Taking the Slow Road

Trips away in the caravan are always fun, and what is nice these days is that we can take our time, if we want,  getting to our destination.  Not at all like the trips when we had to work for a living.  Then we had to rush from here to there, often over long distances, trying to see as much as we could.  Taking the slow road is so much more relaxing.

After a couple of days at the Drop In Rally at Foxton School, just taking things easy and enjoying the lovely hot weather, it was time to move on.  As planned, we stayed at several “new to us” venues over our holiday.  Such as the car park behind the Dannevirke Services and Citizens Club.  Lovely friendly staff, and we stayed here at no charge, so made sure they received some patronage from us at the bar.  Just a shame we were too early in the week to enjoy a meal in the restaurant, otherwise we would have dined there in the evening.

Our next new destination was Ashcott Park, Ongaonga, in a lovely rural setting.  No other campers came to stay, and we didn’t even see the property owner, so had to leave our fee in the letterbox for him.

And our third new venue was Mathews Park in Norsewood, another rural stop, with the Ruahine Ranges in the background.  Once again, we camped alone, but the Small Bore Club next door kept things lively when they started firing their rifles.

We stayed at a couple of old favourites as well.  Ashurst Camp with it’s lovely old shady trees is always a joy to stay at, as is the apple orchard POP in Hastings.  And we enjoyed some company from our caravan buddies too.  Dot and Derek were at the Drop In Rally, and stayed a couple more days than us before moving on, and Don and Pamela joined us at Hastings for several days.  The Hastings Rellies were visited several times, we were invited around to share a delicious roast lamb meal and we caught up with all the family news. We never go to Hastings without buying some fish and chips from Hawkes Bay Seafood, the best fish and chips ever!  Then we ticked a couple of things off our Bucket List, visiting the International Police Museum at Dannevirke, and the National Aquarium of NZ at Napier. 

On reflection, we are pleased we came home on Thursday, rather than Friday as originally planned.  There have been wind warnings today for high sided vehicles (that means us), so it is just as well we are safe at home today.  As well as the strong winds, torrential rain has been falling during the day.  I think it’s my fault, as I insisted that Robin water the garden last night after all that neglect with us being away. Or maybe Robin’s to blame after all, as he washed the 4WD before the rain arrived today.  Whatever……. as the grand-daughters say.  Luckily the garden survived while we were away – just look at those beans!  Our broccoli have tiny little heads, which just need to grow a little more, the lettuce and silver beet are ready to pick, and there are even some baby tomatoes coming along.

Silver beet, broccoli and beans

Some flower pots survived

Homeward Bound

We never did get anyone else camping in Mathews Park in Norsewood with us.  So we enjoyed the solitude, and the bird life flitting around.  The resident tui kept us entertained, flying here and there, chasing other birds away from his patch, and tucking in to the nectar from the flax  flowers to keep his strength up. 

Tui on duty, surveying his kingdom

There is nothing nicer than catching a lovely sunset at the end of the day.

Sun going down in the west

Although we didn’t have any other campers in Mathews Park, we were not entirely alone during the evening.  Members of the local Small Bore Rifle Club met in their club room next door to the camp and the distant crack of rifles could be heard over the TV.

  

Next morning dawned a little cloudy so I did not get a nice clear photo of the Ruahine Ranges as I had hoped.  The large paddock over the back of the camp  looks like it is almost ready for hay cutting.

 

Ruahine Ranges

Our time in Norsewood had come to an end and it was time to head home.  The caravan was hooked up to the car, and we stopped at the handy recycling bins on the way out of town, to rid ourselves of plastic, glass, cardboard, and a bag of rubbish.  Driving through the narrow, windy, Manawatu Gorge, I try not to think of rock falls and land slides, it won’t happen to us, surely?  It’s always rather sobering looking ahead and seeing the road jutting out over the edge and propped up on all those piles.  Perhaps it’s better not to think about it too much.

Manawatu Gorge

Of course, we got through safely, so what was I worried about.   Once home, we unpacked the caravan, stopped for a bite of lunch, then finished the cleaning.  It’s all ready now for our next time away.

