Out and About

We may have been to the Hawkes Bay area many times, but there is always somewhere new to explore.  We decided to drive through to Napier, travelling along Marine Parade which is lined both sides with tall Norfolk Pines.  The first trees were planted in 1888, and added to over many years.  Noted for tolerating salt-laden winds, these hardy trees have thrived, and a fair few have been struck by vehicles at some time – guess the cars came off second best.

Norfolk Pines along Marine Parade, Napier

Bay View, a little further on, was where we were heading.  Just because we had only ever whizzed by, and didn’t really know what there was in this little village. 

There was not a great deal to see, as we discovered.  Except for the huge number of quad bikes lined up outside a Honda franchise.  What they were all doing in sleepy little Bay View we will never know.  But if you want one, this is the place to come to.

Honda quad bikes everywhere

By far the most interesting thing we saw in Bay View was the lovely old King George’s Hall.  Designed by world-renowned Art Deco architect, Louis Hay, the King George Hall has been an important part of the Bay View community since 1911.   Still used as a community hall for local groups, it is also available for hire for birthdays, weddings, and reunions.

King George’s Hall, Bay View

Looking for a light lunch, we came across Snapper Café, part of the Napier Beach Holiday Park – which was known previously as Snapper Point.  We enjoyed a nice lunch in the café, good food, and nice friendly service.  Plus we got to read all about the USA election news in the newspaper, left on our table.  Plastered on the front page over a photo of the incoming President were the initials WTF, which had to be explained to me.  If you don’t know either, ask a texting savvy youngster what they stand for!

Snapper Café

Permission was granted for us to walk around the camp  to check it out, so off we went.  Plenty of sites available, and we particularly liked the ones up the top of the plateau with lovely views.  Great views looking over the camp one way, or looking down across the shingle beach the other way.

Views from the top of the hill

Next stop was to track down Robin’s friend and NZ Motor Home Forum Administrator Chris who was camping at Clifton Road Reserve, Haumoana – available for self contained vehicles.  Another new place for us, we had never been there before either.  Chris welcomed us inside, put the coffee machine on, and the pair of them happily talked about cars and camping experiences for some time.  Then it was time to head back to camp, before venturing out again - we were invited to have dinner with the rellies.

Napier-Taupo Road

What a glorious day to travel – the winds of the previous day had died right down, the sun was shining, and high temperatures were expected.  We said goodbye to our neighbours at Taupo Airport site.  The large group were off on a safari, travelling through the back-blocks to out of the way places, and ending back in Taupo in two weeks time.  It certainly sounded like a great trip had been planned for them all.

 

With glimpses of snowy clad mountains peeping between the trees, we just had to stop at the Lookout at the top of the hill.  And there in front of us, was the glorious view of Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe looking oh so beautiful across the water of  Lake Taupo.  Several other cars were parked there too, so we didn’t have the view all to ourselves.  A young Asian father with his toddler son were taking selfies with the lake and mountains in the background.  The youngster was loudly proclaiming “Cheese” each time a photo was snapped – I was probably  expecting more like “mei chow wing” or something more ethnic.

Views from the Lookout

I’d forgotten just how long and windy the Napier-Taupo road (SH5) was.  It started off easily enough, climbing to a high plateau, past plantations of Pinus Radiata.  Then up and down through hillsides covered in dense native bush, cleared areas for faming, and pine trees again.  Robin remembers travelling over this road with his parents, on their first ever caravan adventure.  Towing a hired caravan behind the family Mark 1 Zephyr, it was an arduous trip indeed, and the road was unsealed all the way back then.  The car was never the same again, Robin recalls.

Traveling along SH5

In need of a break, we pulled into the Tarawera Café, one of several cafes along this busy road.  And indulged in a very large date scone each and a drink to take on our way.  This property is also a Park over Property for NZMCA members to stay the night, if they wish.  Plenty of room in the large car park for caravans and campers, plus a handy ablution block.

Tarawera Café on SH5

Finally the road led us through the Esk Valley, planted with grapes galore, and we were  off the hill road at last.  Driving along past Bayview, we joined the Napier Hastings Expressway.

And made our way to one of our favourite places to stay, Dick and Elly Spiekerman’s delightful apple orchard property in Hastings.  We have stayed here many times, and always receive a warm welcome each time we return.  The plan is to have three nights here, and catch up with family members who live nearby.

Staying at the apple orchard

With temperatures ranging in the mid to late 20s, we should have a lovely sunny time in Hastings during our stay here.

Return to Taupo

Our overnight stay in front of the Leisureline factory building was not without a trial – it was the best place to be,  as it turned out.  The water pump stopped working, that was after we had filled the kettle and washed the dishes earlier in the evening.  We tried the  bathroom tap too, just to make sure.  But nope – not a drop of water was forthcoming.  This problem was added to the list of things to be looked at by the men in the morning.

