Hop, Skip & a Jump to Tauranga

Real-time

We arrived at the Bluebridge Ferry terminal well before the 7am check-in time; I'm not sure why we're always ahead of schedule, because we always get our very own personal lane. 

But this time we weren't first on as is usually the case (which means first off), we were last on which means...

An hour or so later we leave Tory Channel and the South Island behind us, and I breath a sigh of relief that it's relatively calm out in the Strait...

...so I can't blame the swell on my slip down the stairs! It's very cold and very slippery and thankfully I didn't drop my phone, but it helpfully took a photo for me.

It was a culture shock to see so many tall buildings in such a small space again, as we pulled into Wellington.

You do get used to the wide, open spaces down south even if some of the more popular spots are taken up with too many people. 

We pull alongside the Wellington Harbour tugs, and because we'll be last out of the hold, we take our time getting down to the bottom deck. Timing it just right, we're opening the ute doors as the cars in front are pulling out. Hmm...we cut that a little too fine.

We hit the road and have a clear run out of Wellington, onto the motorway and north along SH1, stopping for a quick lunch at Queen Elizabeth Park in Paekakariki. Before continuing on to our regular stopover when we're on a mission heading north, the NZMCA Park in Marton. The rain arrived about the same time as we did. 

Here's us (and quite a few others) at Marton on a previous visit. Generators are banned at Marton, due to the close neighbours, this could be a problem in winter if you haven't enough battery power and are staying for a few days. 

The next morning we're off again, the weather cleared a little and then closed back in as we crossed the Desert Road. There are three beautiful mountains under that cloud cover, where it looks like it could be snowing just in time for the school holidays.

Our next 'go-to' park on our journey north is the NZMCA Park beside the Taupo Airport. This one holds fond memories; it was our very first stop on our maiden voyage over 3 and a half years ago. We were such greenhorns then, and so wondrous of this life on the road. Many miles, photos and written words have passed under the bridge since then.

 

We arrived mid afternoon and at first parked on the concrete 'drive' strips where these two motorhomes are parked. The strips lead to a concrete pad which was the foundation for a small building at some stage. It's a popular spot to park when it's wet or you want a nice level site. 

We were fine there for a couple of hours and then the forecast wind got up...and up...and up. Hitting us square on to our side and rocking us about something shocking. We debated back and forth for about 30 minutes trying to decide if we should shift before darkness fell, we had stayed hitched so it was going to be relatively easy to move. In the end we moved behind some bushes and put our nose into the wind. A couple of hours later the wind dropped but we stayed put. The two motorhomes above, came in later and took the strips, they must have wondered why they were still free.

We weren't the only ones to shift, the guy in the front here did the same, sticking his nose into the wind as well. The back van arrived later, and the people in another van near us, who didn't shift, were worried that the pine tree beside them was about to come crashing down. As it was a large branch broke off and dozens of pine cones were bouncing off their roof for a few hours. In the morning, the road out of the airport was smothered in cones, needles and small branches. It sure was a good blow.

Most NZMCA Parks have a small garden of some sort; many with just a few herbs, the odd clump of silverbeet, perhaps a lemon tree or two, but Taupo must have one of the best I've seen.

Lots of young seedlings that are going to provide members with some lovely greens in the spring. A big thankyou to the wonderful people who look after the Taupo park.

Back on the road again, and we're heading to another NZMCA Park and one we haven't stayed at before. We usually leave Taupo and head straight through to Tauranga, keen to see the family. But this time the family have deserted us and gone to Taupo with friends for the first week of the school holidays. Which is fine by us as we have a number of appointments and things to do while we're back in our old home town. We'll catch up with them next week. 

So we decided we'd not rush through to Tauranga, we'd stop at the Rotorua NZMCA Park in Ngongotaha. And what a lovely park it is, once old stock yards, the site has been cleared and landscaped and is surrounded by wide open grass reserve, trees and shrubs. It sits up above the alternate route through to Tauranga via Pyes Pa and has views of Lake Rotorua in the distance. 

It's obviously a very popular park even in the winter, there were 15-20 vans in both nights we stayed.

