We had planned on going to church on Boxing Day. We had been told of a couple of churches, and chose the nearest one after me having a look at the website. I was wrong. They didn't have a Boxing Day service. Never mind, I thought. We were early. We chose another church way across the other side of town, but near where we were going later that day. And, their service started at 10:15am, so we had more time to get there. Unfortunately, after wandering around the school where they meet, we concluded that they mustn't be having a boxing day service either! On the way we had passed a sign for a church with a similar name to the one we were looking for, so we back tracked and had a look, thinking that perhaps they had changed premises, but it wasn't the one we were looking for. By this time, it was getting too late to catch a morning service, so we gave up and went to visit the family whose house we were going to look after while they went on holiday. A lovely family, with a large house - certainly a contrast from the caravan (I mean that the house is a contrast from the caravan, not the "lovely family" bit!).
Monday saw us move across town to the house. The first thing we did was empty the caravan contents into the house. There was a pile of washing to be done, and the caravan was, after 6 weeks on the road with 5 people, in need of a good clean and tidy. The next few days merged into one another - I was feeling tired - I felt like I was getting Chronic Fatigue Syndrome back again, so had plenty of rest. Esther wasn't 100% either and got lots of rest. Carolyn soldiered on and did a magnificently thorough job on the inside of the caravan, and of putting up with us sickies. What a wonderfully diligent, capable, and compassionate wife I am blessed with!
By Thursday I was feeling better, and spent a large chunk of time outside with my togs on cleaning the outside of the caravan. Towards evening we all drove to Maraetai beach - we were staying a few minutes from the road to Maraetai Bay and enjoyed the pleasant rural drive. The women stayed in the car, and James and I went straight into the water. It was meal time, so the girls hunted down some fish and chips, while James and I headed for the wharf and I helped James overcome his fear and jump off the wharf into the water. It was about 2m off the water, which is quite a bit when you're 9 and can't swim very well. Once he had done it once, it was hard to stop him! I was jumping in too, as were a number of other people. Lots of fun.
Friday we went to see my nephew and his Mum and partner and had a lovely time talking and catching up. It was just supposed to be for morning tea but we ended up talking until after noon. By the time we got home after a stop at an educational shop it was mid afternoon. Carolyn then went off to the library, and I dozed on the couch reading a book.
Despite having the luxury of a large house to use, for which we are very grateful, both Carolyn and I don't feel like we are missing out on anything important by being in a caravan. If anything, the family feels a bit less cohesive because we have so much more room to spread out. Having said that, being able to have a good, readily accessible hot shower is certainly convenient (for some more than others!)
Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season, and thanks for the comments!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas from the land of Aucks.
We had planned to leave Dargaville on Tuesday, but we still had a bunch of library books to finish and return to the Dargaville library, and also it was very windy, so we had a quiet day. I managed to get half way through Bill Bryson's "A short history of nearly everything". I'm up to page 256 (an easy number for a computer scientist to remember!), so will have to find the book in another library somewhere. It turned out to be a scorcher of a day, so in the late afternoon we all piled into the air-conditioned car and headed off to Kai-Iwi Lakes for a swim. The camp site was starting to fill up with long-term holiday makers from the 3-4 tents that were there on our last visit about a week ago. We had another great swim in the warm shallow waters. Just beyond the shallow shelf, where the water depth increases sharply, was a line of buoys marking the boundary of the swim and boat areas. The line was only anchored at each end, and Esther, Abigail and I swam out to one end, and then 'tight-rope walked' the rope holding the line of buoys - the line would sink under our weight, but allow us to keep our heads above water and our hands would be waving wildly underwater in our attempt to maintain balance. Because of the mostly overcast skies and the later time of day we had decided sunblock wasn't needed. We were wrong. Abigail, Carolyn, and I had got quite burnt. Esther had got out early because she gets cold even faster than I do and had been sitting in the car reading, and James was wearing a rash top, and is now brown enough that he has enough natural protection.
Wednesday then became the day of our departure. Another day of heat and humidity (even the locals were complaining!). We had hoped to get going early, but by the time we got to Dargaville and emptied the caravan waste (we couldn't use the dump station we had used previously, because now the bikes were on the back of the caravan, making us too long. At least it wasn't pouring with rain this time!), filled up the fresh water, and returned the books to the library, it was lunchtime. We drove a little way out of Dargaville and had lunch on the way to the Matakohe Kauri Museum. The museum is a fascinating place, and we could have spent much longer there if the air conditioning wasn't broken, and the children were able to last a bit longer without getting stroppy. By the time we had finished at the museum, we were all hot and bothered. We hadn't decided where to spend the night, and Carolyn said that, wherever it would be, she wanted to be able to go for a swim. After a quick look in the our book we settled on the DOC camp at Uretiti beach. Through the NZMCA, we were able to purchase a season pass for most of the DOC camps, although for some of the more popular camps, Uretiti included, the pass isn't valid from Dec 23 - Feb 1. Fortunately for us, it was Dec 22. We quickly parked the Caravan and headed to the beach for a refreshing swim in the cool of the evening. The cool waters soothed those of us who were sunburnt, and the waves were big enough to be lots of fun without being too scary.
The four bikes are proving to be a bit of a problem. They sit on a bike rack that sits on a towball that is attached to the back of the caravan. The rack needs regular tightening, and the straps that help hold the bike rack to the caravan and stop it jiggling too much get worn through. I've broken about four straps already. Just before the entrance to the Uretiti campsite I had checked the bikes - the strap was still tight, but the bike rack itself was loose. Unfortunatley, this is when I remembered that I had left the Allen key that tightens the bike rack on the back of the caravan, probably at the point of our departure that morning. When we had parked the caravan for the night, not even 10 minutes later, another strap had broken amd fallen off! I took the bikes off and instructed the children to go on a tour of the road we had travelled through the campsite to locate the missing strap and hook, which they found within a few minutes. Even though the children enjoy using the bikes, I'm not sure the children get enough use out of them to warrant the stress they cause. There's always that nagging concern when driving: "I wonder if the bikes are alright on the back of the caravan".
James and I woke early the next morning and saw a rabbit out the window. We chased it for a bit, and then headed down to the beach. There was a very large sand fortress near the high-tide mark which some children had constructed the previous day with the help of a spade. The incoming tide was just lapping at the edges, and James and I played and watched as the sand fortress battled against the inevitability of the ever-closer waves. After quite I while I thought I really should return to the caravan and cook breakfast (I'm the porridge expert). Opening the hatch to get the porridge revealed a mass of scurrying ants. They had come up from where the front of the caravan was resting on the ground. I spent the next good while killing and spraying ants. There was a small army of DOC workers outside sweeping the camp with ant posion - a bit frustrating that they didn't tell us the day before when we arrived that they had an ant problem - then I could have undertaken some pre-emptive ant defense action. It was after lunch when we finally left Uretiti Beach and headed south to Warkworth. On the way we stopped in Wellsford for a quick break, and I found a Firestone tyre shop which happened to have an Allen key that would fit the bike rack (which by that time was becoming uncomfortably loose and wobbly.) The quick break turned into a longer break, with the kids discovering the local library. We ended up having fish and chips before heading for our overnight stop just south of Warkworth.
We packed up smartly on Friday, Christmas Eve, and headed into Auckland. There were a few minor navigational issues once we arrived in Auckland, but we managed to get to the NZMCA park-over property in Henderson. It's a well setup place with a locked gate and small lounge available. I decided where to park, but after I had got out of the car, Carolyn insisted that my choice wasn't very good and perhaps it would be better facing the other direction. She reasoned that facing the other direction would allow us to get out easier. I pointed out that there was only one other bus in the property, and who would come here on Christmas eve anyway. Nevertheless, I relented and turned the caravan around. Carolyn was right. By the end of the day we had another 4 campervans arrive, and her suggestion for caravan placement was much superior to my own. It was a peaceful and (relatively!) stress free Christmas eve. We met some of the other campervanners, and the children played on their bikes in the nearby reserve.
In place of the traditional Christmas-time gifts, we had each member of the family write an encouraging note for each other member of the family. Much of the afternoon was taken up with family members scattered about finishing up their notes for each other.
Christmas day. We chose a church that we had heard of, Life Church, to attend for Chirstmas morning. With the help of google maps on my androd phone, I got us to the wrong end of a very long street (house number 965 instead of 95), but we had allowed plenty of time, and got to see a bit more of Auckland in the process. The church service was short and fun, with a brief message about the good news of Jesus Christ being wrapped up in the 'religion' of church, (in the same way as a gift is wrapped with wrapping paper), and how some people don't get past the wrapping paper to discover the gift. Following church we drove to the summit of Mt. Eden, but it was cold and windy, so we didn't linger. James was very interested in the Volcano crater at the top though, and asked heaps of questions, most of which I was able to answer, though some (Will it blow up again? When will it happen?) were answered somewhat speculatively. After our descent we drove into a very quiet downtown Auckland (ooh look! There's the skytower), and Carolyn (the driver) managed to figure out how to get on the motorway heading towards our caravan despite the help from me (and google maps). After a pancake lunch we sat around the table and shared our encouraging notes to each other. It was a special family time of sharing that we all enjoyed. It was delightful to see what we had all come up with for each other. To pass the rest of the afternoon, we all watched the DVD 'The Fiddler on the Roof'. It is a long movie, but we all sat engrossed for the full 3 hours. Carolyn had bought it (for $2.49 at the red shed) after hearing about it in a book we are reading to the children ('Where Arrows Fly', the sequel to 'Where Lions Roar at Night'). After dinner we went for a pleast cycle and walk in the neighbouring reserve and watch another movie, before bedtime for the children, and updating the blog for me!
I appreciate reading your blog comments, it helps me know there are people reading! Merry Christmas!
Wednesday then became the day of our departure. Another day of heat and humidity (even the locals were complaining!). We had hoped to get going early, but by the time we got to Dargaville and emptied the caravan waste (we couldn't use the dump station we had used previously, because now the bikes were on the back of the caravan, making us too long. At least it wasn't pouring with rain this time!), filled up the fresh water, and returned the books to the library, it was lunchtime. We drove a little way out of Dargaville and had lunch on the way to the Matakohe Kauri Museum. The museum is a fascinating place, and we could have spent much longer there if the air conditioning wasn't broken, and the children were able to last a bit longer without getting stroppy. By the time we had finished at the museum, we were all hot and bothered. We hadn't decided where to spend the night, and Carolyn said that, wherever it would be, she wanted to be able to go for a swim. After a quick look in the our book we settled on the DOC camp at Uretiti beach. Through the NZMCA, we were able to purchase a season pass for most of the DOC camps, although for some of the more popular camps, Uretiti included, the pass isn't valid from Dec 23 - Feb 1. Fortunately for us, it was Dec 22. We quickly parked the Caravan and headed to the beach for a refreshing swim in the cool of the evening. The cool waters soothed those of us who were sunburnt, and the waves were big enough to be lots of fun without being too scary.
The four bikes are proving to be a bit of a problem. They sit on a bike rack that sits on a towball that is attached to the back of the caravan. The rack needs regular tightening, and the straps that help hold the bike rack to the caravan and stop it jiggling too much get worn through. I've broken about four straps already. Just before the entrance to the Uretiti campsite I had checked the bikes - the strap was still tight, but the bike rack itself was loose. Unfortunatley, this is when I remembered that I had left the Allen key that tightens the bike rack on the back of the caravan, probably at the point of our departure that morning. When we had parked the caravan for the night, not even 10 minutes later, another strap had broken amd fallen off! I took the bikes off and instructed the children to go on a tour of the road we had travelled through the campsite to locate the missing strap and hook, which they found within a few minutes. Even though the children enjoy using the bikes, I'm not sure the children get enough use out of them to warrant the stress they cause. There's always that nagging concern when driving: "I wonder if the bikes are alright on the back of the caravan".