It was an early morning start, as we had been warned.  The alarm clock was set to go off at 5.30am, so we were all ready at 6.00am for the caravan to get taken into the factory for it’s annual service.  And there it went, towed away by a forklift.  It would be finished about mid-day, we were told.

Towing the caravan into the factory

So what do we do at 6.30am to fill in the morning?  First on the list was to find a launderette, (yes, again) to attend to yet another load of washing, washed, dried, and folded.  While I was in washer woman mode, Robin went to top up the car with fuel.  Next stop, somewhere for breakfast,  So that’s what we had, a nice leisurely breakfast, a big cup of coffee, and plenty of time to peruse the newspaper.  With a little shopping done, it was time to wander back to collect our van, and get on the road again.

Robin battled with the wind on the drive down SH1.  We passed through Tirau, well known for their Information Centre constructed in the likeness of a corrugated iron dog.

Passing through Tirau

We drove past a paddock full of stags sporting fine sets of velvet covered antlers.  And this is milk production country, with herds of milking cows happily munching grass in the sunshine.

Stags in velvet and Friesian cows

Interesting rock formation

We knew we were getting close to Taupo once we crossed over the bridge onto the by-pass road.  And then caught  a glimpse of the snow touched mountains, Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe.

Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe

And at last, after a couple of hours being buffeted by the wind, we finally arrived at the NZMCA site at Taupo Airport.  It’s going to busy here tonight, we were told, as 20 or so vans are stopping here tonight before departing on a safari trip together.

Back at Taupo again

Moving on to Hamilton

Several other motorhomes joined us overnight at Firth Tower Museum carpark –  we spent a nice quiet night in rural surroundings.  And then the rain came down – the tourist vans were in a hurry to get up and about and on the road again, while we just took our time.  With just 85kms to our next destination we weren’t in a great hurry.

Our overnight stay at Firth Tower

We had to pass through Hobbiton on our way to Hamilton.

And passed by the magnificent Hobbit House in the centre of town.  There must be Hobbits around here somewhere.   Actually, it is the local Info Centre masquerading as a home for Hobbits!

Who lives in this Hobbit House, I wonder?

Travelling along country roads the farmland was looking lush and green.  The grey rain clouds followed us overhead, and the rain wasn't too long in coming.

Our plan was to stop at Cambridge for lunch.  By this stage the rain was coming down in sheets, and we drove round and round trying to find a spare parking space long enough for our 4WD and caravan.  Cambridge seems to only have angle parking in the centre of town, and after driving around in the rain one more time, we decided to go with Plan B instead.  Which was to carry on to Hamilton, and have have lunch at the Classic Car Museum.  We could stay here overnight, if we wished.

Parked at Classic Car Museum

We love this place – full of retro rock’n’roll memorabilia with a menu to match.  Robin enjoyed a Chuck Berry Burger, my lunch was mushrooms on toast, both meals washed down with a Coco Cola Soda.  These drinks were called “spiders” in our young days.  And goodness – here’s Elvis, just waiting for me by the jukebox!

I’ve got a bit of a “thing” for Elvis!

You just never know who you are going to bump into as you travel around.  Relaxing back in our caravan in the car park, Robin watched as another Leisureline caravan backed up and parked beside us.  It was Noel and Lyn from the Wairarapa Caravan Club. 

Our caravan was due for it’s annual service tomorrow, and we were told that we could stay overnight at the Leisureline factory, so we decided to move on and park there.  Two mechanics helped us to park up, and informed us that they started work at 6.00am!  Sounds like we will be up early in the morning, and we will have to depart and let them get on with the job.  Guess we will be looking for a café to have a “Big Breakfast" somewhere.  The sooner they start work on our van, the sooner we can collect it and be on our way again.

Staying overnight at Leisureline Factory

Firth Tower Museum

Sunday morning in Rotorua dawned wet and misty – and then the rain came down even harder.  This made life a little difficult for the young tourists in the camp who were sleeping in their tents.  Not much fun at all while they packed up in the rain – one girl was valiantly holding a brolly over her boyfriend’s head as he was dismantling their tent beside us in the camp ground.  Being older and wiser caravan owners, we sat down to enjoy our Sunday morning bacon and eggs breakfast while we waited for the rain to stop.  Saying our goodbyes to all who had attended the CCNZ AGM over the weekend, we all departed on our separate journeys.

Travelling along SH5 we drove through the very pretty Fitzgerald Glade.  The trees growing on both sides of the road makes it rather like driving through a leafy green tunnel.

Fitzgerald Glade

We were stopping overnight at the Firth Tower Museum, a new place for us.  Although we had heard plenty of good reports about this particular place to stay, we had no idea if there really was a tower, and if so, what was it used for.  Checking in with the volunteer on duty, we were fortunate to get one of the few power sites for the night, at a very reasonable $12.