We were going to stay just the one night but enjoyed the setting and the company so much we stayed an extra night. It was wonderful to see two lots of friends we've met on the road down south, pull into the site after we'd set up. Tracy & Mike had come to check out the Ultima at Momorangi when they were deciding what they were going to purchase for their life on the road. And we'd met Pat & Jim at Warbirds Over Wanaka two years ago. It was great to catch up with everyone again and have a few laughs. 

We also met Warwick and Gaynor (and their grandson Logan) who we pulled in beside. They had a battery charger failure and were just about to head back to Auckland and home. David helped out finding where the fault was and then plugged them into our generator for the next couple of days. They were then able to stay and make good all the promises they'd made to Logan about their visit to Rotovegas.

It was also a big surprise to see another Ultima arrive, not only the same colour Ultima, but the same colour ute! Same, same but different; the ute is a double-cab (ours is a super-cab) and Grant & Helens' Ultima has a different lay-out inside with their outside door towards the rear. We had a good chat with them comparing notes and exchanging ideas. 

We left Rotorua yesterday afternoon and at first thought about staying at a Rona's CAP (costs apply parking) at Pyes Pa. We pulled into check it out but it was rather full and although we could have squeezed ourselves in, we decided to carry on. We also checked out the NZMCA Park at Tauriko where there was only one van but decided that, like Pyes Pa, it was still a way out of town and we'd have to travel back and forward a few times over the next few days. We do usually stay at the Mount campground but have decided since the family aren't around, we'd wing it until the weekend when we'll shift to the Mount.

And that is how we found ourselves parked up in our old front yard!

We're in a freedom camping area at Sulphur Point, it's a large grass reserve by the boat ramps and just across the carpark from where we spent many years working our butts off. Our office (for our boat building business) was once in the building with the scaffolding; the large window on the bottom at the far end. We also spent a few hours drinking coffee and having business lunches in the cafe that used to be on the ground floor under that scaffolding. 

And this was the view we had every week day of every month for quite a number of years...so many memories....hmmm......I'm not so sure we shouldn't have gone straight to the Mount.

And no, I'm not getting melancholy, but I think it's safe to say we won't be checking out the freedom camping area at Kulim Park, or for that matter Ferguson Park either, both parks we've lived beside for many years. It's just feels weird camping on your old front door step.

The View This Morning

Yikes! Perhaps this site belongs in the ‘Beer & Skittles’ post. If it wasn’t for family I think we’d get right back on the road and be out of here. I can tell you these last few days have been a bit of a culture shock for us as we made our way up the country arriving ahead of schedule in Mt Maunganui early yesterday evening. Unfortunately (or fortunately some might say) the beach front sites where we usually set up camp are full over the weekend so we’re in the Harbourside section of the campground, we’ll shift to the other side on Monday.

I thought I’d do another short post to bring the blog up-to-date on our movements. We’ll be here in our old home town for 3-4 weeks catching up with family & friends, doing some maintenance on the 5th-wheeler, spring-cleaning the van and sorting out some of the gear that we have in storage. And I’ll be able to catch up on the last of the Maniototo blogs and a few others from down south too (she says, hopefully).

We left Picton Tuesday afternoon on schedule aboard the new Bluebridge ferry, the Santa Feronia. It’s a large boat and there weren’t too many sailing which was nice as we had plenty of room to spread ourselves about and shift chairs and lounges when we wanted. We went up to the outside top deck to check out the view and were disappointed to find that there were no benches for seating on any of the outside decks- I'm not sure why as there are usually quite a number of people sitting outside especially on a fine day through the Sounds.

Once again we shared the crossing with a number of stock trucks with their smelly passengers; cattle, sheep and in one truck pigs! That’s a first.

We pulled out ahead of the Interislander ferry but they passed us in the Strait. Afterwards we made our way to the movie lounge and ended up watching, of all things, ‘Paddington’, which actually was rather good- an animated family movie on Paddington Bear. The movie finished just as we exited Queen Charlotte Sound which was just as well as it was, by my standards, a fairly rough crossing. I have now lost all faith in David’s weather app that predicted 2knots of wind, it was more like 60knots and rising. It was a rough ride and I spent most of my time outside (David keeping me company) catching the Antarctic breeze in my face to ward off that queasy feeling down below. We arrived into Wellington (much to my relief) after 6pm and nearly an hour behind schedule and drove straight out into mid-city rush hour traffic.

