How we find places of interest to visit.

One of the things we have found we must do before arriving in a new destination is to do some research to find out what points of interest there.  We have in the past, found out too late that there was something of interest that we would like to see only to realise we haven't allowed enough time.  Some times we have friends that tell us of good places to visit but otherwise we rely mostly on a couple of good books that we were given as Christmas presents. They are proving invaluable (but only if we do the research before hand) so thank you Julianne and Glenda.

             

The 'A Driving Guide' has excellent maps as well as many places of interest along the way.
The 'Excellent Short Walks in the North Island' is just that. Walks up to 2 hours which is just perfect for us.  So now there is no excuse to find a good walk or visit places of interest along the way.
So some place we have visited recently after consulting our books:

Lake Waikaremoana 
 We did a day trip to Lake Waikaremoana while we were in Wairoa. Rather than dragging the bus into the area, we detached the car and away we went. It was an hour's drive to the lake and then another 20 minutes to the visitor's centre at Aniwaniwa.  This lake is set in the heart of the Te Urewera National Park and there is definitely plenty to do and see. There were several short walks listed so we did  two -
Papakorita Falls (easy 10 minutes)  and Lou's Lookout ( Medium 45 minute return.)
Link to the Lake Waikaremoana

Papakorita Falls

  Lou's Lookout

Looking from the road up towards Lou's Lookout.

Lunch at a picnic table in the camping ground.

Morere Springs.
This little gem was not far from Mahia Peninsula. We left Mahia quite early (by our standards!) and got to the Springs just after 9am. While we were waiting for it to open at 10 we had our breakfast.
When we went in, we were the only people there so there was no need to pay extra for the private pools.  The reception staff we were very friendly and suggested that for first time visitors that we go up to the Nikau Plunge pools which we did. We spent a very relaxing hour and a half in the two warm pools, and avoided the cold one.  The area is surrounded in bush, mostly nikaus, that was full of bird life. There were also some walking tracks so we chose to walk the 20 minute loop one, before returning to the bus and our journey to Gisborne.
Link to further information: Morere Springs

                   

Eastwoodhill Arboretum
This place is a 35km drive from Gisborne and has according to our books, 'the most impressive collection of Northern Hemisphere trees in NZ'.  Of course winter is not the best time to visit a place like this but we felt that it would be well worth a wander around and we weren't disappointed. Once again we had the place to ourselves and we spent a good hour or more exploring the different tracks that are all marked with different coloured leaves.
Further information can be found at: Eastwoodhill Arboretum

The Winter Sweet in full flower.

              

         

The Iconic Kiwi Bach

Our friends Mavis and John from Wairoa have had a bach at Mahia Beach for 50+ years.
Link to info about the area: Mahia Beach
We went out there (us in the bus) with them on Wednesday as they were keen to show us the area as well as wanting us to stay and use their place for as long as we wanted.

Inside their bach, or crib as we would call it in the South, is like stepping back in time. Very little has changed, with them preferring not to have another place like home, but somewhere to enjoy a change of scene and not be a slave to. It is exactly what once many New Zealanders owned before the up-market 'holiday house' arrived on the scene as the photos show.

After we shared a lunch on Wednesday Mavis and John headed home and left us to enjoy the 'bach'. We had initially intended only staying a couple of nights but we enjoyed ourselves so much we stayed three nights. It was great to be able to spread out but also spend some time exploring the area. The weather was fantastic with temperatures up to 21 degrees though we still enjoyed the fire in the evenings.

An exceptional couple

Back in 2005 when we were on a three day bus tour of Classical Greece we met Mavis and John from Wairoa. As they were the only New Zealanders on the tour we formed a friendship that has continued through the exchange of annual Christmas cards and a visit they made to Invercargill in their camper-van about 4 years ago. We had always talked about doing a tour of the North Island and promised to visit. Well time has marched on but we have made it to Wairoa. What I didn't say was when we met them in Greece nine years ago Mavis was 81 and John was 76 so we weren't sure if they would be up to hosting visitors. But nothing could be further from the truth. They were so thrilled to see us and to know that we had taken the time to call. 