Firth Tower Museum

With just a short 64km trip, we arrived at midday, just in time for lunch.  And also just in time for Robin to watch the All Blacks – Irish  rugby game being replayed on TV.  I left him to it and went to look through the museum, now it seems to be an historic village.  First up was the McCaw Homestead, built in 1902 to replace the original homestead built in 1879 which was burnt to the ground.  The house has been furnished in the style of the late 1880s.

McCaw Homestead

I was keen to find out about the tower.  Built by Josiah Firth in 1882, it is 16m high and one of the earliest reinforced concrete buildings in New Zealand.  Constructed as a lookout and a status symbol, the tower was attached to the original homestead.  It is constructed with three floors and a lookout on the very top. I wasn't sure if the public were allowed inside, but yes, they were.   I carefully climbed the stairs up three floors, and the last narrow ladder to the very top, and tip toed carefully back down again, aware that I was all alone in the tower.  If I had slipped and fell, Robin would not be aware I was missing till after the rugby game had finished! 

Firth Tower

Ladder to the look-out, and view from the top

Wandering around the extensive grounds I explored the church, school, Post Office and Settlers Cottage, decked out in furnishings of their periods.  

Post Office, Church, and Settlers Cottage

There were several sheds and barns on the property, all stocked with their own treasures from the past and showing how life was lived in this region in earlier years.  Tools from tree felling, a blacksmith shop, shearing shed, tractors, cars, old tools and farm machinery dotted here and there.  The Matamata County Grader was owned by the council and used for many years grading the local roads, pulled by a team of horses.  This  was later adapted to be pulled behind a Fordson tractor.  And the 1920 Model T Ford sitting in one of the sheds looked every inch a rich man’s plaything, I could just imagine it tootling up and down the country roads, frightening the horses.

 

Council Grader and Model T Ford

What’s inside the rather sad looking railway wagons, I wondered?  One shows the history of the evacuation of Kaimai Tunnel and the men who built it.  The other wagon houses model railway layouts from the local club.

The Kaimai Tunnel through the Kaimai Range in the North Island was opened in 1978, and at 8.9km is the longest tunnel in New Zealand.  A Jarva tunneling machine was imported from USA at a cost of $1.4million, to help with cutting through the hard rock.  What an amazing achievement the men must have felt when the machine finally broke through the other end.

Jarva tunneling machine

There was such a lot to see here, and I didn’t get to peek in every single shed on the property.  There are lovely large trees dotted around, lots of seats for resting or enjoying a picnic lunch, and plenty to interest one and all.  Certainly recommended for an afternoon visit, or an overnight stay in your van, like us.

On the Lakeside at Rotorua

There is just a slight diversion on our trip to Hamilton to take our caravan for it’s annual service.  Our National Body, CCNZ Inc were holding their AGM at Rotorua and Robin offered to attend the meeting.  As luck would have it, there was a caravan site available overlooking the lake.

Lakeside caravan site

Affordable Willowhaven motor camp is situated on the side of Lake Rotorua, and looks across to Mokoia Island. 

The island is Maori owned and is a pest free wildlife refuge and is home to several rare species, kiwi, kokako and saddleback.  Mokoia Island played a part in the long ago love story between Hinemoa and Tutanekai.  Tutanekai, who lived on the island,  was not considered a good enough match for beautiful Hinemoa, daughter of a chief. Tutanekai played his flute every night, the sound carrying across the water.  But Hinemoa's people, suspecting something was afoot, had hidden all the canoes. The maiden decided to swim to the island, supported by six empty gourds.  Guided by the sound of her loved one's music, Hinemoa safely reached the other shore and landed near a hot spring,  in which she warmed and refreshed herself – the pool is on Mokoia Island to this day.  And as all good love stories go, they lived happily ever after.

The lake is teeming with water fowl.

Plenty of boats use the lake, and I watched this one backed into the water.

The AGM went well, and was followed by a quarterly Council Meeting.  Robin took notes to report back to our caravan club.  The weather didn’t quite know what to do, showers came with regular monotony, followed by bursts of sunshine.  Then later in the afternoon a call went out – grab your camera.  What a strange sight, a really low rainbow hovering over the lake.

Low rainbow over the lake

4zees was spent sheltering under the awning with a blue tarpaulin tied to the side to keep the wind out.  As usual with these sorts of get-togethers, the conversation flowed around the group, covering everything from trips away, campsites, former club members, and the state of the world.

4zees time

The barbeque was fired up and sausages and onions were cooked for the masses.  Margaret and Peter did a great job making sure the food was well cooked.  Bread was also provided, and everyone provided their choice of salad.

BBQ cooks in action

It was certainly an interesting day, and so nice to catch up with CCNZ people who we meet only occasionally.  We are moving on tomorrow, heading north.