James and I woke early the next morning and saw a rabbit out the window. We chased it for a bit, and then headed down to the beach. There was a very large sand fortress near the high-tide mark which some children had constructed the previous day with the help of a spade. The incoming tide was just lapping at the edges, and James and I played and watched as the sand fortress battled against the inevitability of the ever-closer waves. After quite I while I thought I really should return to the caravan and cook breakfast (I'm the porridge expert). Opening the hatch to get the porridge revealed a mass of scurrying ants. They had come up from where the front of the caravan was resting on the ground. I spent the next good while killing and spraying ants. There was a small army of DOC workers outside sweeping the camp with ant posion - a bit frustrating that they didn't tell us the day before when we arrived that they had an ant problem - then I could have undertaken some pre-emptive ant defense action. It was after lunch when we finally left Uretiti Beach and headed south to Warkworth. On the way we stopped in Wellsford for a quick break, and I found a Firestone tyre shop which happened to have an Allen key that would fit the bike rack (which by that time was becoming uncomfortably loose and wobbly.) The quick break turned into a longer break, with the kids discovering the local library. We ended up having fish and chips before heading for our overnight stop just south of Warkworth.
We packed up smartly on Friday, Christmas Eve, and headed into Auckland. There were a few minor navigational issues once we arrived in Auckland, but we managed to get to the NZMCA park-over property in Henderson. It's a well setup place with a locked gate and small lounge available. I decided where to park, but after I had got out of the car, Carolyn insisted that my choice wasn't very good and perhaps it would be better facing the other direction. She reasoned that facing the other direction would allow us to get out easier. I pointed out that there was only one other bus in the property, and who would come here on Christmas eve anyway. Nevertheless, I relented and turned the caravan around. Carolyn was right. By the end of the day we had another 4 campervans arrive, and her suggestion for caravan placement was much superior to my own. It was a peaceful and (relatively!) stress free Christmas eve. We met some of the other campervanners, and the children played on their bikes in the nearby reserve.
In place of the traditional Christmas-time gifts, we had each member of the family write an encouraging note for each other member of the family. Much of the afternoon was taken up with family members scattered about finishing up their notes for each other.
Christmas day. We chose a church that we had heard of, Life Church, to attend for Chirstmas morning. With the help of google maps on my androd phone, I got us to the wrong end of a very long street (house number 965 instead of 95), but we had allowed plenty of time, and got to see a bit more of Auckland in the process. The church service was short and fun, with a brief message about the good news of Jesus Christ being wrapped up in the 'religion' of church, (in the same way as a gift is wrapped with wrapping paper), and how some people don't get past the wrapping paper to discover the gift. Following church we drove to the summit of Mt. Eden, but it was cold and windy, so we didn't linger. James was very interested in the Volcano crater at the top though, and asked heaps of questions, most of which I was able to answer, though some (Will it blow up again? When will it happen?) were answered somewhat speculatively. After our descent we drove into a very quiet downtown Auckland (ooh look! There's the skytower), and Carolyn (the driver) managed to figure out how to get on the motorway heading towards our caravan despite the help from me (and google maps). After a pancake lunch we sat around the table and shared our encouraging notes to each other. It was a special family time of sharing that we all enjoyed. It was delightful to see what we had all come up with for each other. To pass the rest of the afternoon, we all watched the DVD 'The Fiddler on the Roof'. It is a long movie, but we all sat engrossed for the full 3 hours. Carolyn had bought it (for $2.49 at the red shed) after hearing about it in a book we are reading to the children ('Where Arrows Fly', the sequel to 'Where Lions Roar at Night'). After dinner we went for a pleast cycle and walk in the neighbouring reserve and watch another movie, before bedtime for the children, and updating the blog for me!
I appreciate reading your blog comments, it helps me know there are people reading! Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Rain
It's been raining. And raining. We've been mostly holed up in the caravan and tent with a pile of library books and some DVDs. Late this morning the rain finally stopped for a while, and a bit of breeze dried out the tent, so we packed it before the next lot of rain arrives. I'm briefly borrowing the internet of the house where we are parked behind, so just a quick update today.
We went to church in Dargaville yesterday, which we all enjoyed. They had a lunch afterwards which we were invited to.
James and I visited the local school pool with the neighbours (they have a key). Even though it is raining a lot, it's still easily warm enough to swim. Today is particularly humid - I'm struggling a bit with the humidity - I think it gives me headaches.
The three houses that are nearby (the only three houses for quite a distance) have about 10 cats between them. Four in particular have 'adopted' us, much to the delight of the kids, though the cats can be a bit annoying in the evening when the children are trying to get to sleep.
We are heading off tomorrow or the next day. Not too sure where we'll end up.
We went to church in Dargaville yesterday, which we all enjoyed. They had a lunch afterwards which we were invited to.
James and I visited the local school pool with the neighbours (they have a key). Even though it is raining a lot, it's still easily warm enough to swim. Today is particularly humid - I'm struggling a bit with the humidity - I think it gives me headaches.
The three houses that are nearby (the only three houses for quite a distance) have about 10 cats between them. Four in particular have 'adopted' us, much to the delight of the kids, though the cats can be a bit annoying in the evening when the children are trying to get to sleep.
We are heading off tomorrow or the next day. Not too sure where we'll end up.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
On to Dargaville
About a week ago (Saturday 11th December) we left Spirits Bay and headed South. On the way we stopped at a Kauri shop just north of Kaitaia. It has a spiral staircase up the *inside* of a Kauri log. Really neat. After a bit too long of a stop at Kaikohe, we didn't get to Opononi until evening. Unfortunately, we had quite a bit of trouble locating the place where we were going to stay. The GPS coordinates were incorrect, as were the directions. We ended up on a dodgy narrow dirt track, and had to do a tricky 3-point turn between two blind curves using a steep farm track. After a bit of stress, I finally just typed in the address to google (once we had reception) and it located it fine. It is a pleasant spot overlooking the Hokianga harbour.
On Sunday we were all too tired to do much of anything. The kids tried a bit of fishing in the afternoon after having seen quite a few fish earlier in the day, but only managed to catch two lots of seaweed, the back of Esther's shirt, and a rusty iron bar. There were a couple of small single-room shacks on the land, one of which was occupied by a guy, and his girlfriend (?). They proceeded to argue very loudly together about every hour or two. I wasn't trying to listen, but the argument always seemed to be the same. They didn't stop to sleep either: 11:30pm, 2am, 3am, 5:30am, and I probably missed a few! It was a blessing that the kids managed to sleep through it. There were three other couples staying there, each with a small house bus. They weren't happy about the situation either.
After a lousy sleep on Sunday night, we decided we had to move on, and stopped for lunch at Waipoua Forest. We did the walk to Tane Mahuta, the largest (living) tree in New Zealand, and then a little further along did the walk to the Yakas Kauri (you can touch this monster, but it takes over half an hour to walk there). It was mostly overcast, but a hot, humid day - weather that isn't experienced in Christchurch. We were all grateful that the air-conditioning had been fixed in the car. Late afternoon saw us arrive at our destination - the back paddock of a guy who lives in Aranga (about half an hour's drive north of Dargaville). No phone (or anything else) coverage.
We went to Dargaville on Tuesday, and somehow managed to join the library and get out over a dozen books and a few DVDs (including Toy Story 3 - had just arrived). It looks like we'll be here for a week or so. The afternoon and evening was spent reading and watching DVDs.
On Wednesday we woke up to drizzle. Unfortunately, our extender awning (no sides, just roof) collects water, and it had a couple of large bucketfuls in it. A blessing in disguise though, because we just realised that we had run out of fresh water! We poured it carefully off the awning, and most of it managed to get stored in a bucket and the chilly bin, with the remainder hitting the grass or James. I then lowered the awning a bit so that the rain would run off instead of pool. We thought we would go for a bit of an explore, and drove down the road to Kai Iwi Lakes - three sand-dune lakes. We decided to go for a swim, even though it looked like rain was coming. The lake, which has a wide, shallow shelf, was surprisingly warm and we had a fun time swimming out to the buoys from Pine Beach (which has no pines anymore, they were all recently cut down.) On the way back home we took a diversion down to Mangonui Bluff where the prevailing westerly has twisted the trees into hunchbacked shapes and a small collection of baches huddle together. There was a rather steep 4wd track ("Council Maintenance Ends Here" read the sign) down onto a wild west-coast beach with soft sand and a nearly full tide. The family (one child in particular) were freaking out a bit, so I did a donut and headed back up the steep track only to get stuck in soft sand. Reversed a bit, and then gunned it up the sand and on to the bouncy 4wd track and up onto the normal (council-maintained) road. Great fun. Except the large container in the back that was half full of water had lost about 10 litres and was now about a quarter full.
Thursday. The rain started about 6am and has been going pretty much ever since. I rigged up a wool-yarn drain for the awning and filled up a couple of buckets of fresh water, but our black-water tank needed emptying, so we left the tent pitched where it was, packed up the caravan a bit and headed into Dargaville to empty the waste tanks, and fill the fresh water tank (in the pouring rain). The first dump place wasn't suitable for the length of our vehicle or the waste hose fitting on our vehicle. The second dump place was even less suitable for our vehicle, but a bit of creative manoeuvring (touching the fence with the caravan) saw us (actually 'me') manage to do the job. Caravan living certainly requires a bit more thought - Receptacles you want filled (fresh water, gas bottle, fuel tank, bank balance, fridge) are always getting emptied, and those you want empty (black water, gray water) are always getting filled!
On Sunday we were all too tired to do much of anything. The kids tried a bit of fishing in the afternoon after having seen quite a few fish earlier in the day, but only managed to catch two lots of seaweed, the back of Esther's shirt, and a rusty iron bar. There were a couple of small single-room shacks on the land, one of which was occupied by a guy, and his girlfriend (?). They proceeded to argue very loudly together about every hour or two. I wasn't trying to listen, but the argument always seemed to be the same. They didn't stop to sleep either: 11:30pm, 2am, 3am, 5:30am, and I probably missed a few! It was a blessing that the kids managed to sleep through it. There were three other couples staying there, each with a small house bus. They weren't happy about the situation either.
After a lousy sleep on Sunday night, we decided we had to move on, and stopped for lunch at Waipoua Forest. We did the walk to Tane Mahuta, the largest (living) tree in New Zealand, and then a little further along did the walk to the Yakas Kauri (you can touch this monster, but it takes over half an hour to walk there). It was mostly overcast, but a hot, humid day - weather that isn't experienced in Christchurch. We were all grateful that the air-conditioning had been fixed in the car. Late afternoon saw us arrive at our destination - the back paddock of a guy who lives in Aranga (about half an hour's drive north of Dargaville). No phone (or anything else) coverage.
We went to Dargaville on Tuesday, and somehow managed to join the library and get out over a dozen books and a few DVDs (including Toy Story 3 - had just arrived). It looks like we'll be here for a week or so. The afternoon and evening was spent reading and watching DVDs.