Although it didn’t take us long to drive to our usual Wellington camping spot at Evans Bay where finally the 26 metre high Wind Wand (Zephyrometer) has been replaced after being blasted to smithereens by lightning a year ago- lets hope the old adage that lighting doesn't strike twice in the same place works for them. This CSC freedom camping area (large car park) at Evans Bay is very popular as it’s handy to the city and the ferries and the last few times we’ve stopped it has been packed solid every night. This time it wasn’t so full with about 15-20 vehicles both nights. It was still a shock to the system to suddenly hear the busy traffic noises and watch so many people out walking and riding, along with the street lights illuminating the van- bring back the peace & quite of the South Island wops!

We stayed in Wellington two nights, visiting Sirocco on our first night and Zealandia Sanctuary again the next day to see the rest of the birds (post to come on that soon). Then we headed north stopping- as we did the last time we headed north- at the NZMCA camp in Marton for the night. We had the place to ourselves until early evening when a couple of other vans arrived.

We headed off yesterday morning thinking we’d stop in Taupo for the night before the last section to the Mount today. But when we got to Taupo around 3pm we decided we might as well push on and head all the way through to the Mount and be all set up for the weekend. Marton to the Mount = 375km, our longest haul to date with the van on the back.

We surprised the family at the Farmers Market (where they have a stall) this morning and have now returned to our humble abode to watch the world pass by Pilot Bay on a sunny but chilly Saturday afternoon.

Camping in Wellington

As predicted we were first in line at Picton’s Bluebridge ferry terminal, which actually wasn’t hard as there were 8 lines. We arrived there just after 6am, & in fact were the 4th in line at the drive through check in booth, on a what looked to be, a perfect day for sailing!

The lady with the hi-vis jacket is from bio-security, checking all vehicles for items- fishing, boating & tramping gear- that may have had contact with water from the lakes & rivers around the South Island. Checking for didymo, commonly known as ‘rock snot’, the introduced, very evasive aquatic algae pest that is choking the pristine waters of the South Island. It has not been transferred to the North Island. Yet. Unfortunately I think it’s only a matter of time though. All gear must be cleaned with detergent or a bleach solution to kill the spores. Our boots & fishing gear had been cleaned in soapy water thanks to David’s meticulous ways but we must wash the boat down again, and the outboard, when we next inflate it.

The warm sun finally reached us as we waited in line, David enjoying a chat with an American guy & his daughter in the motorhome next door. They were keen to talk about the 5th-wheeler and their time in NZ. Before long and without any fuss we were loaded and ready to roll, it was a quiet day compared with our crossing 13 months ago when one of the opposition's ships had been out of service for weeks putting pressure on all Cook Strait crossings.

We pulled out of Picton, feeling a little sad that we were leaving the South Island behind but looking forward to catching up with family & friends in the North Island after 13 months away. And at least we know we will be back to finish exploring in the new year.

Queen Charlotte Sound looked picture perfect on this early morning spring day. I was just happy the ferocious winds of yesterday had gone. Up on the top deck this whanau (family) were having a feast, a large pile of crayfish bodies wrapped in newspaper- their version of fish ‘n chips, without the fish or the chips! Overseas tourists looked on with mouths dropped in amazement- one lady told another that she’d bought a crayfish half the size for $80 in Kaikoura and here these people were feasting on at least 8 crayfish. I didn’t like to tell them that the tails, where all the meat is, were gone, they just had the bodies & legs where arguably the tastier meat is, but it does involve a little more work in getting to it.

Now that we’ve travelled around the Sounds, viewing where we’ve been from the water takes on a whole new meaning. We pass Waikawa Bay Marina, just around the point from Picton and where we stayed in the holiday park for the last two nights.

Whatamango Bay certainly looks a lot more appealing from this distance and with fine weather. We were tucked into the DOC camp around the point on the right for two nights.

And the ridge the Queen Charlotte Track runs along, looks nowhere near as high as it does from the road.

