while later to find that the washing machine had decided to end it’s working life in the middle of the cycle. There was nothing for it but to put everything in the tub and rinse and ring it all out by hand. The weather is still nice and hot so even though the washing was hung up dripping, it certainly dried during the day.

Here are a couple more of the beautiful birds that we snapped recently on our visit to the Kiwi House. First is the beautiful New Zealand Falcon.

New Zealand Falcon

This Kereru, native pigeon,was getting up as close as he could to the front of the enclosure, he obviously enjoyed having his picture taken.

Kereru

Wonder where we will move to today? Somewhere by the beach I think. We’ll let you know when we get there!