Dannevirke, Herbertville, Waipawa & Hastings

The last week we have become rather hermit-like mainly because my cough still becomes exacerbated by the cold outside air and brisk winds so this is mainly about the campgrounds we have stayed in as we travel back to the Mount, and the friends we have caught up with.

Morning scene at the holiday park 

Dannevirke Holiday Park was our first  stop after our 2 nights in Eketahuna, pausing in Pahiatua on the way to do some printing and scanning and have some lunch. I also tried to dry the washing I had done at the Eketahuna camp at the not-so-nice Pahiatua Club Hotel Wash-house. However after $4 worth of so-called drying it was still very wet and would have taken at least another $8 to make any difference which there was no way I was going to do! I decided to leave it until we got to Dannevirke- a good choice as the $4 dry there was perfect. The campground was well laid out, being circular with hard stands around the outside and grass in the middle for tenters, not that there are any at this time of the year. Older buildings but the shower was good.

The next day we decided to take the road to the coast, thinking that we would stay the night at the Herbertville Campground. The road, although sealed, was hilly and windy with a rough, bumpy surface so Len was pleased to get there after having to concentrate on avoiding holes the whole way. We had lunch overlooking the beach but as we couldn't see any good fishing spots we decided to head onto Waipukurau and Waipawa rather than stay the night at Herbertville.

Anyone for tennis?!

The longest place name in the world!

The road in to Waipukurau was wider and better than the road out from Pahiatua,  a good thing even though there's not much traffic on these roads. We popped our noses into Porangahau on the way through and intended to stay at the camp in Waipukurau but it wasn't showing up on our NZMCA app so, thinking it had maybe closed, we continued on to Waipawa. However we did end up passing the Waipuk campground on the way through, too late to enter it! The Rivers Edge Holiday Park in Waipawa which has a lot of long-term caravans parked, isn't exactly on the river's edge but it's not far away. A quiet camp with a friendly owner, good lounge, not that we used it, lots of books to swap and a good shower.

We did a circular walk through the little town before it got dark and the next day drove to a spot on the river, a bit further east, where it looked like the fishing might be good but it was a bit too shallow so it was back on the road to Havelock North where we had a coffee and a nice catchup with my old school friend, Janet, and Murray before going to our nights stop at the Top 10 campground in Hastings where we had arranged to catch up with Leon, another old schoolfriend of mine, for lunch the next day.

T in Central Hastings 

The lunch and wines at Jarks Restaurant were lovely and accompanied by 2.5 hours non-stop chatting as there were a lot of years to catch up on! Leith unfortunately had a prior lunch engagement so couldn't join us. After lunch we decided to brave the night without power, which means no heater, and stayed at the NZMCA Park between Napier and Hastings. And we coped pretty well!

The next day, Saturday, we bought some pears and mandarins from the roadside as we left Hawkes Bay on our way to Taupo where we were meeting up with my son, Colin, and 3 granddaughters.

Masterton & Eketahuna

There was a little bit of blue sky when we left Castlepoint on the Saturday morning but as we drove inland the clouds and cold air returned. 

We needed electricity again for our heater so we parked up in the spacious grounds of the Solway A&P Showgrounds in Masterton. My cough is a deterrent to playing golf at the moment as it seems to worsen with the cold air so it was good to walk no more than 30 minutes and well rugged-up to the Screening Room ( lovely restaurant & theatre complex) to see "Rocketman" - a great emotional film about Elton John's life that we both really enjoyed. What a musical genius Elton is and, in my mind, he right up there with Mozart and Beethoven. And such an unloved, sad childhood apart from his lovely grandmother. It's certainly good to have a better understanding of his background.

After the movie we decided to just have tiny meals, which we enjoyed,  in the restaurant. However, with still having space, the dessert menu then beckoned and we both decided to have the baklava - a great choice as it was so delicious, even better than the best we had in Turkey! Nuts, quince & apple were the perfect accompliment in the dish - yum!!

After eating it was again a cold walk back to the camp all the time hoping that our electrical connection had dried out enough to work again. It had got really wet in the Castlepoint rain and Len had managed to open it and remove a lot of water allowing it to work again temporarily but when he plugged it in at the Showgrounds, once again it was 'no-go'! But, hurrah, by the time we got back it worked! The plug connection now has its very own special plastic bag cover.

Cold Pukaka forest track!

Eilbeck's looking into eel beck!

