Cruising into a Crisis; Part 1

Real-time

It's very hard to comprehend how much the world, our world, has changed since this photo was taken just one month ago. As we usually do on our way to and from Napier, we called into one of favourite campsites for a couple of nights before continuing on to say cheerio to Mum & Dad in Napier.

Night Sky- Glenfalls

Glenfalls DOC camp is beside the Mohaka River and not too far off the Napier-Taupo Road. We'd wanted to stop for one last camp at Glenfalls before we returned to the South Island. It could be 18 months or so before we'll be back in the North Island. We'd also been having some exceptionally hot days (35c+) and the thought of cooling off in the river was very enticing.

We'd spent the previous few weeks in Tauranga after making a dash up the country in mid January from Lake Benmore in the Mackenzie District where we'd be having a lovely time waiting for the summer heat to kick in. We needed to sort our gear out which we'd had in storage for the last 8 years, we'd gone unconditional on a property we bought in Twizel, with settlement in mid-April.

We were going to whittle down our gear and only take essential items & furniture to Twizel. As it turned out we decided to ship it all to Twizel and sort it there; finding somewhere to sort it in Tauranga, the triple handling, disposing of furniture we didn't want and even the extremely hot days, all worked against us. Crown Furniture Removals came and filled two containers; yes, we did have a lot of gear! The containers were then shipped off to Christchurch where they will be held until we take over the property.

Sunrise- Matata Lagoon

Happy to have that all sorted we spent the rest of the time catching up with family & friends, staying at the Mount Holiday Park and the Matata DOC Camp to escape the sweltering heat and visiting friends in Kawerau before heading off to Napier.

Grandchildren, Maddie & Joel enjoying a Sunday paddle at Sulphur Point, Tauranga

Towards the end of our first week in Napier, I started to feel a little anxious about getting back to the South Island. New Zealand's first case of Covid-19 virus was about two weeks old and new cases were still in single figures. All of them had been traced back to overseas travel and there were no cases of community transmission. Yet.

I just had a niggling feeling of wanting to be across the Strait and in the South Island should anything happen. What? I had no idea. Like most people, never in my wildest dreams (David's favourite saying) did I think a lockdown would happen. Heck, I don't even think we knew what a lockdown was or what it would entail a week ago.

Ferry Landing Reserve, Ballance Bridge & the Manawatu River- Woodville

When WHO (World Health Organisation) declared an official pandemic on Wednesday, March 11th, I felt it was time for us to make a plan. I booked our crossing with Bluebridge for Thursday, March 19th and this time, for the very first time, I also booked a cabin. I have no idea why, it wasn't because of the virus, that didn't seem such a threat then. I just felt it would give us a place to rest after an early start. And as it turned out, it was very fortuitous. 

From March 14th, many large gatherings and events were cancelled and all people entering New Zealand had to self-isolate for 14 days. But there are still only 8 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country. 

Titahi Bay Boatsheds, Wellington- South Side

We still weren't in any rush though, we said our goodbyes to Mum & Dad and headed out of Napier on Monday 16th. We stopped overnight in the freedom camping area at Ferry Landing Reserve near Woodville and then travelled onto the Plimmerton NZMCA Park for the next two nights. We'd leave for the ferry from there. I even had time to photograph the Titahi Bay Boat Sheds, something I'd been wanting to do everytime we passed through Wellington but had never had the chance.

Titahi Bay Boatsheds, Wellington- North Side

Thursday, March 19th. There were now twenty eight Covid-19 cases confirmed and over 7000 people self-isolating (or meant to be, with reports coming in of people arriving in the country and still sightseeing). That cabin earnt it's weight in gold as we self-isolated away from other passengers.

Canada Geese & Onepoto Road Boat Sheds, Porirua Harbour

I was still a little anxious about the crossing and whether I'd chosen a good day to sail. I don't usually book until 2-3 days out just in case there's a major weather event or a southerly blowing. Luckily we had a very smooth crossing and I felt a great sense of relief when we pulled into Picton, not only because of the good weather but we'd also made it back to the otherside. 

Rumours were swirling around on various motorhoming social media pages that the Cook Strait might close, many people had started to worry that the ferries would stop running and they'd not get home. Others also said that the Government would never close Cook Strait. Hmmm....I wasn't so sure.

Lake Grassmere Salt Ponds

Obviously others thought the same as me, there were many motorhomers lined up at the Picton ferry terminals and parked up in town waiting to cross back to the North Island.

February & March are the height of the holiday season for many retired motorhomers; the Christmas and New Year rush is over, children are back at school and families have returned to their home bases, the weather is usually much more settled and the South Island is a premium destination to visit at this time of the year.

Harvesting salt at Lake Grassmere Salt Works

Adding to the usual influx of motorhomers to the South Island, the NZMCA National Rally & AGM was held in Oamaru in early March, with the occupants of a several hundred extra motorhomes attending the rally and then continuing on to Warbirds Over Wanaka, the Bluff Oyster Festival and Arrowtown Autumn Festival just to mention a few.  All of these events had been cancelled in the previous few days due to restrictions around the gatherings of large crowds.