On Wednesday we woke up to drizzle. Unfortunately, our extender awning (no sides, just roof) collects water, and it had a couple of large bucketfuls in it. A blessing in disguise though, because we just realised that we had run out of fresh water! We poured it carefully off the awning, and most of it managed to get stored in a bucket and the chilly bin, with the remainder hitting the grass or James. I then lowered the awning a bit so that the rain would run off instead of pool. We thought we would go for a bit of an explore, and drove down the road to Kai Iwi Lakes - three sand-dune lakes. We decided to go for a swim, even though it looked like rain was coming. The lake, which has a wide, shallow shelf, was surprisingly warm and we had a fun time swimming out to the buoys from Pine Beach (which has no pines anymore, they were all recently cut down.) On the way back home we took a diversion down to Mangonui Bluff where the prevailing westerly has twisted the trees into hunchbacked shapes and a small collection of baches huddle together. There was a rather steep 4wd track ("Council Maintenance Ends Here" read the sign) down onto a wild west-coast beach with soft sand and a nearly full tide. The family (one child in particular) were freaking out a bit, so I did a donut and headed back up the steep track only to get stuck in soft sand. Reversed a bit, and then gunned it up the sand and on to the bouncy 4wd track and up onto the normal (council-maintained) road. Great fun. Except the large container in the back that was half full of water had lost about 10 litres and was now about a quarter full.
Thursday. The rain started about 6am and has been going pretty much ever since. I rigged up a wool-yarn drain for the awning and filled up a couple of buckets of fresh water, but our black-water tank needed emptying, so we left the tent pitched where it was, packed up the caravan a bit and headed into Dargaville to empty the waste tanks, and fill the fresh water tank (in the pouring rain). The first dump place wasn't suitable for the length of our vehicle or the waste hose fitting on our vehicle. The second dump place was even less suitable for our vehicle, but a bit of creative manoeuvring (touching the fence with the caravan) saw us (actually 'me') manage to do the job. Caravan living certainly requires a bit more thought - Receptacles you want filled (fresh water, gas bottle, fuel tank, bank balance, fridge) are always getting emptied, and those you want empty (black water, gray water) are always getting filled!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Spirits Bay
We packed up our site on Monday morning. It took us all morning! It is suprising how spread out and settled in we become after staying in one place for nearly two weeks. Finally, shortly after noon we said goodbye to Maitai Bay and headed for a chore-stop in Kaitaia. We had a large load of washing to do, lunch to have, groceries to buy, a gas bottle to fill, insect defence arsenal to stockpile, and black and gray water tanks to empty. Everything went smoothly except dumping the waste from the caravan. The car park where the waste facility is located was being resurfaced, which meant the dump point was slightly higher than the caravan outlet, but not only that, the position and shape of the curb in relation the dump point was such that I was never going to get the caravan close enough without damage. I'm getting pretty good at backing the caravan now, but that dump station was beyond me. We checked on our map where else we could go to dump. There are two camp grounds with waste dumping facilities on the road to Cape Reinga, so we decided to stop at one of those and pay the dumping fee. We stopped at the second, just over 40km north of Kaitaia, but they had a policy of no dumping unless you stayed the night. Everyone up there has septic tanks, apparently, so understandably no one likes to let passers-by dump waste. We were getting somewhat concerned at this point that we would have no where to dump our poo and wee so we turned back down the road for 5 minutes to the first campground hoping that we could make them an offer. Fortunately they were happy to take our waste for $5, and let us fill our freshwater for another $5. By this time it was early evening, and we still had quite a bit of travelling ahead of us. In particular, the road in to Spirits bay is a winding, unsealed, washer-boarded track. I quite like driving on that sort of road, but the rest of the family weren't too keen, and it was the end of the day. Finally, just on sunset at about 8pm, we arrived at the DOC campground at Spirits Bay. To the delight of Esther and Abigail, we chose a site just opposite the river from a field of horses (including three young foals). We quickly pitched the tents and got set up for the evening, and settled in to a good night's sleep.
Tuesday morning dawned clear and warm. James and I wandered off to explore the beach - the white sand curved to the left for a number of miles towards Cape Reinga, visible in the distance. To the right was a small island and bay, ending abruptly in steep bush and grass covered hills. There was a half decomposed body of a whale lying a short ditance away on the beach, much to the interest of James, and in our wandering spotted a few dead penguins washed up also. Little blue penguins, I think. After lunch James and I left the girls to watch a recorded TV program (the Austalian X-Factor final) and headed for the beach. It was a warm sunny day, and the water was warm enough for a good play. First we had climbed the small island, and on our way back down James spotted a stingray in the clear waters right near where we were planning to swim. This didn't deter us as the water was clear enough for excellent visibility, although this is the season for fish eggs to wash up in their multitudes, and the first few meters of water was thick with the transparent jelly-like globules. After a while we tired of going over and under waves and, as the tide was out, instead focussed on civil construction techniques concerning a small stream flowing down through the sand. We dug, channeled, banked, and reinforced without any regard for time until Carolyn and the girls came down with their togs. We had another lovely swim, coaxing them in despite the stingray story and the fish eggs. It was evening by the time we all returned to the caravan. The children have named about a dozen of the horses in the paddock on the other side of the river.
Wednesday started out quietly. I had a long nap late morning, only resurfacing for lunch. In the afternoon the kids and I tackled the steep hill on the other side of the river. We had spotted some horses half way up the hill earlier in the day, but it looked like they had gone. However when we reached the small crest half-way up we saw 7-8 horses calmly munching on the grass and scratching themselves on the cabbage trees and pohutukawa. We continued to the top, and were rewarded with a magnificent view out to Cape Reinga and along the length of Spirits Bay.
Thursday saw us pile into the car and head for Cape Reinga and the lighthouse, then we turned around and drove down the dusty track to Te Paki stream, the northern vehicle entrance to 90 mile beach. We had a great time blasting down through stream, spraying water in all directions, but when we got to the beach the tide was in, so we turned around and splashed our way back up. Even Carolyn had a go at driving. The sand dunes there are monsters, I never knew NZ had dunes like it. I felt as if I was in Saudi Arabia. We couldn't afford the $15 each to hire the boards for sliding down the sand dunes, but had a go using one of our boogie boards (The guy hiring boards calls them 'brake pads'), but they have too much grip. The sand was very hot. Too hot to stand in for very long even for my feet which haven't seen shoes for 4 weeks now. On the return journey we were a little concerned about our fuel level, so at the turnoff to go back to Spirits Bay decided to head south to find the nearest fuel stop. It's a few hundred metres down the road and around a corner! It has to be one of the most expensive petrol stations in the country though. Diesel was 189c per litre compared to about 133c in Kaitaia! I put in enough to make sure we could get to Kaitaia with the caravan. On the plus side they sold huge icecreams.
The kids and I went for a short bike ride on Friday morning, but it was too hot to do much exercise. Carolyn, James, and I went to the beach for a swim in the afternoon, and on our return to the caravan were met by Esther running towards us telling us that Abigail had just found a kitten! It was small, vocal, and looked like it hadn't eaten for quite a while. We had some chicken defrosting in the fridge, a small portion of which the kitten greedily gobbled down. The children were extremely excited to have a cute kitten to play with, but we are in a DOC campsite, and no pets are allowed. Unfortunately, the DOC workers which had been working around the campsite during the week hadn't come back today, and there is no cell-phone coverage nearby. We had to drive 10 minutes to the top of the road to get cell coverage to ring DOC, and even then only Caroyn's phone worked, and not my expensive Android phone (I don't know why it wouldn't work. I could get 2-3 bars, but it wouldn't call or do mobile internet). Fortunately some DOC workers were reasonably close (an hour away) and could come to pick up the kitten. The children were all upset to see it go. Amazing how attached they became to the cute furry animal in just a few hours. We are planning on leaving tomorrow and heading somewhere south of Kaitaia, so hopefully we can post this on the way when we get mobile coverage.
Yes. The McDonalds in Kaikohe has free wifi. So here's the post. The laptop battery is running low though....
Tuesday morning dawned clear and warm. James and I wandered off to explore the beach - the white sand curved to the left for a number of miles towards Cape Reinga, visible in the distance. To the right was a small island and bay, ending abruptly in steep bush and grass covered hills. There was a half decomposed body of a whale lying a short ditance away on the beach, much to the interest of James, and in our wandering spotted a few dead penguins washed up also. Little blue penguins, I think. After lunch James and I left the girls to watch a recorded TV program (the Austalian X-Factor final) and headed for the beach. It was a warm sunny day, and the water was warm enough for a good play. First we had climbed the small island, and on our way back down James spotted a stingray in the clear waters right near where we were planning to swim. This didn't deter us as the water was clear enough for excellent visibility, although this is the season for fish eggs to wash up in their multitudes, and the first few meters of water was thick with the transparent jelly-like globules. After a while we tired of going over and under waves and, as the tide was out, instead focussed on civil construction techniques concerning a small stream flowing down through the sand. We dug, channeled, banked, and reinforced without any regard for time until Carolyn and the girls came down with their togs. We had another lovely swim, coaxing them in despite the stingray story and the fish eggs. It was evening by the time we all returned to the caravan. The children have named about a dozen of the horses in the paddock on the other side of the river.
Wednesday started out quietly. I had a long nap late morning, only resurfacing for lunch. In the afternoon the kids and I tackled the steep hill on the other side of the river. We had spotted some horses half way up the hill earlier in the day, but it looked like they had gone. However when we reached the small crest half-way up we saw 7-8 horses calmly munching on the grass and scratching themselves on the cabbage trees and pohutukawa. We continued to the top, and were rewarded with a magnificent view out to Cape Reinga and along the length of Spirits Bay.
Thursday saw us pile into the car and head for Cape Reinga and the lighthouse, then we turned around and drove down the dusty track to Te Paki stream, the northern vehicle entrance to 90 mile beach. We had a great time blasting down through stream, spraying water in all directions, but when we got to the beach the tide was in, so we turned around and splashed our way back up. Even Carolyn had a go at driving. The sand dunes there are monsters, I never knew NZ had dunes like it. I felt as if I was in Saudi Arabia. We couldn't afford the $15 each to hire the boards for sliding down the sand dunes, but had a go using one of our boogie boards (The guy hiring boards calls them 'brake pads'), but they have too much grip. The sand was very hot. Too hot to stand in for very long even for my feet which haven't seen shoes for 4 weeks now. On the return journey we were a little concerned about our fuel level, so at the turnoff to go back to Spirits Bay decided to head south to find the nearest fuel stop. It's a few hundred metres down the road and around a corner! It has to be one of the most expensive petrol stations in the country though. Diesel was 189c per litre compared to about 133c in Kaitaia! I put in enough to make sure we could get to Kaitaia with the caravan. On the plus side they sold huge icecreams.
The kids and I went for a short bike ride on Friday morning, but it was too hot to do much exercise. Carolyn, James, and I went to the beach for a swim in the afternoon, and on our return to the caravan were met by Esther running towards us telling us that Abigail had just found a kitten! It was small, vocal, and looked like it hadn't eaten for quite a while. We had some chicken defrosting in the fridge, a small portion of which the kitten greedily gobbled down. The children were extremely excited to have a cute kitten to play with, but we are in a DOC campsite, and no pets are allowed. Unfortunately, the DOC workers which had been working around the campsite during the week hadn't come back today, and there is no cell-phone coverage nearby. We had to drive 10 minutes to the top of the road to get cell coverage to ring DOC, and even then only Caroyn's phone worked, and not my expensive Android phone (I don't know why it wouldn't work. I could get 2-3 bars, but it wouldn't call or do mobile internet). Fortunately some DOC workers were reasonably close (an hour away) and could come to pick up the kitten. The children were all upset to see it go. Amazing how attached they became to the cute furry animal in just a few hours. We are planning on leaving tomorrow and heading somewhere south of Kaitaia, so hopefully we can post this on the way when we get mobile coverage.