The next day it was time to head north again, stopping south of Eketahuna to visit Pukaka, the Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre which is into conservation and restoration of unique fauna & flora and is a popular place to visit. We paid $17 each to to do the nice little bush walk which takes you past several aviaries, through the kiwi house and out to the long-fin eel area where we arrived just in time to see the feeding. They have about 30 eels of different ages and at the end of their lives they migrate through the Pacific Ocean to Tonga where they spawn, unfortunately dying immediately afterwards! Surviving young then migrate back to where their parents came from taking about 17 months to do so and facing lots of threats on the way. Although their numbers are rapidly declining they are still commercially fished.

It was good to clearly see the white kiwi in the kiwi house but they have no others there at present. We also saw quite a few Kaka but not many other birds. Just one tui, a bellbird, fantail, koreru - we see many more of all of these in our own backyard!
The kokako and whio were elusive and we could see no sign of any life in the tuatara area or the spider, weta, and praying mantis boxes. Never mind, we have seen those before too. We're pleased we went, just disappointed that a lot of wildlife seemed to be missing.

Power supplied through plastic bag!

We stopped for the night at the Eketahuna, population around 400, campground which has good NZMCA reviews. A quaint, homely little spot with about 6 other vehicles here, 2 or 3 of which are probably permanent. The ground is a bit wet but I think we'll be ok where we are. Friendly hosts who come and go, great showers and toilets, free washing machine (unheard of!) and a kitchen with all you need if you need one. All for $16 a night - has to be the best value in NZ.

We're rather enjoying holing up here so we are staying another night before we explore the other towns between here and Hastings. 

No.1 on Trip Advisor?!

Today we did the tiny walk down to river where the old swing bridge used to be before doing the Cliff Walk from the camp entrance into town - an easy stroll of about 20 minutes each way. 

Is the Queen sitting on the throne?!

Being Monday several of the few shops in town were closed but we only needed milk from the 4 Square. Len has also had time to explore the internal mechanisms of our bus door as it has become a bit difficult to open without giving it a good shove with the shoulder first. We think it is working a bit better now. Just the backing camera to fix!

Castlepoint Beach

The next day, Wednesday 12th June, after having a slower walk through the town, this including buying a new pair of reading glasses and a couple of much needed merino tops, we drove to the nearby Mahunga golf club. We had checked online and there didn't seem to be anything particular on that day but after driving down the long, single vehicle driveway we found lots of cars occupying the carpark. So it turned out to be an Area Vets Day with the old fellers all about to tee off so with no chance of getting on the course any time soon we drove the hour or so through nice countryside out to Castlepoint. We knew bad weather was coming in with rain and winds predicted for a few days but were hopeful that it might still be ok when we arrived.

We've never been to Castlepoint Beach before but it's very highly rated in the Wairarapa. Instead of freedom camping in the DOC carpark by the beach we opted to go to the Castlepoint Holiday Park where I can do the washing, use their oven which is likely hotter than mine thus better for scones and have a prime spot right on the beach front with hardly any one else here.

Prime spot!

Such a beautiful place with a generous bay which looks good for swimming and with great views across to the lighthouse on the point from the bus.This lighthouse is lit up in the evening until midnight with ever-changing colours and looks spectacular.

On arriving and over a cup of coffee we watched  a couple staying here in their permanent caravan put out their longline with their torpedo which takes the line out up to 4 kms. They pulled it in again fairly quickly and had several different fish species including shark, trevally and kahawai although they were hoping to target gurnard of which there were none.

Second hand fish!

They were quick to come up to the bus and offer us as many fish as we wanted but one kahawai was plenty for us (as Len was intending to fish the next day!) so we took this in exchange for smoking one of their own kahawai for them in our smoker. A good deal we thought! So after preparing the fish for smoking with the brown sugar and salt and putting it in the fridge for the night we set off to do some exploring before the rain set in.

Stunning coastline!

A lovely walk along the beach and around the isthmus took us to the rocky headland with the lighthouse standing proud. There were a handful of fishermen on the rocks in "the Gap" where I believe you have to be very mindful of rogue waves but the sea was fairly calm at that time, unlike now. It is certainly a beautiful place and it was great to get here just before the rain and cold winds arrived.

We had booked in for 2 nights but have ended up staying for 3. The wind and rain came in the first night and hasn't stopped since although, to be fair, it is more of a drizzle. 

Wet view towards campground from the village. 

