Stratford, Eltham, Dawsons Falls, Normanby

Saturday 13th October
Played golf on the picturesque Stratford course and had plenty of time to admire the majestic view of the Mountain as we were behind a tournament involving 112 firemen which made the round  v e r y  s  l  o  w - 5.5 hours instead of the 3 hours that we can do when a course is quiet.

16th tee after 5 hrs!

Parked up for the night at Connell Reserve, a free area, just out of Eltham. There were no other motorhomes parked there but we felt reasonably safe and had a beautiful view of the Mountain again. Was a very cold night though and we needed all our available bedding.
We walked through Eltham in the morning and visited the Cheese factory shop where we got some bargain cheeses especially the Kikorangi Blue - yum.

My hair needed a good wash!

Then we drove through Kaponga up to the Dawson Falls and Wilkies Pools tracks at the base of Egmont. Really loved being out walking again in the bush rather than on a golf course and the lichens/mosses growing on the trees and ground in the colder temperatures were very pretty. It was such a surprise to see so many Motorhomes parked up there - they were all on a rally for a week and the organisers, Merv and Bernie, live at the Bethlehem Country Club! (in Tauranga)
We seem to have been following them around since as they were also at the Hollard Gardens which we visited after the walks and today they are at the amazing Tawhiti Museum out of Hawera. It is known as the best private collector museums in NZ and the work and many hundreds of lifelike models depicting the inter-tribal and European-Maori wars is truly amazing. Well worth a visit for those who even aren't really into Museums.
Last night we changed our minds about staying at a golf club a few miles out of Hawera and instead went to a POP ( Park over Property - these are usually NZMCA members who allow other members to stay for a very small fee on their grounds) just down the road. They have a huge, stunning garden which is sometimes open to the public, wouldn't accept any payment and insisted we take a bag of lemons when we left.
We were so pleased to be there as last night a "weather bomb" began and we had a pretty rocky night even though we were sheltered by sheds and trees. The car park that we might have stayed in at the golf course was very exposed so wouldn't have been a great option.
Not sure where we will stay tonight - the wind is gusting really strongly still - but we will head into Hawera now and play it from there. Need to fill up with water somewhere. It's quite amazing to not be bound by any timetable and be so free and everyone we meet is so helpful.