Yes. The McDonalds in Kaikohe has free wifi. So here's the post. The laptop battery is running low though....
Monday, December 6, 2010
Fishing and Frogs
It's now Monday morning, Dec 6.
We survived the weekend. The two-night teen party passed without major problems for us. It was noisy - until about midnight, so we didn't get as much sleep as normal. We all slept in the Caravan, rather than the usual configuration of the kids in the tents, and me in the caravan. If our site wasn't so well established with tents and clotheslines etc. we would have moved. It was an eye-opening event for the children, who could see first-hand the negative effects of excessive alcohol.
We woke early on Sunday, and drove the 1.5 hours to Kerikeri to go to church before picking up Carolyn at the airport. I had searched for 'church in kerikeri' on google maps, and, of the four results returned, had chosen frontline church. They were very welcoming and friendly, and had a lovely morning tea available after the service. We weren't planning to stay for morning tea, but Carolyn's plane had been delayed 10 minutes, so we had a short time to stop and chat. The airport was close by, but a little further than I had thought. As we neared the airport I couldn't see the plane at the terminal, so I said to the kids to watch out to see if we could see it coming in. We parked, and then while walking to the terminal suddenly all realised that Carolyn's plane was just coming to a stop beside it. We all ran to the outside viewing area with a few seconds to spare; the plane door was lowered, and Carolyn, who had managed to get the very front seat with a view out the cockpit, was excitedly waving from her seat to us. We stayed long enough in Kerikeri to grab some fruit and vegetables, and then headed for 'home'.
Carolyn, for some reason, had bought while in Christchurch three hand-lines for fishing, and the kids were eager to try them out. Many people enjoy fishing, but I am not one of them. Nevertheless, for the sake of the children I relented. While Carolyn had a nap, the kids and I scrambled around the rocks for 15 minutes or so until we came to a safe place to drop the lines. We used salami for bait and succeeding in catching seaweed, snagging the lines on the rocks, and James managed an impressive knot. As the children were going to bed in the evening, just on dark, Esther nearly stepped on a rather large frog. Much commotion ensued as James tried (and eventually succeeded) to pick up the frog. He didn't hold it firm enough and it jumped up Abigail's arm. It was recaptured with much excited shouting, and I managed to get a half-decent photo of it. Frogs are his favourite animal (and green is his favourite colour), so you can imagine how excited he was.
We are planning to head up to Spirits Bay near Cape Reinga, probably today. I doubt there is any mobile coverage up there, so this could be the last post for a week or so.
We survived the weekend. The two-night teen party passed without major problems for us. It was noisy - until about midnight, so we didn't get as much sleep as normal. We all slept in the Caravan, rather than the usual configuration of the kids in the tents, and me in the caravan. If our site wasn't so well established with tents and clotheslines etc. we would have moved. It was an eye-opening event for the children, who could see first-hand the negative effects of excessive alcohol.
We woke early on Sunday, and drove the 1.5 hours to Kerikeri to go to church before picking up Carolyn at the airport. I had searched for 'church in kerikeri' on google maps, and, of the four results returned, had chosen frontline church. They were very welcoming and friendly, and had a lovely morning tea available after the service. We weren't planning to stay for morning tea, but Carolyn's plane had been delayed 10 minutes, so we had a short time to stop and chat. The airport was close by, but a little further than I had thought. As we neared the airport I couldn't see the plane at the terminal, so I said to the kids to watch out to see if we could see it coming in. We parked, and then while walking to the terminal suddenly all realised that Carolyn's plane was just coming to a stop beside it. We all ran to the outside viewing area with a few seconds to spare; the plane door was lowered, and Carolyn, who had managed to get the very front seat with a view out the cockpit, was excitedly waving from her seat to us. We stayed long enough in Kerikeri to grab some fruit and vegetables, and then headed for 'home'.
Carolyn, for some reason, had bought while in Christchurch three hand-lines for fishing, and the kids were eager to try them out. Many people enjoy fishing, but I am not one of them. Nevertheless, for the sake of the children I relented. While Carolyn had a nap, the kids and I scrambled around the rocks for 15 minutes or so until we came to a safe place to drop the lines. We used salami for bait and succeeding in catching seaweed, snagging the lines on the rocks, and James managed an impressive knot. As the children were going to bed in the evening, just on dark, Esther nearly stepped on a rather large frog. Much commotion ensued as James tried (and eventually succeeded) to pick up the frog. He didn't hold it firm enough and it jumped up Abigail's arm. It was recaptured with much excited shouting, and I managed to get a half-decent photo of it. Frogs are his favourite animal (and green is his favourite colour), so you can imagine how excited he was.
We are planning to head up to Spirits Bay near Cape Reinga, probably today. I doubt there is any mobile coverage up there, so this could be the last post for a week or so.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Matai is Maitai
It is now Friday, 3 Dec.
The days are starting to merge together. We are still at Maitai Bay (the name was corrected from Matai to Maitai a few years back, a local was telling me). We have been swimming and playing at the beach often. But this week has been dominated first by the news that Carolyn's last remaining grandparent was ill, and then by his passing. Yesterday we drove to KeriKeri airport (about an hour and a half) to drop Carolyn off to go back to Christchurch for the funeral. She will be back on Sunday.
I explored a sea cave with James earlier in the week. It was quite a scramble around the rocks, and the cave was surprisingly deep. We had brought James's small wind-up LED torch with us 'just in case', and I ended up wishing we had brought my head torch. He is enjoying having adventures every day. The kids and I also biked over the other side of the peninsula to Karikari beach. It has sand that is much whiter (higher silica content?) than Maitai Bay, and a large selection of interesting shells and bits of coral.
The roar of the waves was unusually loud last night, and this morning when I went to check, I saw waves that were far-and-away the largest we have seen at the beach by a factor of 3 at least. The were rolling in thick and fast and dumping themselves loudly on the beach. After morning tea I took the children down and we went swimming. I only ventured in as far as my waist. The waves were still breaking quite a bit further out, but even then, most were a seething mass of white water the height of my head by the time they reached me. The children loved it. They learnt how to dive under the big waves, did boogie boarding, and general big-wave play for nearly two hours. By the time we got back, the area behind us was a loud teen-tent city. The year-13 students at a nearby highschool have taken it over for a two-night party. There's probably about 40 tents. I mentioned to the kids that I should toot the car horn (it's really loud) at 6am if they keep us up tonight. But then I said that I wouldn't, because we are christians, and that sort of tit-for-tat behaviour isn't the sort of thing we should do. But boy, is it tempting.
The days are starting to merge together. We are still at Maitai Bay (the name was corrected from Matai to Maitai a few years back, a local was telling me). We have been swimming and playing at the beach often. But this week has been dominated first by the news that Carolyn's last remaining grandparent was ill, and then by his passing. Yesterday we drove to KeriKeri airport (about an hour and a half) to drop Carolyn off to go back to Christchurch for the funeral. She will be back on Sunday.
I explored a sea cave with James earlier in the week. It was quite a scramble around the rocks, and the cave was surprisingly deep. We had brought James's small wind-up LED torch with us 'just in case', and I ended up wishing we had brought my head torch. He is enjoying having adventures every day. The kids and I also biked over the other side of the peninsula to Karikari beach. It has sand that is much whiter (higher silica content?) than Maitai Bay, and a large selection of interesting shells and bits of coral.
The roar of the waves was unusually loud last night, and this morning when I went to check, I saw waves that were far-and-away the largest we have seen at the beach by a factor of 3 at least. The were rolling in thick and fast and dumping themselves loudly on the beach. After morning tea I took the children down and we went swimming. I only ventured in as far as my waist. The waves were still breaking quite a bit further out, but even then, most were a seething mass of white water the height of my head by the time they reached me. The children loved it. They learnt how to dive under the big waves, did boogie boarding, and general big-wave play for nearly two hours. By the time we got back, the area behind us was a loud teen-tent city. The year-13 students at a nearby highschool have taken it over for a two-night party. There's probably about 40 tents. I mentioned to the kids that I should toot the car horn (it's really loud) at 6am if they keep us up tonight. But then I said that I wouldn't, because we are christians, and that sort of tit-for-tat behaviour isn't the sort of thing we should do. But boy, is it tempting.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
More from Esther....
Day 7, Kawakawa (Thursday, Nov 18th)
We got up in the morning and packed up and left. We went to Kawakawa to see the famous Hundertwasser toilets. We still didn't know where we were going to sleep that night. We were hungry and mum didn't want to cook dinner so we stopped at a local hotel that had meals. We each had cheap meals, Abby's being the most expensive at $10 while James and I had meals half that price and the parents having $8 meals. We got a call from some people who owned a farm in Kawakawa and we decided to stay there for the night and progress onto Paihia tomorrow. After the meal we drove to the farm which was just up the road and settled there. The owners of the farm were very nice and the woman gave us a tour. The farm's main job was rearing calves and selling them so she had heaps and heaps of them. She also had a small dog, a miniature horse, chickens, pigs and some goldfish. We bought some eggs and mince off her then went and settled for bed. Dad got the TV working and we delightedly watched X-factor before bed though it wasn't the best reception. Then we went to sleep.
Day 8, Paihia
We woke up to chickens clucking and cows mooing. We packed up ready to go to Paihia. The grass was all wet and I had concerns for the braking ability on steep hills covered in slippery grass, but no drama [of course not - Dad :-)] and we started our journey quite safely. We continued on to Paihia, as there was no free campsites close to dad's conference building-the Copthorne Hotel- we had to stay at one which costs $12 per night, though included was power and water. We settled there and took the caravan off the car so dad could drive to the conference. He ended up late as we had tea late. We weren't allowed to watch TV that night, but mum did even though it stopped us from getting to sleep. We eventually got to sleep.
Day 9, Russell
We got up and were ready early to drive dad to his conference. Once we had dropped him off we decided to go to Russell. We got tickets for the ferry and hopped on board. Mum chose for us to take the slow, boring ferry over. Once we got there we wandered around until we found the museum. We entered for $7.50. It was very informative and you got to watch a video. We got some cool sayings there to do with different stuff. We left and went to the post shop place. They had a cat there, a beautiful silver tabby. Then we went to the bakery and had some delicous sausage rolls and some brownie and ginger beer then we went sightseeing. We had a bit of a look at the church then wandered around the shops. We saw a few interesting dogs and other stuff. We missed the fast ferry back since it was hidden behind the jetty so we waited at the waterfront. James was immediately glued to the water playing and splashing while we sat and waited for the fast ferry since mum had said we could take it back to Paihia. We waited for ages before we finally saw it coming across the water towards us. We walked up then down to the boarding platform. We went back to Paihia on the fast ferry; much more interesting-it took 6 and a half minutes. I can't remember much of what we did once we were back except getting fudge at Get Fudged. Their fudge is extremely nice - wish I could have some right now, and going to The Lily Pond. We didn't actually go to the Lily Pond-an animal farm place- we went to the river part near there. The river part has a waterfall - a nice curved 1.5m approx waterfall. The area where you swim in is just after the waterfull. The depth further downstream from the waterfall is about waist height but it gets deeper closer to the waterfall. It was a nice place for swimming, but it had strong currents away from the waterfall so you had to be carefull also there were a lot of rocks around the edges. We then went to bed.
Day 10, Sunday
Our first proper Sunday, once we dropped dad off to work we went to a church there. I disliked it, it was only a small church and we made up a third of the people. It was strange and different from what we were used to and the pastor had an Irish accent. After church the library was having a book sale. I got a book and Abby got one too. We then went swimming at the the river.