After an hour or so we turn right out of Queen Charlotte Sound through the Tory Channel and head out into a calm Cook Strait with the North Island clearly in view. Yes! Another smooth crossing ahead of us, which is pretty lucky (for me) given that there have been some big seas lately. David gets lost in conversation with the American guy again. What’s with David, boats and Americans? I wander about in the fresh air, up to the top deck and down again, from one side to the other and back inside for a short time; diesel fumes and gentle rocking are not my friends. Finally we turn into Wellington Harbour and hit a stiff wind head on. No waves though.

In no time at all we are offloaded and on the road heading through the middle of Wellington city on a busy Sunday morning; there’s a market on in the carpark near Te Papa museum and every car in creation is picking up or dropping off people in the slow lane and then pulling out into the middle lane without looking; our lane as it happens.

Finally we weave through them all and head off up the hill and around the corner, and without any warning (that we saw), straight into Victoria Tunnel which was not what we were expecting. I had visions of the Homer Tunnel and the stories of motorhomes that have clipped the sides or got stuck inside but this is a much larger tunnel and used to having larger vehicles passing through it. Of course we were fine but it still gave me a bit of a fright to have it suddenly appear in front of us.

We were staying in Wellington overnight so we could catch up with David’s youngest daughter Liz who we haven’t seen in 15 months and who usually lives in Melbourne. She is heading back there in the new year so we were thrilled to be able to stop off and and have some time with her before heading north. And where to stay in Wellington? Well Evans Bay of course!

The large carpark at the end of Evans Bay Marina is now a designated freedom camping area, it was only confirmed a week or so ago through the NZMCA- although when I googled it today, I found an article saying that a final decision would be made in December. Hmm…perhaps we jumped the gun a little.

This is an ideal area for camping as it’s very handy to the ferries and downtown. There were no signs stating the new designation and in fact a sign on the boat shed wall still said ‘No Camping’, but we re-checked the notification and we were in the right area so we pulled in. At first we lined up alongside the water with a great view over the marina but then realised that, that section was shaded red on the freedom camping notification. There was also a constant stream of people walking and cycling past our front door and up the path on the bank.  We had to wait for some cars to move before we could shift, they were parked along the wall beside the grass bank.

The carpark looks to be used by the locals to teach kids to ride their bikes, two or three families arrived during the afternoon with pushbikes, kids and dogs. And then two different lots of people on motorbikes learning to ride them as well. Finally they all left and we pulled in along the wall, the container behind us has something about selling Xmas trees on it. It was with a bit of consternation we learn from Liz that the ‘wind wand’ sculpture used to be behind the blue cloth & scaffolding. It got blown to smithereens by lightening during a wild storm back in August. Now that would have been interesting if we'd been parked up when that happened.

We had a lovely afternoon and evening with Liz, it was good to catch up and have a few laughs. It was also a bit surreal sitting in our home having dinner near a busy Wellington intersection and with the airport close by, planes taking off and landing, along with dozens of passing Wellingtonians out walking or cycling enjoying a warm spring evening. Oh to be back in the wops….

I thought the traffic noise might have been an issue but we both had a reasonably good night’s sleep. We waited for rush hour to pass before we pulled out, we had a clear run through the city and on up the coast, the weather overcast & showery and a little windy.

We stopped for lunch at the Quarter Acre Cafe in Manakau and I thought I’d give it a plug here. What a great spot to stop for a break; morning or afternoon tea, breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s quite a large place with an outdoor garden area for sunny days or warm rooms inside. The staff extremely friendly & cheerful, the food superb and very reasonably priced too. Well worth a visit if you need a break on your travels.

Tonight we are parked up at the NZMCA Park in Marton along with quite a number of others. Initially we backed in near the large green tree at the back of the site but quickly moved when I discovered we couldn't get TV because the satellite dish was blocked by the tree. Luckily I’ve learnt to check before we set up. Most of the time.

This is obviously a popular park and well positioned for members who are moving up and down the North Island. The old Marton camping ground was purchased by NZMCA who have, with the help of local members, re-fenced, landscaped, renovated some buildings and removed others from the property. It now provides a safe and secure space for members to stay on their travels and all for the princely sum of $3 pp per night. It’s also located beside a large park and gardens and just a short distance from town.