We parked up in their driveway and stayed for two nights. Mavis cooked each night and we weren't allowed to contribute to the meals, or help with the preparation or cleaning up. At 90 Mavis is amazing and has so much energy. She attends both a weekly aerobic class and a line dancing group. She doesn't look a day over 70.

John loves to potter in one of his many sheds and has been a keen fisherman over the years. He still attends to all the maintenance on the several rental properties they own, while  Mavis keeps the books and records. Only recently they sold the yacht and camper-van, as they felt they were getting a bit old to manage them. A caravan though still sits in their backyard for when they want a holiday away from the bach they own at Mahia Beach. 

A great story of how John and Mavis came to be together is also worth the telling. Mavis grew up in Calcutta and lived a very privileged life as an Anglo-Indian. John was the jewellers's son from Wairoa, on his OE. After World War 2 Mavis lived and worked  in London in a fashion house, and it as here that she met John on a blind date in 1952. A romance developed and before John returned to NZ they took a whirlwind tour of India on a motor cycle (one of their many shared passions). After two years of correspondence John sent an airfare for Mavis to join him but it wasn't all easy going. Initially his family thought he could have chosen a  'more suitable lass'. She soon became part of the wider community to which she still contributes today. As the article that was in the Wairoa News when she celebrated her 90th birthday last month says  '..she is Wairoa's flamboyant local identity'.    John and Mavis still lead a very active life, with lots of travel and adventures factored in. 

Article in the Wairoa News last month.

Mavis, as the Concours d'Elegance's
Miss Brighton 1955.

We are so pleased that we had that chance meeting back in 2005and made the time to keep in touch. John and Mavis are such treasures, so full of life at 90 and 85 years old and an inspiration to us all.

The sights in and around Napier

It is well over twenty years since I have been to this area and a first for Stephen.   We were both very impressed with what we saw.

Marine Parade, that was originally developed after the 1931 earthquake, is going through a period of rejuvenation.  MarineLand is now closed but has been replaced by the National Aquarium (Link to website)  further down the Parade. There are wonderful playgrounds for children, wide cycle and walking paths and many gardens.  There are still some projects to be built but even now it is a credit to their Council and city planners. There are many lessons for other cities to be learnt here.
Marine Parade highlights

Of course a visit to Napier wouldn't be complete without a photo with Pania of the Reef. Pania is steeped in Maori Mythology and has pride of place on Marine Parade.
The Legend

Napier is the city of Art Deco, built in this style out of necessity after the horrific earthquake on 3 February 1931.  There are special shops dedicated to promoting this feature of the city, and their new Museum has exhibitions about both.  Viewing the history about the earthquake is particularly poignant in light of the Christchurch earthquake.  We found ourselves wondering just what will be in Christchurch in 60 years time in relation to what has happened there. Of course times are vastly different but to think that they had much of their CBD rebuilt within two years is hard to comprehend.

 Napier and its surrounds is a food basket for NZ.  Suzanne, another friend we caught up with while there, gave us a 'tiki' tour around the region on Saturday afternoon. We saw the many vineyards, orchards, beaches, Kidnappers Cape (in the distant) Te Mata and Hastings. We finished our tour with an ice-cream from the famous Rush Munro's in Hastings.

Mission Estate Winery

Stephen and Suzanne, our tour guide for the day.

Cape Kidnappers in the distance.

             

Rush Munro website

                                                                                     
   

Estuary walk and cycle track.

The region has also encompassed the new love of cycle trails that are appearing all over NZ. There are hundreds of kilometres of trails catering for the all levels of cyclists. We made use of the one closest to our camping ground which took us around part of the estuary.








We aren't great shoppers, partly because we have no where to put 'stuff' but we did find one shop in the historic port village that took our fancy. It was a Mediterranean food and wine shop and it had a wide selection of foods and wines at most reasonable prices.

An Inspirational Lady

One of the reasons for us rushing to Napier was because we wanted to catch up with long time Invercargill friend Pam. Pam has been battling leukemia since October/November last year and just when she thought she was in the clear the news has not been great. She has opted to have no more treatment and to go for quality rather than quantity time which is why she is in Napier at the moment. This is where she grew up and in fact her Mum and a sister still live here. We were also very keen to catch up and decided that we would try and coincide our visit to the region while she was here.