Next stop, Norsewood

The camp at the apple orchard mostly emptied out today, with us being the last to hook up and leave.  Never mind, our trip today was reasonably short, at 82km.  But we needed two quick stops in close succession before we even hit the main road, to stock up on some more of Hawkes Bay’s delicious fruit.  Another large punnet of luscious, juicy boysenberries from the property next door to the camp soon found a home in the caravan fridge. We have them for dessert with ice cream, and they are just as nice with our breakfast cereal. Then a stop at the end of the road at Kirsten’s Corner for our second large punnet of delicious cherries, they are just so yummy we needed to take some home with us. Eating cherries has always seemed a posh and rather decadent thing to do as they are usually quite expensive, but buying them direct from the growers makes this tasty fruit so much more affordable.  And it is still Christmas, after all, that’s my excuse, anyway.

Stopping at Kirsten’s Corner to buy more cherries

Rejoining SH2, we drove along, commenting on the dry, yellow hills and paddocks.  That’s what often happens in this region over summer.  The dark green colour of the hill covered in pine trees really contrasts with the other dry hills.

It’s very dry in Hawkes Bay

Arriving at Mathews Park in Norsewood, our stop for the night, we found it deserted, so if no one else turns up we will have the place to ourselves.  The Ruahine Ranges in the background would be covered in snow during the winter months.  There is an old sports club building on the site, and we understand there are plans to replace it sometime with a modern toilet block and a dump station.

Parked up at Mathews Park

After a late lunch we drove into “town” to pay our camp fee at the shop and have a look around.  With street names such as Odin, Viking, and Thor, and Swedish Line further out of town, it is obvious that this community is a little different.   In 1872 the sailing ship “Hovding” arrived in Napier carrying 483 new settlers, all but 11 being Norwegian.  A few days later the men trekked through dense bush to reach their allotted 40 acres of land, previously purchased by the Government from the local Maoris.   The plots were balloted, and the price of 40 pounds was paid off over time by building roads, railways, and clearing the bush.  Families soon followed their men folk and the community soon became established, despite the rugged conditions.  Other settlers arrived from Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Germany and England to add to the diversity and richness of the community.

Norsewood in the early days

Trolls are alive and well in the Heritage village of Norsewood and we spotted these three outside the cafe.  Father Norvirke, mother Margit and son Ormvagh watch over the small town, and offer good luck to all, we read. 

Three trolls watching over Norsewood

And they make headlines in the newspaper too!

On our way back to the caravan, we took a tiki tour to check out the other place to stay in Norsewood, Anzac Park. This is a nice grassy area, sheltered all around by tall trees, and contains a clean toilet block.  Once again, it was empty, but campers often roll in during the late afternoon.  It looks another nice place to stay in the area.

Posters and Pou

Today was our last full day in sunny Hastings, and we hadn’t run out of things we wanted to see and do.  This afternoon we took a visit to the Hastings City Art Gallery, to view an interesting sounding exhibition about “Classic New Zealand Tourism Posters”.  And we weren’t disappointed, the collection of 50 posters produced between 1920s and 1960s promote the glamour of travel and tourist attractions.  In the age before TV and the Internet, posters on billboards,  in railway stations, and on buildings on towns throughout the country were the advertising of the time.  Posters showed the beauty spots of the country, and suggested how to get there with posters promoting rail and  the fledgling air services.  We sat and watched a film interviewing artists who had spent their early working years producing these works of art, before wandering around and checking out the colourful posters. 

Overview of the exhibition

Promoting train travel

Areas of interest to visit

As children growing up, Robin and I can both remember our respective  mothers talking about going to see the Centennial Exhibition in Wellington as young women, so it was interesting to see these posters.

Centennial Exhibition

There was “art in the park” outside too – a series of 18 pou (carved posts).  The timber used was gifted by Tuhoe tribe to 18 marae (meeting place) to create a representation of tupuna (ancestor).  Each post faces the marae it represents.  This is the first time that tupuna have been presented in a public place in this way in Hastings.

Some of the posts on display

It was a very interesting afternoon, with quite a kiwi flavour, and we were pleased that the warm summer sun had finally returned.  Our rellies had invited us around for a home cooked evening meal, which we gladly accepted.  And it was delicious – what could be nicer than a roast leg of lamb and all the trimmings, followed by chocolate roll and pavlova?  We had a lovely time catching up with all the news,  before saying our goodbyes, as we are departing in the morning.