We got up in the morning and packed up and left. We went to Kawakawa to see the famous Hundertwasser toilets. We still didn't know where we were going to sleep that night. We were hungry and mum didn't want to cook dinner so we stopped at a local hotel that had meals. We each had cheap meals, Abby's being the most expensive at $10 while James and I had meals half that price and the parents having $8 meals. We got a call from some people who owned a farm in Kawakawa and we decided to stay there for the night and progress onto Paihia tomorrow. After the meal we drove to the farm which was just up the road and settled there. The owners of the farm were very nice and the woman gave us a tour. The farm's main job was rearing calves and selling them so she had heaps and heaps of them. She also had a small dog, a miniature horse, chickens, pigs and some goldfish. We bought some eggs and mince off her then went and settled for bed. Dad got the TV working and we delightedly watched X-factor before bed though it wasn't the best reception. Then we went to sleep.
Day 8, Paihia
We woke up to chickens clucking and cows mooing. We packed up ready to go to Paihia. The grass was all wet and I had concerns for the braking ability on steep hills covered in slippery grass, but no drama [of course not - Dad :-)] and we started our journey quite safely. We continued on to Paihia, as there was no free campsites close to dad's conference building-the Copthorne Hotel- we had to stay at one which costs $12 per night, though included was power and water. We settled there and took the caravan off the car so dad could drive to the conference. He ended up late as we had tea late. We weren't allowed to watch TV that night, but mum did even though it stopped us from getting to sleep. We eventually got to sleep.
Day 9, Russell
We got up and were ready early to drive dad to his conference. Once we had dropped him off we decided to go to Russell. We got tickets for the ferry and hopped on board. Mum chose for us to take the slow, boring ferry over. Once we got there we wandered around until we found the museum. We entered for $7.50. It was very informative and you got to watch a video. We got some cool sayings there to do with different stuff. We left and went to the post shop place. They had a cat there, a beautiful silver tabby. Then we went to the bakery and had some delicous sausage rolls and some brownie and ginger beer then we went sightseeing. We had a bit of a look at the church then wandered around the shops. We saw a few interesting dogs and other stuff. We missed the fast ferry back since it was hidden behind the jetty so we waited at the waterfront. James was immediately glued to the water playing and splashing while we sat and waited for the fast ferry since mum had said we could take it back to Paihia. We waited for ages before we finally saw it coming across the water towards us. We walked up then down to the boarding platform. We went back to Paihia on the fast ferry; much more interesting-it took 6 and a half minutes. I can't remember much of what we did once we were back except getting fudge at Get Fudged. Their fudge is extremely nice - wish I could have some right now, and going to The Lily Pond. We didn't actually go to the Lily Pond-an animal farm place- we went to the river part near there. The river part has a waterfall - a nice curved 1.5m approx waterfall. The area where you swim in is just after the waterfull. The depth further downstream from the waterfall is about waist height but it gets deeper closer to the waterfall. It was a nice place for swimming, but it had strong currents away from the waterfall so you had to be carefull also there were a lot of rocks around the edges. We then went to bed.
Day 10, Sunday
Our first proper Sunday, once we dropped dad off to work we went to a church there. I disliked it, it was only a small church and we made up a third of the people. It was strange and different from what we were used to and the pastor had an Irish accent. After church the library was having a book sale. I got a book and Abby got one too. We then went swimming at the the river.
More at Matai Bay
Thursday 2nd November was a quiet day. After the rush to get to Paihia from Christchurch, and then coming up to Matai Bay, I was about ready to have a day doing very little. I even had a nap in the afternoon.
The following day Carolyn went to Kaitaia on her own to do laundry and shopping, while the rest of decided to go geocaching (www.geocaching.com). There was a geocache nearby, just under 700m away. The sky looked threatening however, and about half way there I decided to turn back in drizzle. We were back at the caravan only moments when blue sky started to reappear, so we decided to try again. Esther wasn't keen so had some time to herself reading (her favourite activity, I think!) while James, Abigail, and I set out to search for the geocache. Using the GPS in my android phone, and the geocaching application, the hunt took us over top of the small hill separating Matai Bay from the neighbouring bay. It was a bit of an adventure with scratchy gorse and other plants, and interestingly shaped trees. Once we reached the destination according to the GPS, it only took a couple of minutes before James spotted the geocache, a solid metal box the size of a large lunchbox. We signed the logbook contained therein, and James got to choose which of the numerous trinkets in the box to swap for a handful of yummy mint lollies - he chose a small rubber shark. The afternoon was a quiet one; Carolyn returned after lunch, and her and the children went to the beach for a bit of a swim. I fixed one of the bench seats in the caravan whose support had been cracked - I had a selection of tools with me, and a few spare bits of ply, but I'd forgotten to bring my vice-grips.
Saturday was another warm fine day, so I rounded up everyone early for an attempt at another geocache. This one was a bit further away, but looked like it didn't involve quite so much scrambling as the previous day. We walked to the neighbouring bay, and ambled along the golden crescent of sand, with the waves lapping gently nearby. It took nearly half an hour to reach the giant gnarled pohutukawa tree at the far end. There is also a jumble of smooth rocks that are great fun to play on. It took quite a bit of hunting, but finally it was Abigail who was triumphant in finding the hidden container. She swapped a small mouse statue for a handful of mints, and Carolyn wrote in the log book. It is a recent geocache - we were only the second people to find it. After the walk back to the caravan, we were ready for a good lunch. It was such a nice day, that we decided to head for the beach in the afternoon (although Esther had had enough and stayed behind to read). Despite it being a warm, fine Saturday, there were only a handful of groups scattered along the length of the beach. We found a spot and went for a swim in the cool sea amongst remnants of dead jellyfish. I'm just not built for cool water, and only managed to stay in for 10-15mins before my shivering forced me back to the beach to warm up. After a bit, Carolyn came out of the water and had a short rest, while James, Abigail and I made sandcastles. I taught them how to make tunnels in the sand (it has to be damp, and for strength it has to be compacted by smacking. Not too dry that it crumbles, or too wet that it has liquefaction issues during the compaction process). Carolyn and Abigail returned to the caravan, and James and I stayed on the beach until after 5pm - me having a peaceful rest on the beach, and James playing pretty-much non-stop in the waves. Before bed, Carolyn suggested I lock up the bikes, but I said, no - that I would hear if anyone tried to pinch the bikes. At 2:30am, I heard noises outside. Was it a bird on the roof? "No", said Carolyn, "they're asleep. Maybe it's a possum". I didn't think so, so I fumbled for the head torch and ventured outside (in my underwear) to confront the disturber of the peace. I had to walk between the tents to get enough distance to see what was going on on the roof. Carolyn was right. It was a possum. Not sure how it managed to get on to the roof. And in my half-awake (half-asleep?) state I was having trouble thinking about how to get it down. After a few moments thought ("Throw something? No, bad idea"), I grabbed the curled up clothesline string, and, holding on end, threw it on to the roof a couple of times. Meanwhile, Carolyn was in the caravan bathroom wondering if the possum would peer down at her through the open roof vent - it didn't. I went around the caravan, and my feeble attempts with the clothesline string must have frightened it down. I chased it up a tree, and it decided that munching on the native pohutukawa was a better nighttime activity than wandering around a barren caravan roof. I took a photo with my phone, but it turned out pretty poor.
We had a slow start today (Sunday). We had planned to go to church, but the nearest one was quite some drive away, and we were all pretty tired from the busy day (and night!) before. It was another lovely day so we all went to the beach in the afternoon and had a great time all playing in the sea. I managed to stay in maybe 20min before the cold forced me out - a new record for me!
The following day Carolyn went to Kaitaia on her own to do laundry and shopping, while the rest of decided to go geocaching (www.geocaching.com). There was a geocache nearby, just under 700m away. The sky looked threatening however, and about half way there I decided to turn back in drizzle. We were back at the caravan only moments when blue sky started to reappear, so we decided to try again. Esther wasn't keen so had some time to herself reading (her favourite activity, I think!) while James, Abigail, and I set out to search for the geocache. Using the GPS in my android phone, and the geocaching application, the hunt took us over top of the small hill separating Matai Bay from the neighbouring bay. It was a bit of an adventure with scratchy gorse and other plants, and interestingly shaped trees. Once we reached the destination according to the GPS, it only took a couple of minutes before James spotted the geocache, a solid metal box the size of a large lunchbox. We signed the logbook contained therein, and James got to choose which of the numerous trinkets in the box to swap for a handful of yummy mint lollies - he chose a small rubber shark. The afternoon was a quiet one; Carolyn returned after lunch, and her and the children went to the beach for a bit of a swim. I fixed one of the bench seats in the caravan whose support had been cracked - I had a selection of tools with me, and a few spare bits of ply, but I'd forgotten to bring my vice-grips.
Saturday was another warm fine day, so I rounded up everyone early for an attempt at another geocache. This one was a bit further away, but looked like it didn't involve quite so much scrambling as the previous day. We walked to the neighbouring bay, and ambled along the golden crescent of sand, with the waves lapping gently nearby. It took nearly half an hour to reach the giant gnarled pohutukawa tree at the far end. There is also a jumble of smooth rocks that are great fun to play on. It took quite a bit of hunting, but finally it was Abigail who was triumphant in finding the hidden container. She swapped a small mouse statue for a handful of mints, and Carolyn wrote in the log book. It is a recent geocache - we were only the second people to find it. After the walk back to the caravan, we were ready for a good lunch. It was such a nice day, that we decided to head for the beach in the afternoon (although Esther had had enough and stayed behind to read). Despite it being a warm, fine Saturday, there were only a handful of groups scattered along the length of the beach. We found a spot and went for a swim in the cool sea amongst remnants of dead jellyfish. I'm just not built for cool water, and only managed to stay in for 10-15mins before my shivering forced me back to the beach to warm up. After a bit, Carolyn came out of the water and had a short rest, while James, Abigail and I made sandcastles. I taught them how to make tunnels in the sand (it has to be damp, and for strength it has to be compacted by smacking. Not too dry that it crumbles, or too wet that it has liquefaction issues during the compaction process). Carolyn and Abigail returned to the caravan, and James and I stayed on the beach until after 5pm - me having a peaceful rest on the beach, and James playing pretty-much non-stop in the waves. Before bed, Carolyn suggested I lock up the bikes, but I said, no - that I would hear if anyone tried to pinch the bikes. At 2:30am, I heard noises outside. Was it a bird on the roof? "No", said Carolyn, "they're asleep. Maybe it's a possum". I didn't think so, so I fumbled for the head torch and ventured outside (in my underwear) to confront the disturber of the peace. I had to walk between the tents to get enough distance to see what was going on on the roof. Carolyn was right. It was a possum. Not sure how it managed to get on to the roof. And in my half-awake (half-asleep?) state I was having trouble thinking about how to get it down. After a few moments thought ("Throw something? No, bad idea"), I grabbed the curled up clothesline string, and, holding on end, threw it on to the roof a couple of times. Meanwhile, Carolyn was in the caravan bathroom wondering if the possum would peer down at her through the open roof vent - it didn't. I went around the caravan, and my feeble attempts with the clothesline string must have frightened it down. I chased it up a tree, and it decided that munching on the native pohutukawa was a better nighttime activity than wandering around a barren caravan roof. I took a photo with my phone, but it turned out pretty poor.
