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.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
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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