BIL Dennis and big sister Kathleen

What’s Happened to the Weather?

Usually, Hastings has the sort of weather to envy.  Long hot summers, just right for all those orchards full of fruit trees which the region is famous for.  One of the workers was busy up on a cherry picker as  he moved along the row of trees thinning the apple crop. 

Hard at work in the orchard

It started out great – we arrived in full sunshine, and were joined the next day by caravan buddies Don and Pamela, who parked along side us.  We recognised the caravan when they arrived, but didn’t they have a green car?  Not any more, they arrived with a shiny red Mazda.

All parked in a row

The nice weather continued and I took full advantage of the on site washing machine.  The camp cat Ollie decided he really needed a nice roll around on the grass beside my bucket of washing, as I prepared to hang it out to dry.

Ollie the cat having a good roll on the ground

Yesterday was showery, then sunny, then showery again.  Happy Hour moved from outside in the sunshine, to inside, and of course the sun came out again.  The weather was trying to fool us, and as Robin was pre-heating the BBQ, thunder boomed overhead and the torrential rain came down.  We had to call on Don to help us move the hot BBQ out of the rain and safely under cover of our awning.  Robin and Don picked up each side of the table, and I had hold of the gas bottle, and we slowly shuffled under cover.  The photo doesn’t really show just how heavy the rain was, but you can see a steady stream coming off end of the awning.  The ground was sodden, with big puddles everywhere.

Cooking under cover

The rain continued overnight and today we have rather grey skies and a chill in the air.  The rain had finally ceased, but that didn’t stop us from doing a little exploring after an early lunch.  Driving through the trendy town of Havelock North we stopped the car to check out a steam engine – it’s not often you see one of these in the middle of town.  This dark green beauty was puffing smoke from the chimney, and was getting hooked up to a wagon.  The brass plate on front read “Ransomes Sims & Jefferies Ltd, Ipswich”, a major British agricultural machinery maker.  The company was founded in 1789 by Robert Ransome.

Steam Engine in Havelock North

Our plan for the afternoon was to visit two settlements on the coast, Ocean Beach and Waimarama, as we had been to neither before.   We continued up the hill, and there before us was the small settlement of Ocean Beach.  From the approach, it certainly looked pretty, but the wind was fierce and cold.

Down the hill to Ocean Beach

There was a sign prominently displayed advising that the beach was closed to swimmers due to dangerous conditions.  We had a quick look around but the blustery conditions made it very chilly. 

Ocean Beach

So we retraced our steps back over the hill, and followed the road to the other beach settlement we wanted to visit, Waimarama.  Once again the beach was cold, windswept and deserted.  No camping signs were also displayed here, although there was a commercial motor camp close by.  These two beaches are sure to be much nicer on a warm sunny day.

Waimarama Beach

Waimarama was much larger than we anticipated, a mixture of older homes and quite a number of rather expensive looking residences built right on the coast.  We drove through the large expansive Domain, extensively planted with trees, and strangely, also containing large areas of swampy ground densely covered in reeds.

Waimarama Domain

With our curiosity satisfied back we went, up hill and down dale once more.   We presume that the dramatic hills we approached on our trip back to Havelock North are the other side of Te Mata Peak.  But we could well be wrong – any ideas?

Dramatic hills

It is always fun travelling new roads, and going to places not previously explored.  We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful country.

National Aquarium of New Zealand, Napier

Although we are regular visitors to the Hawkes Bay, we had never been to the National Aquarium along the foreshore in Napier.  That was rectified today, when we joined hordes of people all doing the same.  Most seemed to have a large posse of kids with them, babes in arms, toddlers in pushchairs, with several siblings hanging onto to the handles and /or parent’s hand for dear life.  Plus the grand-parents tagging along too.  No, we are not really complaining, it was nice to see so many family groups out enjoying themselves.

 

The Aquarium is a handsome building, and we were pleased to discover that our aged status entitled us to a reasonable discount, enough to allow a visit to the cafe later.

It wasn’t just about fish, we discovered, but all sorts of other  creatures who live in or around water.  Such as these Australian Water Dragons, who like to rest on branches that overhang streams.  When alarmed, they drop into the water, and can remain submerged for 30 minutes or so, waiting for the danger to pass.