We had a slow start today (Sunday). We had planned to go to church, but the nearest one was quite some drive away, and we were all pretty tired from the busy day (and night!) before. It was another lovely day so we all went to the beach in the afternoon and had a great time all playing in the sea. I managed to stay in maybe 20min before the cold forced me out - a new record for me!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Paihia to Matai Bay
Though I had a good time at the python conference, I missed spending time with the family. While I was busy being geeky, they were busy exploring Paihia and Russell, and swimming in the ocean and rivers. By the conclusion of the conference on Sunday evening, Carolyn was keeen for a bit of time away from the children (lovely though they are!) so I handled the dinner and bed-time routine. James wanted me to teach him to program so I ended up writing a computer game for the children on the laptop, a 'guess the number' game, with James and Abigail looking over my shoulder.
We decided to stay another day (Monday) in Paihia, even though we were paying for where we parked the caravan. (We are trying to do this trip without spending much on accommodation - the caravan is completely self-contained so we basically just need a spot to park.) It was a relaxing day - the children played on the bikes and in the afternoon we all went to the swimming hole at the 'lilypond' near Haruru Falls. This is a delightful place with a wide cascade about a metre high falling into a deep pool. We played, swam, jumped, and splashed through the afternoon. Back in the caravan, I was accusing different family members of having made a bad smell, but then a shout from Carolyn brought me quickly to the bathroom where the grey-water tank had filled up so much it was coming out of the shower drain. Oops. My fault of course; as the man I am responsible for taking care of the waste, apparently. Carolyn decided to take off to do the clothes washing at the local landromat with firm instructions for me to 'take care of it'. Fortunately the owner of the RV (recreational vehicle) park where we were staying encourages the dumping of grey water around the plants, so I did some manual transferring of smelly grey water which is time-consuming and somewhat messy. Thankfully it wasn't the black-water tank! I checked its level to make sure that it wouldn't overflow if someone tried to flush the toilet. It was quite full, but not yet at a critical stage; it would last until the scheduled dump stop at Kerikeri the next day.
We spent the next morning (Tuesday) wandering around the Waitangi grounds. Both Carolyn and I felt quite moved by the history of the place, although the children didn't seem to understand what all the fuss was about. I can understand where they are coming from - I wasn't interested in history when I was a child, but the older I get, the more interesting and important history becomes. After lunch we packed everything up and headed north to Kerikeri, then on to Rainbow falls. The girls were all not feeling very enthusiastic, but James and I crossed the outlet of the large plunge pool and scrambled around the bank to the waterfall itself. There is a huge moss-covered cavern in behind the waterfall that James and I carefully explored. Very damp and slippery. On the way back down I cautioned James about slipping on the way down, and how it was easier to do than on the way up. I then promptly slipped over. It didn't help that I was doing this in my crocs, which have extremely poor grip (It's always easier to pass the blame: It wasn't me, it was the crocs on my feet!). After a short drive we decided to stop in Kaeo, a small and rather run-down looking sort of place. We were allowed to park behind an old shop in a small field of deep grass and weeds. It was a somewhat challenging manouvre, but I am getting quite proficient with reversing the caravan.
Wednesday dawned bright, and we wasted little time in getting ready and leaving Kaeo. We headed north to the Karikari peninsula and the Matai Bay DOC campground. The campground is a lovely place, with fields for camping separated by strips of native bush. We found a sunny but sheltered corner of an empty field and made camp. This turned out to be more involved than normal, because we decided to pitch the tents as well. We have a large 2.5 room family tent and a small 2-person tramping tent. We hadn't used the family tent for quite a while - about 2 years, so there was a bit of umming and ah-ing. I had the situation all under control, of course, but that didn't stop the volumes of advice coming from certain sectors of the family! By the time we finished setting everything up, had a late lunch, and then did some family bible reading, it was already 3pm and we hadn't even been down to the beach. And what a beach it is! We swam, climbed on the rocks, avoided dive-bombing seagulls, and made sandcastle barriers against the incoming tide. By the time we had had dinner, we were all ready for a story and bed. I have been reading aloud the book "Where Lions Roar at Night" (by Rosie Boom) to the family before bed time, so we knocked another couple of chapters off. I have to hide it during the day so the kids don't find it and sneakily read ahead. The girls slept in the large tent, and James in the small tent. It was pleasant to have the caravan to ourselves in the evening for a change.
Now it is Thursday morning. We are all having a slow, peaceful start to the day. James is playing with his lego in the large tent (now that he has room to get the lego out), the girls have been reading books and writing letters.
We decided to stay another day (Monday) in Paihia, even though we were paying for where we parked the caravan. (We are trying to do this trip without spending much on accommodation - the caravan is completely self-contained so we basically just need a spot to park.) It was a relaxing day - the children played on the bikes and in the afternoon we all went to the swimming hole at the 'lilypond' near Haruru Falls. This is a delightful place with a wide cascade about a metre high falling into a deep pool. We played, swam, jumped, and splashed through the afternoon. Back in the caravan, I was accusing different family members of having made a bad smell, but then a shout from Carolyn brought me quickly to the bathroom where the grey-water tank had filled up so much it was coming out of the shower drain. Oops. My fault of course; as the man I am responsible for taking care of the waste, apparently. Carolyn decided to take off to do the clothes washing at the local landromat with firm instructions for me to 'take care of it'. Fortunately the owner of the RV (recreational vehicle) park where we were staying encourages the dumping of grey water around the plants, so I did some manual transferring of smelly grey water which is time-consuming and somewhat messy. Thankfully it wasn't the black-water tank! I checked its level to make sure that it wouldn't overflow if someone tried to flush the toilet. It was quite full, but not yet at a critical stage; it would last until the scheduled dump stop at Kerikeri the next day.
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| The cascade at 'the lilypond' |
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| Abigail making her way around the rocks against the current at 'the lilypond' |
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| A cute jellyfish (and a leaf) at the wharf at Opua (near Paihia, where we had warm showers - 4 minutes for a dollar) |
We spent the next morning (Tuesday) wandering around the Waitangi grounds. Both Carolyn and I felt quite moved by the history of the place, although the children didn't seem to understand what all the fuss was about. I can understand where they are coming from - I wasn't interested in history when I was a child, but the older I get, the more interesting and important history becomes. After lunch we packed everything up and headed north to Kerikeri, then on to Rainbow falls. The girls were all not feeling very enthusiastic, but James and I crossed the outlet of the large plunge pool and scrambled around the bank to the waterfall itself. There is a huge moss-covered cavern in behind the waterfall that James and I carefully explored. Very damp and slippery. On the way back down I cautioned James about slipping on the way down, and how it was easier to do than on the way up. I then promptly slipped over. It didn't help that I was doing this in my crocs, which have extremely poor grip (It's always easier to pass the blame: It wasn't me, it was the crocs on my feet!). After a short drive we decided to stop in Kaeo, a small and rather run-down looking sort of place. We were allowed to park behind an old shop in a small field of deep grass and weeds. It was a somewhat challenging manouvre, but I am getting quite proficient with reversing the caravan.
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| Bamboo at Rainbow falls. Can you reach it James? |
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| I need to fill my water bottle! Abigail enjoying Rainbow Falls |
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| James scrambling around the side of the pool to get to Rainbow Falls. It's a bit tricky in places! |
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| Yay! We made it. The girls are a dot in the distance, on the other side of the pool. |
Wednesday dawned bright, and we wasted little time in getting ready and leaving Kaeo. We headed north to the Karikari peninsula and the Matai Bay DOC campground. The campground is a lovely place, with fields for camping separated by strips of native bush. We found a sunny but sheltered corner of an empty field and made camp. This turned out to be more involved than normal, because we decided to pitch the tents as well. We have a large 2.5 room family tent and a small 2-person tramping tent. We hadn't used the family tent for quite a while - about 2 years, so there was a bit of umming and ah-ing. I had the situation all under control, of course, but that didn't stop the volumes of advice coming from certain sectors of the family! By the time we finished setting everything up, had a late lunch, and then did some family bible reading, it was already 3pm and we hadn't even been down to the beach. And what a beach it is! We swam, climbed on the rocks, avoided dive-bombing seagulls, and made sandcastle barriers against the incoming tide. By the time we had had dinner, we were all ready for a story and bed. I have been reading aloud the book "Where Lions Roar at Night" (by Rosie Boom) to the family before bed time, so we knocked another couple of chapters off. I have to hide it during the day so the kids don't find it and sneakily read ahead. The girls slept in the large tent, and James in the small tent. It was pleasant to have the caravan to ourselves in the evening for a change.
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| Nah. You guys are doing it wrong. |
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| Here we go; last pole. Nearly got the big tent up. The small tent is still to be removed from its bag. |
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| The finished campsite. Even got the awning up |
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| The broad sweep of Matai Bay |
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| Go James! Don't let the seagulls get you! |
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| Very industrious. I gave the children a short lecture and demonstration on liquefaction also. |
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| The (nearly) finished product, shortly before the incoming tide erased it. |
Now it is Thursday morning. We are all having a slow, peaceful start to the day. James is playing with his lego in the large tent (now that he has room to get the lego out), the girls have been reading books and writing letters.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Paihia conference weekend
The conference I was speaking at (kiwi pycon: nz.pycon.org) started on Friday the 19th with 'codewars'. This is where competing teams solve programming puzzles while hooked up to a data projector as the audience watch (and sometimes heckle!). The programming challenges are fairly simple, like "Here is a text file with the complete text of Alice in Wonderland. What is the word that contains the 4000th consonant?" Pretty geeky, I know, but I had fun. And, our team (all Christchurch people) won! Woohoo!
The conference itself was over the Saturday and Sunday, and I won't bore you with the geekiness of it, but I enjoyed it, and both my talks went reasonably well.
We are in the beautiful Matai bay on the KariKari peninsula at the moment, but I don't have time to fill in the details yet - it's (relatively) late and I'm tired...
The conference itself was over the Saturday and Sunday, and I won't bore you with the geekiness of it, but I enjoyed it, and both my talks went reasonably well.
We are in the beautiful Matai bay on the KariKari peninsula at the moment, but I don't have time to fill in the details yet - it's (relatively) late and I'm tired...
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Port Albert to Paihia
Port Albert was a pleasant place to spend the evening, and we knew the drive the next day wasn't going to be too long, so we didn't get around to leaving until about 11am. We drove fairly steadily to Kawakawa where we stopped to inspect the Hundertwasser toilets and had an early dinner at the local pub. We were a bit concerned about where we would stay the night, but just as we were getting a bit stressed about it, we got a phone call returned about a lovely farmlet where we could stay in Kawakawa, and then the RV park near Paihia returned our call also. So we stayed the night in Kawakawa in a beautiful rural setting. We had a tour of the farm and saw tame hens, calves, pony, and pig. Friday dawned warm but drizzly, and we had a short but quite windy (twisty, not blowy. Crazy english.) drive to Paihia and the Bay of Islands.
Esther's take on the first week.
From Esther:
Hi,
Day 1, The first day of our travels.
We started in Christchurch packing up then setting out. It was good weather and we expected it to be easy driving. It was quite easy driving until the caravan started wobbling, since we are inexperienced we didn't realise the problem until we drove round a corner and the caravan started fish-tailing. Mum quickly got it back under control even though we were all yelling. We found out we lost a tube out the back so it was good we pulled over. We carried on with Dad at the wheel slowly till we got to Cheviot and had lunch.