Marfells Beach DOC Camp, Marlborough

We called into the Blenheim Racecourse as we had a couple of errands to do in town and thought we'd stay the night there but when we saw how full the park was we decided to carry on south and stay at the DOC camp at Marfells Beach. We'd do the errands when we reached Christchurch.

We had a late lunch parked on the side of the racecourse drive, all the while motorhomes just kept on arriving. And we sensed a quiet urgency in the orderly stream of 40-50 RVs heading north on State Highway 1 during our 32km trip south to the Marfells Beach turnoff. We waved as they streamed past, waving extra hard as we spotted friends & on-the-road acquaintances heading in the opposite direction.

I started to relax a little once we were parked up on our usual site at the end of the Marfell's camp. We then heard that the government had closed our borders to all but New Zealand citizens and permanent residents, things were starting to ramp up. But still we had no idea what was to come.

Wild spinach would have provided campers with plenty of greens
 if the camp had been open during lock-down.

We thought we'll be fine now that we're in the South Island, we even decided to spend a couple of days at Marfells; it was lovely, warm and sunny and there was no hurry to get to Twizel. Settlement was still three weeks away.

But nature decided otherwise and we woke to a howling gale and the rig being sandblasted so we made the decision to pull out and head to Kaikoura.

To be continued....Part 2

An Eclectic Mix- Wellington

Real-time

Pauatahanui Boat Sheds

From Mangatainoka we headed west over the Tararua Range via the Pahiatua Track, into the Manawatu and south to Wellington & the Plimmerton NZMCA Park...

...where, with rain and gale force winds forecast, we tucked ourselves into a corner hoping for a little bit of shelter and also to protect our slide-out from the southerly winds. Others also had the same idea although I think they may not had any TV reception due to the boundary building. The sun also didn't reach them until early afternoon and then only for a short time before it disappeared over the hills behind the park. 

We had a couple of places to visit in Wellington and friends to catch up with so we weren't in any hurry to board the ferry and cross over to the South Island. Which was just as well, what with the weather forecast & a holiday weekend coming up. It was time to do a little exploring.

The first place we visited was the Southward Car Museum at Paraparaumu, 30kms back up the highway. After a casual conversation with Dad when we were in Hawkes Bay, there was one particular item I wanted to see.

Southwatd Car Museum- don't you love the sign.

And here it is. This is Len Southward's speed boat 'Redhead', the first boat in Australasia to exceed 100mph on water, which he did on 22 Feb, 1953 across the Wellington Harbour. Later that year while attending a boat regatta after-function in Wellington, my father (aged 17) was invited with two others to take a ride in the boat with Len.....across the harbour at 100mph! Very cool eh? 

Here's the information and specs on 'Redhead', click on the photo to enlarge.

Once we had finished looking at 'Redhead' and watching the film clips of Len and the boat racing across the harbour, we checked out the rest of the museum's collection...

...which included a number of planes suspended from the ceiling, including this ex RNZAF de Havilland Vampire jet fighter.

We've visited a number of vehicle museums around the country and also attended various events where vintage vehicles are paraded including Napier's Art Deco, the Arrowtown Autumn Festival, the Whangamata Beach Hop and Southland's Crank Up amongst others and it never fails to amaze me how many vintage vehicles there are in this country and how well they are looked after. 

And because I already have hundreds of photos of very shiny vintage vehicles I decided to take photos of the more unusual cars at the Southward Museum. Problem was there were so many, including this 1920 Dodge Coupe 'Copper Car'.

And look at all these weird and wonderful creations! Rather than include photos of the information sheets for each vehicle, I've uploaded all my Southward Museum photos to a Flickr Album, click on this link to check them out.

I had to include this photo purely for sentimental reasons. After my sister & I got our licenses at 15, Mum & Dad bought us a car (living on the farm we used it to get to school, after school jobs, running errands & ferrying friends about). I really wanted a cool Ford Anglia (#2 car in the lineup) so was very disappointed when we only got a blue Ford Prefect (#1). Once we had our own money, my sister bought a Ford Escort (#3) and I bought a Ford Cortina (#4). Those were the days....

I'm sure the young lady who was polishing the cars while listening to her music thought I was taking a photo of her. I talked to her twice (but she didn't hear) and then I waited for so long to see if she would move on down the line but she just kept on polishing and polishing the first four cars.

Tony & Sue Collins 1926 Chevrolet 'Motorhome'- 3-1/2 years, 20,000 miles around the world

We enjoyed the museum, both reminiscing as we came across cars we were familiar with and we were pleased that we visited but we were both of the opinion that the best vehicle museum by far in the country is the Bill Richardson Transport Museum in Invercargill.

We have passed through Wellington many times as we've travelled up and down the country but have never stopped longer than a day or two and that has usually been at Evans Bay near the city centre. Now that we were parked up at Plimmerton I wanted to check out the Pauatahanui boat sheds, something I had wanted to photograph for a long time. 