Australian Water Dragon

We spotted one of the two American Alligators, the other was lurking in the water, trying to hide from us.  At six years old, they are still youngsters.   The alligator has survived in the same form for 200 million years, we read, obviously an extremely successful life form!

American Alligator

The penguin feeding drew a huge crowd, and we gathered together, waiting, and waiting until at last the keeper arrived, with a young boy and his Mum in tow.  They had paid extra to take part in a “penguin encounter” and watched carefully as the keeper explained how to feed the small fish to the penguins. Most of the penguins in residence have had some mishap or other in their lives, some are missing a flipper, or toes, and the Aquarium takes care of them as they are unable to fend for themselves in the wild.

Feeding the penguins.

From here we followed the crowds to the Oceanarium to watch the divers hand feed the sharks and other fish.  The travelator took us through the underwater perspex tunnel, and we watched in awe as fish, sharks and rays glided overhead.  There were squeals and gasps as the youngsters realised that the big fish were all around them, and so close.

On the Travelator

The diver arrived with his pail of fish, and the water began to boil as fish, both big and small, came in for their share.  Some of the more assertive fish were deftly moved aside, while the diver offered fish to others who were not getting their share. 

 

Feeding the fish

And we had to take a selfie, of course

Once the feeding frenzy was over, we looked in some more tanks and saw a turtle, swimming backwards and forwards, all on his lonesome.  Hundreds of plastic shopping bags were strung up, to remind people of the danger these pose to sea creatures, who eat them, as they look just like jellyfish floating in the water. 

Sea turtle

Mr Seahorse has babies in his pouch

Our visit over, we retired to the cafe to rest our weary feet, and enjoy a world famous Rush Munroe ice cream.  We can highly recommend the Aquarium – although you may prefer to wait until the school holidays are over.

Goodbye Ongaonga, and Hello Hastings

It is surely a sign of getting older, when the pair of us couldn’t face the prospect of staying up till midnight on New Years Eve!  Mind you, we were camped all alone, in the middle of rural Ongaonga, with nothing else happening at all, and no one to share it with, except each other.  So after our meal, followed by a little TV, there was nothing for it but to go to bed and read our books. 

And talking of books, Robin got a beauty for Christmas.  Daughter Nicky asked what he would like, and I suggested “The Road to Little Dribbling”, by Bill Bryson.  Such a amusing and informative author – he writes the sort of books where you just have to laugh out loud. Although it was actually Robin’s gift, I couldn’t help myself and started reading the first chapter on Christmas Day.  Then just carried on reading, while he muttered and mumbled and gritted his teeth.  But as I told him, I’m a fast reader, and I handed it back yesterday. So now he can have the pleasure of reading this very funny book, and laugh out loud too when he gets to a funny bit.

Finally got the chance to read his Christmas book

After two days at Ongaonga it was time to move on to Hastings, and we went via the pretty little hamlet of Tikokino.  There are a couple of places to stay here, we found out, and the area looks rather interesting.The attractive pub had a tasty looking blackboard menu on display, so we can put this area on our list of possibilities next time we are in the area.

Tikokino pub

Plan A in Hastings was to stay at one of our favourite POPS, Dick and Elly’s apple orchard, but we were not sure if there were spare sites at this time of the year.  We tried to contact them, but to no avail.  Luckily on arrival Rose, the friendly manager, welcomed us into the almost empty small camping area.  The owners are overseas, so that was why we had no reply.

Parked up at the apple orchard

Several more rigs rolled in during the afternoon, and Rose gathered us all together for a very pleasant Happy Hour.  It was practically a meeting of the “Weber Appreciation Society” as most of the men were very proud Weber BBQ owners.  As we are just new comers to this brand, it was great to see how keen and enthusiastic Weber owners are, and hints and tips were freely offered.  And our lamb steaks were cooked to perfection that evening, we are pleased to report.

Apples quietly growing in the orchard

Now we are in Hastings, we have family to catch up with, a few places to check out, and a little exploring to do.  That should fill in our days nicely.

Happy New Year to all our readers, wherever you may be.  Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2016, and keep safe on the roads at this busy time of year.