My plan yesterday was to rest up out of the rain and cold and nurse my productive cough/ sinusitis to obscurity but by the time I had done the clothes washing & drying, roasted pumpkin for soup, baked date scones which ended up burnt on top because the camp oven was SO hot (we just have to scrape the tops off!) most of the day seemed to have disappeared! I seemed to spend a lot of the time running back and forward to the amenities block in the rain. So we decided to stay an extra day with me tucked up warm to help with my health restoration (a very very rare thing for me).

So I'm having a lovely time glancing up every now and then at the rolling sea right next to me and catching up on things such as this blog, reading the Listener, doing puzzles and hopefully eventually reading my book. 

Selfie. Oh and a beautiful bay!

Maybe I'll leave the path at this point!

This is a sealed pathway!

Len has been out walking for a couple of hours and I have been able to admire the photos he took from my cosy nest as I sip my cup of water complete with a couple of teaspoons of apple cider vinegar, after having had a salt water gargle and a couple of pills with garlic, echinacea, vitamin C & zinc in them. As you can see I'm trying everything even though I believe it is all just time!
Never mind, I'm having a really nice, restful day and a bit of blue is now appearing in the sky.

Martinborough to Masterton

After staying the night at the Wairarapa Racing Club which is just out of Featherston it was time for another game of golf. We gathered from looking online that the Featherston Golf Course has recently closed and been sold and the Carterton Club would be busy all day so Martinborough Golf Club which was established over 100 years ago was the choice. And a good choice too being very close to the nice character- filled town which has been planned around a central square.

The entrance to the golf club with it's long straight drive bordered by lovely mature trees makes you feel you'll find something special at the end and the carpark itself has lots of deciduous trees which would provide good shade in summer. 

We just love taking our trundlers for a walk!

The flat course was in good condition with well- kept greens, some quite small, although the fairways were a bit damp and didn't  run particularly well with it being winter. However it was easy to find our way around and we enjoyed viewing the houses lining part of it and the other views of  grapevines and hills. 

Spot the giraffe!

Again my golf, not Len's, left a lot to be desired but I did enjoy the nice hot shower afterwards!

After having a rather late lunch & coffee in the bus we drove back through the town to Carterton where we were able to dump and top up with water. We didn't stop in the town, population around 9,000,  but it looked quite prosperous with a good selection of shops. It seems quite a lot of people are now moving here from Wellington. We drove on through to Masterton where we parked for the night at The Wairarapa Services & Citizens Club - a great little spot as it is virtually in the middle of town allowing us to do some window shopping before our roast dinner. A warmer night so we had no need for power.

Cape Palliser (to Featherston)

Wow - it's hard to believe that we hadn't heard anything about Cape Palliser before we decided to visit, except that it is the Southern-most point of the North Island. We hadn't even spoken to anyone who had been there. The drive down through the Wairarapa farmland with the Remutaka Range (formerly Rimutaka) on the right and later the Aorangi Range on the left made the trip very scenic. Then when we reached the sourhern coastal road it was completely  breathtaking- the seas this day were absolutely huge, being bigger than even the locals had seen for quite some time. 

Unusual white cliffs. 

The surf had washed over the road in places leaving swathes of driftwood and other sea debris. We could hardly take our eyes off the huge masses of water being thrown up in patches far out at sea and then the waves rising metres high again as thay approached land.

Heading into Ngawi.

There are some little settlements along this coast road, the largest being Ngawi, but it is really quite unspoilt, most of the baches having been there for years. 

Boat launching area looks like a scrapyard!

As we drove closer to the lighthouse, our destination, the road was particularly narrow with debris and huge sprays of water shooting over it. A couple of 4 wheel drive vehicles ahead of us seemed to be having trouble getting through so we decided to pull off the road in the last place we could to do an inspection. 

No, I don't think we'll take the bus any further!

Our short term travel guides.

Well I think they were admiring the power of the sea rather than having problems but Don & Steve (both landscape painters) & Steve's twin sister in one of the vehicles offered to drive us to the lighthouse rather than take the bus through which was very kind of them and of course we accepted.
We had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery along the way and we couldn't believe how many seals there were just everywhere. Lots and lots of seal pups too - I guess they were all ashore keeping out of harm's way with such rough seas.

101, 102, 103...

We climbed the 252 steps up to the lighthouse and were rewarded with great views out towards Kaikoura before setting out to walk back to our bus which we had already told our friendly driver that we would do.