It was a pleasant surprise to find out that they were only a few kilometres down the road. It wasn't pleasant that the weather packed up and I never got a chance to shoot the reflections and an early morning sunrise over the Pauatahanui Inlet though. I also didn't manage to capture the boat sheds at Titahi Bay, another perfect subject. 

I was quite excited to find a painting of Sam Hunt, his dog and one of his poems. I thought that this might have been his boat shed but on further research I found out that he owned Number 5, and darn it, I didn't take a photo of that particular shed! I'll just have to come back again. And on a sunny day.

We did manage to have one day out of the box, one of those days when Wellington shines with no wind, blue skies and warm sunshine. And as luck would have it, it was the day we decided to catch the train into the city. The Plimmerton Railway Station is just a short distance across the sports field next to the NZMCA Park. 

Luckily we decided to head into the city on the Friday (not only because of the weather), it wasn't until later we saw a sign saying that the trains wouldn't be running over Queens Birthday Weekend due to maintenance.

From the Wellington train station we walked along the waterfront towards Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand)

Photos clockwise- 1) Sealion' has an interesting paint job; hundreds of penguins and a few dozen sealions peering out at people passing by 2) Colourful Public Piano 3) Love Locks- Frank Kitts Lagoon Footbridge 4) Circa Theatre  5) Te Papa 6) Kapa Haka pedestrian lights

I had been disappointed that we didn't make it to see Peter Jackson's Great War Exhibition before it closed so when I heard that Te Papa & Weta Workshops' Gallipoli: The Scale Of Our War Exhibition had been extended I was keen to visit before it too closed (I've since found out that it won't close before ANZAC Day, 2022 at the earliest).

Te Papa- Museum of New Zealand

There was no missing where the exhibition was once we got inside.

No flash photography was allowed inside the exhibition and with it being quite dark and gloomy to suit the solemn atmosphere it would have been hard to photograph many of the displays anyway. I did manage to take photos of the life-like figures by winding my settings out to the max though.

Te Papa, working with Weta Workshops (Lord of the Rings fame), developed 'Gallipoli' into an interesting but sobering journey through the eight- month WW1 Gallipoli campaign in which 2,779 New Zealanders lost their lives.

Weta Workshop spent 24,000 hours of labour on the project, creating eight hyper-realistic (a genre of sculpture) human figures. The exhibition tells the story through the eyes and words of eight ordinary New Zealanders who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Each is captured frozen in a moment of time on a monumental scale – 2.4 times human size. The bowl under the last figure's feet is full of poppies that have added as people leave the exhibition. Visitors are invited to make a poppy up and write names on them to remember lost relatives or just the war itself.

It is truly an amazing exhibition, so well researched and displayed with 3-D maps and projections, miniatures, models, dioramas, and a range of interactive experiences that bring New Zealand’s Gallipoli story to life.

Sadly it is so realistic and very distressing to read about some of the experiences, that some people will find they may not be able to follow it through to the end- David included. Oh, the horrors of war.

Afterwards we took some time out to regather our thoughts and bring us back into the 21st century by visiting the revamped (since our last visit) Nature Zone exhibition which is on the same floor. I was pleased to see that the Colossal Squid (the only one in the world on display) has been returned for permanent viewing.

From Plimmerton we took a drive around the Pauatahanui Inlet stopping to get a photo of the beautiful historic St Alban's Church (of course) which was built in 1898...

...before blowing away the cobweds on the Pauatahanui Wetlands track which was just across the road. We walked right to the end visiting the two bird hides but of course at this time of the year there's not much to see on the ponds other than the usual ducks.

Although on the way home we did find a small flock of Royal Spoonbills/Kotuku Ngutupapa sheltering from the freezing cold wind and heavy rain that had begun to fall. Rain that didn't stop for a few days and overflowed the NZMCA Park's boundary stream which flooded the sports field next door.

Once the weather cleared and before the next winter low was due, we shifted 20kms over to the Petone Workingmens Club to catch up with friends on that side of the city. The Petone Club is an NZMCA CAP (costs apply parking), the cost is $10 per van per night and  power is available at no extra cost but it's first in first served; the caravan & bus in the bottom photo are on power.

Larger rigs need to come in the 'Out' gate, keeping an eye out for departing vehicles of course, as they won't get around the Club's building beside the 'In' gate. Also be aware if you are leaving to catch an early ferry sailing the 'Out' gate will be closed & locked. Luckily we were able to squeeze around the building and exit through the open 'In' gate because the carpark was nearly empty.

We had a good catch-up with our friends (fellow 5th-wheelers) and afterwards a lovely meal in the club with them (you don't need to be members, you just have to sign in at reception). 

With a day spare before we were due to cross Cook Strait, I went for a drive over to Wainuiomata. On the way back I stopped at the lookout overlooking Petone. Somes Island and the Wellington harbour are on the left.