Sunday 28th October
Now our travels are starting for real after having a few weeks not travelling very far from home getting things done to the bus and having a relaxing time catching up with family and friends.
One of the first things we needed to do was to play golf at our new golf club, Murupara, a much more viable option to join while we are on the road. Membership fees are considerably less than those of our home club of Whakatane which is a great course and a friendly club which we love and look forward to rejoining.
So Murupara golf club was the first port of call after leaving family and special grandsons at the Mount. Rain was expected and our hopes weren't that high for staying dry but the weather was kind to us with just clouds and a glimpse of blue sky periodically. The first difficulty however was finding the entrance to the club. We could see a green and some of the course but couldn't find a signed entrance. A girl feeding animals in her front yard fortunately directed us to the driveway next to her house which on closer inspection revealed a very old rotten framework which probably once held a golf club sign. Now it's just a sign of how many clubs around the country are struggling with membership numbers and subsequent funds to upkeep their courses.
There was further evidence of this all around the course with some tee signs broken or rotted making difficulties with knowing where to go. Somehow we couldn't find the ladies 2nd tee or any signs to tell us where the 18th tee was - we went in totally the wrong direction. If there were people in front of us we could have followed them but we only saw 2 other people on the course all afternoon and they were well away from us. The course was difficult to play as the grass was very long on the fairways although we could see what looked like a new mower in the open shed. Needless to say that with the condition of the fairways with no run and the unseen water and drain hazards we didn't have the best of games!
We just felt very sad that a club, through no fault of their own, with such a potentially beautiful and interesting course can't afford to do the maintenance needed to keep it in good condition. Such a shame and we like to think that we can help in some way when we are back in the area. With knowing the course a little bit now I'm sure we'll play better next time!
A cup of coffee in the bus and then we headed for the NZMCA Park in Taupo arriving in time to cook dinner.
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