Seals left right and centre. 

It gave us time to enjoy the views and the seals again and only took us about half an hour.

Settled down for the night. 

You are allowed to freedom camp on the seafront at Ngawi and what a fabulous spot it is.  And toilets, recycle bins, a dump station and a coffee/food caravan all just a few yards away! What value for no money!! Roadies are so spoilt in NZ and we really appreciate it.  By evening we could see that the waves were starting to decrease in height so we weren't too worried about being washed away from our perch right by the rocks and sea. And of course we had to support the locals by having fish and chips from the food van.
It was awesome listening to the crashing waves all night.

The next morning was one of those mornings when I just felt like staying in bed watching the sea, listening to the waves and nursing my cold & cough - it would have been like heaven but unfortunately we had things to do and places to go!

An erect pinnacle!

This time to the Putangirua Pinnacles Walk back down the road.  These are in the Aorangi Forest Park and are particularly geologically interesting being one of NZ's  best examples of badland erosion. They are totally spectacular, consist of large numbers of earth pillars or 'noodoos" and were one of the filming locations in Lord of the Rings.

There is a choice of either walking up the stony riverbed to the base of the Pinnacles or taking the ridge track up to a lookout giving a view across to them. We decided to make it a bit of a circle by firstly walking up the very rough riverbed, occasionally having to jump across the stream, to then stand in awe at the bases of the phallic-like towers rising above us. From there we retreated a little down the stony bed to a track which took us up pretty steeply to the Lookout which again gave a spectacular, but different view of the Pinnacles.

River nymph reaches end of  stoney trudge!

Long climb to here, but great view. 

From there it was mostly downhill to the carpark, the track on the ridge being particularly muddy and slippery in lots of places but we somehow did manage to stay upright. It took us about 2.25 hours and was well worth the exertion.

The next stop was Lake Ferry where the outlet of the Ruamahanga River and Lake Onoke are as Len wanted to try a spot of fishing. However when we got there we found that the outlet had become blocked up with shingle and rocks by the huge seas so we decided to move on and take a look at Lake Wairarapa  which is the 3rd largest lake in the north island. It is only 2.5 metres deep and is known to be brown and very polluted so we weren't expecting much but maybe it was more beige than brown and the farmland around with the sheep and cattle looked good despite it probably being all the cause of the lake's sickness. I'm glad Len decided not to try fishing in it!

After buying a few groceries in Featherston the stop for the night was  the Wairarapa Racing Club where we paid $18 to sleep and connect to power, there being no other facilities. Probably rather dear for winter when you can stay, for instance, at a proper campground such as Greytown for about the same price.  However we were warm and it was quiet with us being the only ones there.

Whizz through Napier, Hastings to Greytown

With only 19 days before we had to be back at Mount Maunganui we realised our schedule would be pretty tight for seeing and doing all we would like between there and Cape Palliser, the southern-most point of the North Island and south-east of Wellington, having never been before. So the plan was to get to Cape Palliser as quickly as we could and come back a little more slowly, hopefully seeing as much as the Waiarapa as we can while we're down there as it will be easier to return to Hawkes Bay to do more there another time.

So on Thursday 6th June we said goodbye to the Mount and the boys leaving our car at our friends (Tony & Margarets) at Tauriko and taking the back road to Rotorua we headed straight for Napier, bypassing Taupo. It was another cold day and we knew we would need to park somewhere where we could plug our little heater in so our first nights stop was at the Bay View Motorcamp on the outskirts of Napier. A tiny camp with a circle of facilities in the centre - two toilets only and one of these had a shower in it, plus there were a couple more showers and an almost open-air basic kitchen, not that we needed it. At least we were warm for our $32 with the outside temperature going down to 0.7° overnight. The camp was quiet, being winter but you could see how they probably jammed campers in over summer by the power connections along the fenceline of the drive in. Looked likke it could make entry & exit very difficult!

The next morning we bypassed Napier, but reminisced about the cycle tracks along the way which we had ridden last time we were there, and headed straight for the Hawkes Bay golf club, passing the Hastings Club on the way. This also looked a nice course so we may play this one on our return!

It was a freezing cold day so thermals under all the other layers were a must, as well as the woolly hat - gorgeous! But at least I was cosy. 

Don't let it get into your head!