We carried on to Kaikoura and did the waterfall walk where the young seals play in the winter. We saw one seal pup there, it was showing off diving and spinning and coming close to the rocks where we were sitting. Dad did his seal call and it lifted his head looking around like his dad had found him, the other people watching were amused. We then drove on to Koromiko, but there wasn't any room so we drove onwards to Picton to have tea and meet relatives (Rebecca and Lindsay, Morm and Ian) then we carried on past Waikawa bay to a DOC camp. It is still the most beautiful DOC camp we have been to so far(day 1 - so it doesn't really count).
Day 2, The day on the ferry.
We woke up to the beautiful view in Marlborough Sounds. We went straight back to Picton to get our ferry tickets and we spent the rest of the morning at the park. For me it was a good time to sit and read my new book while James and Abigail played and Mum and Dad visited again with rellies. Then we boarded the ferry, since we were on the 1 o'clock ferry we were in line at 12o'clock and ate lunch in the caravan while we were in line. The interislander ferry we were on was the Kaitaki 'Challenger' it is their largest ferry. We had a fun time while we were on the ferry in the Marlborough sounds once we were in the open ocean, it was a different story. I felt sick and woosy, but dad says I wasn't sea-sick since I didn't throw up. After the ferry we travelled to Upper Hutt to see one of mums friends (Lisa),we met at a park there and we played after we had fish'n'chips. Then we continued on to Featherston to stay at another DOC camp The ground was very bumpy but Dad found the flattest place to park the caravan. It was also windy but nothing compared to the next day.
Day 3, rest day
I woke up at about 5:15 am to howling gale-force winds with the caravan wobbling. We got ready to go, then dad checked MET service to find severe weather warnings from Eketuhuna to Hastings -there was strong gale-force winds it recommended not driving. We decided to stay though James wasn't happy he thought the winds would be fun. There was enough wind in the valley for the caravan to shake like a continuous earthquake in the 3-4 region of the Ricter scale. With the earthquake in Canterbury at least we were accustomed to shaking. It was a rest day with a small play at the river. Only dad swum deeper and jumped off the rocks. The majority of the day was resting. We planned to leave the next day as the wind had calmed.
Day 4, up to Hastings.
When I got up the winds had died down enough for us to travel so we packed and prepared to leave. We ended up at Dannevirke for lunch and went to a laundromat for the first time. A kind pak'n'save lady told us where to park and have lunch. The place was a small reserve type place with a small stream, there were heaps of ducks and among them some chickens and doves. There was also a deer farm but there were none in the closer paddocks. Also there was an aviary with a large variety of birds. One of the baby finches had escaped from the aviary. A person who looked after the birds came and we helped her try to catch the bird and mend the mesh. After all our attempts the small finch eluded us and perched high out of the reach of the nets. So we finished up there and carried on our way to Hastings. We drove through Hastings to Chris's house and got the corner steadies for the caravan. He let us stay in his back-yard, which was good since we were still wondering about where we would stay for the night. They were very nice and let us girls use their shower. I wasn't looking forward to using the caravan one. We slept well nothing bothering us.
Day 5, Busiest day.
When we got up in the morning we got ready. I helped dad fill up the water tank since Chris let us use his water-he gets it from a well it is pure water good enough to be bottled and sold, or so he says. We agreed with him in the end it did taste like bottled water only fresher. After that we were off heading to Napier. We just stopped for a short while but nothing interested us so we kept going. We went around to the Marina instead of through the city and got some fresh strawberries and chocolate dipping sauce before morning tea at Bayview. We headed off up the windy road between Napier and Taupo. It was amusing that we passed our first vehicles though they were big trucks carrying heavy stuff. We also had a bit of a scare when the car and caravan slowed to 30-40 kmph up some steep hills even though dads foot was flat on the accelerator. We skipped around Taupo on the new highway having a bit of worry finding Huka falls. When we got to Huka falls we were a bit disappointed to find it massive rapids instead of a proper waterfall. Though I liked the beautiful ice blue and white water and I was amazed by the water power. At an info centre their mum bought me a necklace (plastic greenstone) that was the sign of eternity to remind me continuously of what God has in plan for me, eternity. After that we went to the Honey Hive a honey place with a bee hive and a shop. It also had heaps of different creams and lotions, fun to try on. We could also taste different types of honey. I tasted the Lavender first and I liked it a lot. My other favourite was the Pohutakawa it is very sweet. Did you know Pohutakawa is the whitest honey? We then had ice-creams, I had vintage strawberry and cream. Abigail had poached peach helene, James had pohutakawa honey ice-cream. The parents had, Gingernut for Mum, Dad had some of James's ice-cream and Manuka Honey and Chestnut ice-cream. We then drove to the campsite. It was next to lake Karapiro along the Waikato river. We parked under some trees and got tree sap on our feet then walked it into the caravan and got dirt stuck to the sap so everyone had black feet mainly James though. I went to sleep after I wrote my first letter to Grandma.
Day 6, nearly there.
I woke up exhausted wanting to stay in bed but we had to get up at 7:00am to hit the road. I ended up cooking the toast and I did it quite well, until I set one on fire. I turned off the gas straight away and mum was impressed with the way I handled the situation. I didn't cook any more toasts after that though. The day was good traveling mainly on the freeway or motorway. We stopped at Dad's Uncle Deans for lunch it was our first time meeting him. We continued on to Port Albert to camp near the waterfront. James and I went swimming in the sea. James got in first then I went in I was amazed by how buoyant I was in the sea. James got his legs scraped by barnacles on the jetty posts and was bleeding a lot once he was out of the water. I had only 3 little slices on my thumb only one deep enough to draw blood and one small cut on my knee. Once we had finished swimming, two people came to fish off the end of the jetty a man and his son. Dad and James went over to talk to them. The son caught an eel and James helped bring it in he got eel guts all over him-remember this is where I was swimming. Dad also spotted a small jellyfish there, I wasn't going into that water again. A person came with dogs and played some music while I tried to get to sleep eventually I got to sleep.
Hi,
Day 1, The first day of our travels.
We started in Christchurch packing up then setting out. It was good weather and we expected it to be easy driving. It was quite easy driving until the caravan started wobbling, since we are inexperienced we didn't realise the problem until we drove round a corner and the caravan started fish-tailing. Mum quickly got it back under control even though we were all yelling. We found out we lost a tube out the back so it was good we pulled over. We carried on with Dad at the wheel slowly till we got to Cheviot and had lunch.
We carried on to Kaikoura and did the waterfall walk where the young seals play in the winter. We saw one seal pup there, it was showing off diving and spinning and coming close to the rocks where we were sitting. Dad did his seal call and it lifted his head looking around like his dad had found him, the other people watching were amused. We then drove on to Koromiko, but there wasn't any room so we drove onwards to Picton to have tea and meet relatives (Rebecca and Lindsay, Morm and Ian) then we carried on past Waikawa bay to a DOC camp. It is still the most beautiful DOC camp we have been to so far(day 1 - so it doesn't really count).
Day 2, The day on the ferry.
We woke up to the beautiful view in Marlborough Sounds. We went straight back to Picton to get our ferry tickets and we spent the rest of the morning at the park. For me it was a good time to sit and read my new book while James and Abigail played and Mum and Dad visited again with rellies. Then we boarded the ferry, since we were on the 1 o'clock ferry we were in line at 12o'clock and ate lunch in the caravan while we were in line. The interislander ferry we were on was the Kaitaki 'Challenger' it is their largest ferry. We had a fun time while we were on the ferry in the Marlborough sounds once we were in the open ocean, it was a different story. I felt sick and woosy, but dad says I wasn't sea-sick since I didn't throw up. After the ferry we travelled to Upper Hutt to see one of mums friends (Lisa),we met at a park there and we played after we had fish'n'chips. Then we continued on to Featherston to stay at another DOC camp The ground was very bumpy but Dad found the flattest place to park the caravan. It was also windy but nothing compared to the next day.
Day 3, rest day
I woke up at about 5:15 am to howling gale-force winds with the caravan wobbling. We got ready to go, then dad checked MET service to find severe weather warnings from Eketuhuna to Hastings -there was strong gale-force winds it recommended not driving. We decided to stay though James wasn't happy he thought the winds would be fun. There was enough wind in the valley for the caravan to shake like a continuous earthquake in the 3-4 region of the Ricter scale. With the earthquake in Canterbury at least we were accustomed to shaking. It was a rest day with a small play at the river. Only dad swum deeper and jumped off the rocks. The majority of the day was resting. We planned to leave the next day as the wind had calmed.
Day 4, up to Hastings.
When I got up the winds had died down enough for us to travel so we packed and prepared to leave. We ended up at Dannevirke for lunch and went to a laundromat for the first time. A kind pak'n'save lady told us where to park and have lunch. The place was a small reserve type place with a small stream, there were heaps of ducks and among them some chickens and doves. There was also a deer farm but there were none in the closer paddocks. Also there was an aviary with a large variety of birds. One of the baby finches had escaped from the aviary. A person who looked after the birds came and we helped her try to catch the bird and mend the mesh. After all our attempts the small finch eluded us and perched high out of the reach of the nets. So we finished up there and carried on our way to Hastings. We drove through Hastings to Chris's house and got the corner steadies for the caravan. He let us stay in his back-yard, which was good since we were still wondering about where we would stay for the night. They were very nice and let us girls use their shower. I wasn't looking forward to using the caravan one. We slept well nothing bothering us.
Day 5, Busiest day.
When we got up in the morning we got ready. I helped dad fill up the water tank since Chris let us use his water-he gets it from a well it is pure water good enough to be bottled and sold, or so he says. We agreed with him in the end it did taste like bottled water only fresher. After that we were off heading to Napier. We just stopped for a short while but nothing interested us so we kept going. We went around to the Marina instead of through the city and got some fresh strawberries and chocolate dipping sauce before morning tea at Bayview. We headed off up the windy road between Napier and Taupo. It was amusing that we passed our first vehicles though they were big trucks carrying heavy stuff. We also had a bit of a scare when the car and caravan slowed to 30-40 kmph up some steep hills even though dads foot was flat on the accelerator. We skipped around Taupo on the new highway having a bit of worry finding Huka falls. When we got to Huka falls we were a bit disappointed to find it massive rapids instead of a proper waterfall. Though I liked the beautiful ice blue and white water and I was amazed by the water power. At an info centre their mum bought me a necklace (plastic greenstone) that was the sign of eternity to remind me continuously of what God has in plan for me, eternity. After that we went to the Honey Hive a honey place with a bee hive and a shop. It also had heaps of different creams and lotions, fun to try on. We could also taste different types of honey. I tasted the Lavender first and I liked it a lot. My other favourite was the Pohutakawa it is very sweet. Did you know Pohutakawa is the whitest honey? We then had ice-creams, I had vintage strawberry and cream. Abigail had poached peach helene, James had pohutakawa honey ice-cream. The parents had, Gingernut for Mum, Dad had some of James's ice-cream and Manuka Honey and Chestnut ice-cream. We then drove to the campsite. It was next to lake Karapiro along the Waikato river. We parked under some trees and got tree sap on our feet then walked it into the caravan and got dirt stuck to the sap so everyone had black feet mainly James though. I went to sleep after I wrote my first letter to Grandma.
Day 6, nearly there.
