Heading North

We left Napier on Saturday morning and headed north – it was Judy’s turn to drive and we were headed for Taupo. Although there was rain overnight, the day was fine although overcast.

The road was intially really good, but 30 kms or so into the journey it deteriorated a lot and that happened to coincide with the forestry all around us. The terrain was very steep especially in the area of the Mohaka River, but quite magestic in its own way. It gave the old Fiat a workout though and it performed really well (as usual).

We got to Taupo at about 3pm and elected to take the dogs for a walk straight away, so we headed down to the lake side.

The lake was quite low, probably due to the extended dry weather, but we still managed to persuade Oscar to swim for a stick and Hunter got a little wet chasing ducks. It was hot walking (the motorhome told us it was 29 degrees outside) and the temptation was too strong. We decided to go for a swim ourselves, so we headed back to the van and re-located to a popular swimming spot, a bit further around the lake.

We both agree that it was the nicest lake swim we had ever had. The temperature was just right – not to cold and not too warm. There was no weed in this area and the lake bed dropped off pretty rapidly, so only a couple of metres from shore and we were unable to touch the bottom. We persuaded the dogs to have another little swim too. Hunter was more enthusiastic than Oscar, who found flotation difficult in the fresh water.

We had a lovely swim and then headed off to camp for the night at the NZMCA Park. We found a lovely quiet spot and got ourselves settled in our outdoor chairs. However, our peace was short lived. It seemed that a helicopter across the street must have had some work done on it so it was being tested, and it was a big helicopter too. So it roared and thudded and rose to roof height, then lowered again and slowed the engines down, only to do it again and again – not peaceful at all. Eventually though they appeared happy with the chopper so shut it down and peace reigned again, and we ended up having a quiet night.

It rained overnight but the next day was fine and this time we were headed for Cambridge. The idea was to go and have a coffee with Phyl and Ross (Aunty and Uncle) and then go on to Judy’s son’s place just around the corner.

The trip was uneventful other than some delay at Tokoroa due to a car crash, and Phyl and Ross were as welcoming as ever. We had a lovely couple of hours with them before heading to Ben and Karina’s.

We thought it was quite amusing that we could pull into their driveway, when they were not home, and help ourselves to the pool etc. and the neighbours ignored us. I wonder if we could do it to other unoccupied houses? Anyway, we pulled back the pool covers and had a lovely swim.

Once we were refreshed, we decided to try and get our washing dry (that we had washed at Phyl’s) so we set up a clothesline in the pool area, making it look like a Chinese laundry. We were completely unaware of the covenants for the area that said clotheslines were not to be visible to the neighbours!

In the meantime, the dogs made themselves quite comfortable and the motorhome looked like it belonged there.

Ben and Karina and the children arrived to find us well settled in – having a wine and nibbles in their outdoor entertaining area. They joined us shortly after and we had a lovely evening catch up.

We left at around 9am the next morning for the final push to Whangarei –  a drive of around 5 hours. The first port of call though was to Zion Motorhomes in Pokeno, to show Jonas the rebuilt floor. He was as happy with it as we are. Our visit was brief but pleasant, and we were on the road again about 20 minutes later.