The course was quiet but the guys in the Pro Shop were nice and friendly and we were welcome to stay the night at the course connected to power and have this included within our green fees of $40 each which is actually pretty dear! No discount for affiliated players here. The course was nice to play being mainly flat with gentle undulations on the fairways and quite a good run of the ball for this time of the year. The greens were fairly true but were surrounded by a total of 37 bunkers, some pretty deep, just to make it more challenging!  Neither of us played very well on the first 9 but we redeemed ourselves somewhat on the back nine.

The night was freezing so it was again good to be able to plug our little heater in to keep warm. Only one neighbour there, (just as well with all the coughing I'm currently doing at night!) - an older man, with a friendly, happy black dog in his caravan, who looked as though he was there semi- permanently.

The next day, Saturday, after loosening  up our frozen limbs we drove south to Greytown only stopping for a coffee beside some old buildings in Ongaonga

Old Ongaonga.

and a naughty winter pie in Dannevirke as we know we will be able to take things more slowly, as well as see & do more on our return trip. Greytown is the oldest town in the Waiarapa and is situated within its heart. It only has a population of 2202 but in 2017 was awarded the title of NZ's Most Beautiful Small Town and it is easy to see why. Wonderful preserved colonial cottages and well-cared for historic buildings are a delight to see along the streets and if you are into Boutique shopping Greytown is the place to go if you have plenty of cash to spare.

We stayed at the, also rather historic, little campground, with it's easy walk into town, which provides a winter Campsaver Deal to NZMCA members - only $20 a night for a powered site. Excellent value, a good shower included and a great stopover point before heading to Cape Palliser the next day.

Mahia Peninsula & Gisborne

The beauty of freedom camping.

After our night in the free parking area alongside the beach at Oputama Reserve on the Mahia Peninsula we had a walk along the calm, safe beach (too cold to swim) before driving to Mahia Beach and then Mahia itself, going around the coast almost as far as we could until we reached a big parking area by a little river where Len did some spinning. It was freezing cold with a bit of a wind and nothing was biting so before long we continued on towards Gisborne, just stopping at the Morere Hot Springs on the way for a lovely soak and warm-up in the thermal pools where we had a bit of a chat with a friendly English couple who come over quite frequently to look after the Quaker Hostel in Wellington for a few weeks. The walk up the wide sealed path to the far hot pools is very picturesque with Nikau Palms lining both sides. There are other walking and tramping paths leading from this area as well.

It was great to feel warm all the way through as we drove on to Gisborne and the large NZMCA park there which is situated just over the road from the beach. 

Thumbs up.  Must be having a good round!

Over the road on the other side of the park is the lovely Poverty Bay, Awapuni Links, golf course where we played the following day, managing to teee off, under instructions from the Pro, when there was a gap in the groups of ladies playing on their club day. We slotted in easily and really enjoyed the course which was in excellent condition - a joy after playing at Wairoa I have to say.

After golf and a shower in the Club Rooms I met up with my Physio friends, Glenn who I used to flat with in Dunedin, and Tracy who I used to work with, at Peppers on the Gisborne waterfront. 

Not a wine bottle in sight!

Nice views overlooking the beach as we did lots of catching up and reminiscing over a few wines although Glenn wasn't well with a throat infection so didn't partake. So good to catch up with them both and have Len join us later for something to eat  (Chowder for me and lamb shank for Len).

Afterwards we drove the short distance back to the NZMCA park for another night with perhaps another 7-8 vehicles.
We had thought we might play golf on another Gisborne course the next day but the weather report wasn't good with very heavy rain and strong winds forecast for the Friday so we decided to drive through the gorge to Opotiki before that happened. We needed to be at the Mount on Saturday for a family birthday party and  a few days of 'boy-sitting' of my grandsons.

So Thursday we spent the night at the Opotiki NZMCA park with about 5 other vehicles, driving through to Whakatane later the next morning and striking patches of very heavy rain on the way. After doing the things we needed to do in town we drove out to Bill & Annette's POP again for another nights stay before setting off for the Mount the next morning.

Our 5 days at the Mount, staying at Sandras & Matts and keeping an eye on the boys just flew by what with Greg and Dianes' family party and catching up with most of our good friends. We did manage to fit in one game of golf at Omanu as well as a driving lesson for Oli, mini-golf with Tom and a night at the Otumoetai College show "High School Musical" which our granddaughter, Madi, was in, before setting off on our travels again, this time a quick trip to Waiarapa and Hawkes Bay before having to be back at the Mount on the 25th June for a spot more of boy-sitting!