I woke up exhausted wanting to stay in bed but we had to get up at 7:00am to hit the road. I ended up cooking the toast and I did it quite well, until I set one on fire. I turned off the gas straight away and mum was impressed with the way I handled the situation. I didn't cook any more toasts after that though. The day was good traveling mainly on the freeway or motorway. We stopped at Dad's Uncle Deans for lunch it was our first time meeting him. We continued on to Port Albert to camp near the waterfront. James and I went swimming in the sea. James got in first then I went in I was amazed by how buoyant I was in the sea. James got his legs scraped by barnacles on the jetty posts and was bleeding a lot once he was out of the water. I had only 3 little slices on my thumb only one deep enough to draw blood and one small cut on my knee. Once we had finished swimming, two people came to fish off the end of the jetty a man and his son. Dad and James went over to talk to them. The son caught an eel and James helped bring it in he got eel guts all over him-remember this is where I was swimming. Dad also spotted a small jellyfish there, I wasn't going into that water again. A person came with dogs and played some music while I tried to get to sleep eventually I got to sleep.
Android blog post test.
Was wondering if the blog app I have on my Android phone is working properly. So this is a test.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Some photos of the first week.
Huka falls!
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| James learning that, if he is willing to be careless with mangrove mud, then he needs to be prepared to clean the consequences. |
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| The wharf at Port Albert on the Kaipara Harbour north of Auckland |
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| Looking back from the end of the wharf. The caravan is behind the trees in the centre of the photo. |
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| James having a swim at the end of the wharf. Esther went in too, but I chickened out. |
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| Evening at Port Albert |
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| Breakfast outside at Port Albert |
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| Hundertwasser toilets at Kawakawa. |
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| Tame hens where we were staying at Kawakawa |
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| Calves like to suck. |
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| Scratch me please! |
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| The resident cat at the RV park in Paihia where we were staying. |
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Hastings to Port Albert
Thursday 18th November, morning.
We are staying at Port Albert on the shore of the Kaipara Harbour north of Auckland. Two days ago we travelled the Napier-Taupo road and had a trip first: we managed to actually overtake another vehicle! First time since leaving Christchurch! Actually, we overtook 3 vehicles (although one subsequently passed us again, so maybe that shouldn't count). I'm slowly getting used to being one of the slowest vehicles on the road. We stopped at Huka falls for lunch - I hadn't been since I was a child. The children were somewhat underwhelmed - perhaps we had built it up to be more than it was. We followed Huka falls by stopping at a Honey shop. I had a Manuka Honey and Chestnut ice cream which was very pleasant indeed during a hot day. We are all very grateful for the air conditioning in the car. That evening we stayed by the shore of Lake Karapiro. It was 5pm by the time we stopped, and, due to the nature of caravan living (it takes longer to do things!) we were all pretty worn out by the time we had had dinner and rearranged the caravan for bed. We were parked under some large trees which had dropped sap onto the ground outside the caravan. Consequently our shoes got sap stuck to them, it was walked inside the caravan, and then our feet got sap on them. James, who had been running around outside, had feet that were black with dirt covered sap. I took him down to the lake with a couple of sharp sticks to scrape the sap off with limited success. We will have to be more careful where we park in the future.
Wednesday dawned beautifully. By now we were getting into a morning routine: First dismantle the children's sleeping area to make the dining area, followed by breakfast and a quick morning 'wash'. Moving around the caravan with 5 people is a bit like solving a sliding block puzzle - but practice is proving useful in solving it. It's still easy to accidentally bang someone or something with knees or elbows. We managed to get everything packed and ready to go by 8:45 after waking at 7am - a new record. We headed straight for Auckland (with a few minor stops on the way) and had lunch with my Uncle. Was good to catch up with him again. Finally, we headed north again, looking for a place to stay for the night. Port Albert was the most inviting nearby free parking, so here we are. It is a lovely place indeed.
We are staying at Port Albert on the shore of the Kaipara Harbour north of Auckland. Two days ago we travelled the Napier-Taupo road and had a trip first: we managed to actually overtake another vehicle! First time since leaving Christchurch! Actually, we overtook 3 vehicles (although one subsequently passed us again, so maybe that shouldn't count). I'm slowly getting used to being one of the slowest vehicles on the road. We stopped at Huka falls for lunch - I hadn't been since I was a child. The children were somewhat underwhelmed - perhaps we had built it up to be more than it was. We followed Huka falls by stopping at a Honey shop. I had a Manuka Honey and Chestnut ice cream which was very pleasant indeed during a hot day. We are all very grateful for the air conditioning in the car. That evening we stayed by the shore of Lake Karapiro. It was 5pm by the time we stopped, and, due to the nature of caravan living (it takes longer to do things!) we were all pretty worn out by the time we had had dinner and rearranged the caravan for bed. We were parked under some large trees which had dropped sap onto the ground outside the caravan. Consequently our shoes got sap stuck to them, it was walked inside the caravan, and then our feet got sap on them. James, who had been running around outside, had feet that were black with dirt covered sap. I took him down to the lake with a couple of sharp sticks to scrape the sap off with limited success. We will have to be more careful where we park in the future.
Wednesday dawned beautifully. By now we were getting into a morning routine: First dismantle the children's sleeping area to make the dining area, followed by breakfast and a quick morning 'wash'. Moving around the caravan with 5 people is a bit like solving a sliding block puzzle - but practice is proving useful in solving it. It's still easy to accidentally bang someone or something with knees or elbows. We managed to get everything packed and ready to go by 8:45 after waking at 7am - a new record. We headed straight for Auckland (with a few minor stops on the way) and had lunch with my Uncle. Was good to catch up with him again. Finally, we headed north again, looking for a place to stay for the night. Port Albert was the most inviting nearby free parking, so here we are. It is a lovely place indeed.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Half way up to the Bay of Islands
We are currently in Hastings after 4 days on the road.
On Friday when we left Christchurch, we nearly had an accident after less than half an hour when the caravan started to sway violently from side to side, causing us to veer into oncoming traffic. Fortunately the driver at the time managed to get the car under control, but she didn't want to drive any more after that. It gave us all a bit of a scare. We re-arranged the load inside the caravan a bit, and I drove the remaining way to Picton. The car-caravan combination still felt a bit unstable over 80km/hr, so we were pretty much the slowest thing on the road all day.
We made Picton in time for dinner, and met up with my Mum and her husband Lindsay, and my grandmother and her husband. They had all come over from Nelson to see us off. We spent that evening in the DOC camp about 10km north-east of Picton. It's a lovely spot right on the waterfront in a quiet bay - a great first night for us all.
Saturday dawned magnificent, and we leisurely made our way into Picton to spend the rest of the morning with my family before embarking on the ferry at 1pm. We travelled on the largest of the interislander ferries, the Kaitaki, which conviently has an entry at both ends so when we berthed in Wellington, we could simply drive straight off without any tricky u-turns in the middle. I've already had a couple of scrapes in the caravan - one on both sides. Though I am getting used to backing it now. The nor-wester was screaming through cook straight making for an exciting viewing on deck, but the sea was relatively mild.
We passed through Wellington to met a friend of Carolyn's in Upper Hutt, before tackling the Rimutaka Hill in a strengthening wind. We spent a quiet night in a DOC camp just north of Featherston.
Shortly before dawn on Sunday the nor'west wind woke us all with its ferocity howling through the nearby trees. A quick check of the metservice website alerted us to a severe gale warning on our intended route. We decided to wait out the wind and stayed put. Despite the wind, it was rather warm, so we walked the few minutes down to the nearby river for a quick swim. The water was still rather chilly, but I managed a swim across to the rock bank on the other side and a couple of big jumps in before the shivering forced a retreat. The rest of the family where somewhat more cautious in their "swimming". By evening, the forecast southerly front had arrived bringing cooler temperatures and a much lower wind speed.
Monday, today, we had a fairly uneventful trip from Featherston to hastings. After the scare of day 1, Carolyn ventured behind the wheel for the first time again today in Dannevirke. She coped very well, but got a sore elbow from gripping the steering wheel a bit too hard! We are staying with a guy I met from nzmotorhome.co.nz. He had offered me some corner-steadies for my caravan (which lacks them). The girls had a real shower for the first time since leaving and we got to use a real washing machine.
We tackle the Napier-Taupo road tomorrow, and plan to stay somewhere between Taupo and Hamilton.
So far the family seem to be coping quite well. The children get on each other's nerves now and then, but not as bad as it could be. We are pretty much stuck with each other most of the time. It's a wonderful environment for developing character traits! (Though might not seem quite so wonderful at the time.)
I might post some pics if I find some cheaper internet somewhere.
Cheers,
Carl.
On Friday when we left Christchurch, we nearly had an accident after less than half an hour when the caravan started to sway violently from side to side, causing us to veer into oncoming traffic. Fortunately the driver at the time managed to get the car under control, but she didn't want to drive any more after that. It gave us all a bit of a scare. We re-arranged the load inside the caravan a bit, and I drove the remaining way to Picton. The car-caravan combination still felt a bit unstable over 80km/hr, so we were pretty much the slowest thing on the road all day.
We made Picton in time for dinner, and met up with my Mum and her husband Lindsay, and my grandmother and her husband. They had all come over from Nelson to see us off. We spent that evening in the DOC camp about 10km north-east of Picton. It's a lovely spot right on the waterfront in a quiet bay - a great first night for us all.
Saturday dawned magnificent, and we leisurely made our way into Picton to spend the rest of the morning with my family before embarking on the ferry at 1pm. We travelled on the largest of the interislander ferries, the Kaitaki, which conviently has an entry at both ends so when we berthed in Wellington, we could simply drive straight off without any tricky u-turns in the middle. I've already had a couple of scrapes in the caravan - one on both sides. Though I am getting used to backing it now. The nor-wester was screaming through cook straight making for an exciting viewing on deck, but the sea was relatively mild.
We passed through Wellington to met a friend of Carolyn's in Upper Hutt, before tackling the Rimutaka Hill in a strengthening wind. We spent a quiet night in a DOC camp just north of Featherston.
Shortly before dawn on Sunday the nor'west wind woke us all with its ferocity howling through the nearby trees. A quick check of the metservice website alerted us to a severe gale warning on our intended route. We decided to wait out the wind and stayed put. Despite the wind, it was rather warm, so we walked the few minutes down to the nearby river for a quick swim. The water was still rather chilly, but I managed a swim across to the rock bank on the other side and a couple of big jumps in before the shivering forced a retreat. The rest of the family where somewhat more cautious in their "swimming". By evening, the forecast southerly front had arrived bringing cooler temperatures and a much lower wind speed.
Monday, today, we had a fairly uneventful trip from Featherston to hastings. After the scare of day 1, Carolyn ventured behind the wheel for the first time again today in Dannevirke. She coped very well, but got a sore elbow from gripping the steering wheel a bit too hard! We are staying with a guy I met from nzmotorhome.co.nz. He had offered me some corner-steadies for my caravan (which lacks them). The girls had a real shower for the first time since leaving and we got to use a real washing machine.
We tackle the Napier-Taupo road tomorrow, and plan to stay somewhere between Taupo and Hamilton.
So far the family seem to be coping quite well. The children get on each other's nerves now and then, but not as bad as it could be. We are pretty much stuck with each other most of the time. It's a wonderful environment for developing character traits! (Though might not seem quite so wonderful at the time.)
I might post some pics if I find some cheaper internet somewhere.
Cheers,
Carl.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Welcome to our new blog!
Here is where we will post our thoughts about the world as we travel in our caravan.
Sorry it's taken so long to set up a blog, but I should have more time soon. We leave for the North Island tomorrow in our caravan.
Here is a picture of our cat whom we are leaving behind with Grandma.
I should be heading towards the top 1% of blogs soon.
Carl.
Sorry it's taken so long to set up a blog, but I should have more time soon. We leave for the North Island tomorrow in our caravan.
Here is a picture of our cat whom we are leaving behind with Grandma.
I should be heading towards the top 1% of blogs soon.
Carl.
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