Pam and her big girl pants!

So it was for lunch on Friday that we met up. Pam and Brian came and picked us up from the camping ground where we are staying, and we went to Ahuriri, the historic port village nearby. Pam arrived wearing her big  girl pants - or as she is saying - life is a 'bummer.' She has been challenged by another friend to try and do something outrageous every day. There was no sign of the pink wig on Friday she can be often seen wearing, just the electric blue boa.







Pam is an inspiration to be around and she makes it so easy to be with. She talks about what is happening but without being dramatic or morbid. We shed a few tears and had a lots of laughs.  After our lunch we went for a drive to some of the spots she used to visit when she was growing up here in Napier.

Checking out some of the local sites: Bluff Hill looking down on the Port.

We are so pleased to have been able to spend some time with her while she is still well especially since we aren't going to be in Invercargill for another couple of months.
It also helps us reconfirm the reasons why we are taking the time to live our dream to see New Zealand in our bus, while we can.

A day or two for Tui

We spent two days in Masterton. One of the main reasons for staying here was so we could catch up on Stephen’s cousin Debbie. She was very pleased that we had taken the time to visit so that was great.

Debbie and Stephen

Next stop was to see some of New Zealand’s iconic and forest birds at Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre. Pukaha was established in the late 1950s, to help save some of NZ’s endangered birds.  Now in partnership with DOC there is a fantastic programme in place that both works with our endangered birds as well as providing an Education programme for  visitors and school groups alike. 

This link is to their website: Pukaha Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre

A selection of the birds that can be found out and
about at Mount Bruce.

Look carefully and you can see the two resident takahe.

Even though the day was a little damp at times we managed to see most of the exhibits, and do a two hour bush walk. Although we were lucky enough to both hear and see tui, and to hear a kereru in flight, we were surprised that we didn’t see or hear more birdsong.  A highlight of the visit would have to be the Kiwi House. Here day/night are reversed so that you are able to see their two ‘domestic’ kiwi moving around in their indoor bush environment. Manukura is a white kiwi and rather special and her mate is Turua, a  North Island brown kiwi.

View from the top of the look-out track that we walked. 

Later in the day we moved on to the outskirts of Pahiatua. It is here that we found our next tui, The Tui Brewery. As a NZMCA members we were able to camp in one of their car parks for the night.  As they close at 4:01pm we were too late to be able to visit that day but at 9:59am the next day we were all set to book our tour of the site and visit their museum.  It is a place well worth a visit and our tour guide Bronnie was very enthusiastic. After the tour, we got to sample some of the beers as well as take away a couple of handles and a large bottle of beer.  We finished our visit by adding our own message to their ‘tui’ board.

A visit to their website gives plenty more detail: Tui Brewery

The caption we added to their board.
Evidently there are some 'real' tui living in the area.

Display in the museum.

The marketing team have made very good
use of the word 'tui' in their promotional work.

Stephen looking glamorous  with his safety glasses, beside
one of the original 'Tui' vehicles.

Te Ika a Maui (North Island) here we come.

After spending two days in Blenheim and an evening in Picton, the time had finally arrived for us to make the big trip across to Te Ika a Maui or as more commonly known the North Island. Ever since we began this nomadic life we had planned to spend time to see the whole of New Zealand and now into our third year we had still not been any further north (until this week) than Murchison!!

The Interislander "Arahura".

Earlier in the week we had been watching the weather and had decided that the weekend looked like a good window of opportunity to cross. We booked our passage on the Arahura for 11am as it meant we would arrive in Wellington with plenty of daylight left to navigate our way out of the city and up into the Waiarapa.

Approaching the garage deck for the bus

Sunday morning arrived with the sun coming up and very little wind so we were very lucky to experience a very calm crossing. There was supposedly a one metre swell but you would never have known. With the bus and car safely garaged on a lower deck we sat back and relaxed. Neither of us have traveled this ferry in a long time and all our previous experience with ferries in recent times have been Greek ones.  This almost felt like a non event in comparison. For a start there were none of the 'whistle blower' guards trying to direct cars and pushy passengers.  The Arahura is also much smaller with a noticeably smaller number of passengers on board.

Looking down on the bus from the deck above.

The sea looked like this for the whole trip.