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We were not sorry to leave a soggy Awakeri, and our next stop was to be the Mt Maunganui Holiday Park, right at the base of the Mount. Gary had booked us prime spots, and the camp was absolutely beautiful and the facilities pristine. Nothing could beat the view from our front window.

It was wonderful to see all the people out there being active, and we particularly enjoyed watching the juniors learning to be surf life savers. Bruce and I went for a walk around the Mt but that did not last long as the rain came down and we had left the hatches open on the motorhome so we had to scurry back, getting quite wet in the process. It cleared up later in the day so we tried again with a walk to and around Leisure Island. We weren’t used to walking over soft sand so it gave our legs a workout, but well worth it. The island itself (although it is not really an island anymore) was rugged and beautiful, and we were treated to the music from a lone trumpeter who had gone up there to practice.

The next day was Dianne’s birthday so she got to choose what we did for the day. On the agenda was a brunch at a local cafe, and then off to do some shopping. We got back in time for Bruce and I to try again to walk around the mount, more successfully this time. It was a pleasant walk, and very popular with the locals so a bit difficult at times to keep our distance. The rocky pools and the sandy beach leading out to the statue of Tangaroa (the Maori God of the Sea) made it a pleasant and picturesque walk.

Dianne and Gary headed out to their romantic birthday dinner, while Bruce and I headed out to Aunty Lesley and Uncle Peter’s for a dinner there. Also joining us were my cousin Anne and husband Chippie. Cousin Janey also came by for a while so it was a lovely family time.

That theme was continued with a visit by our niece Jessica and her daughter Izzy (my great neice) the next afternoon.

That was a lovely catch up. The rest of our time in Tauranga was relaxation, with a bit of shopping thrown in, and all too soon our three days were up. It was sad to part ways with Dianne and Gary who were staying on for one more day, while we were headed for Thames and beyond.

There was plenty to do in Napier and we could easily have stayed longer but the time had come to move on. Napier had blessed us with lovely weather and the temperatures had warmed up before we left so we left with pleasant memories.

The next stop was Awakeri Hot Springs where we planned to spend a couple of days. This place had an amazing hot water pool but the other facilities were pretty basic, although adequate. One of the great attractions of the area was Julian’s Berry Farm, and that warranted two visits from us. The berries were fantastic, but the cafe food was amazing.

The day after we arrived my sister Deborah arranged to take us on a tour of the Essity Paper Mill where she works. We all really enjoyed that and learned a lot about the process of paper towel making. What we noticed was: the heat; the amount of water needed; the large degree of automation; and the speed of the process – one operator told us that if there was a problem they had 30 seconds to sort it before it became a major. The mill makes a big effort to conserve – both by recycling any reject material and by using steam rather than electricity. Certainly an interesting place and it was lovely to see how well respected my sister was with the workers there, and the to see the project she is working in at present.

After another delightful dinner we had a good soak in the hot pools. The pools are well maintained and and a lovely temperature, as well as being quite large.

The next day we headed into the town of Whakatane to have a browse through the shops, and also drove out to the Whakatane River mouth just for a look. The last time we were here there had been a big storm and the whole river mouth was choked with logs. This time the conditions were calm and there was very little debri around.

That evening we had a delightful dinner at my sister’s. By this time the rain had started to fall and we took it in our stride, not realising that there was a weather watch for the area in force until 11am the next day. That only held significance for us when we looked out of the window of our van the next morning to see rivers and lakes where motorhome and caravan parks should have been. The little road leading to the parks was also inundated in places.

We decided we would lay all the mats, as well as the two planks of wood that Gary travels with, in front of our front wheels before we set off in an effort to try and prevent ourselves getting stuck, or the wheels from digging themselves into the mud. Turned out it was a good plan and we drove out without any trouble. Meanwhile a couple of the roads in Awakeri were closed due to floodwaters but the road to Tauranga was clear so off we went. Flooding was certainly evident in the fields around Awakeri as we headed away.

Here’s hoping there is better weather ahead!

We were looking forward to Market Day in Napier, so we got up a bit earlier than usual and headed towards the Havelock North Showgrounds where the markets were set up. They were quite extensive and very well attended. It was great to see almost every person attending obeying the rules, wearing their masks and making an effort to keep their distance from others. There were a few renegades though who avoided both mask use and signing in.

Somehow we manage to buy ourselves some treats including some custard danish pastries; great looking breads for Bruce, and some amazingly healthy looking Black Krim tomato plants that are in for a cross country ride.

After the markets we headed out to try and find a coffee but it was a bit hard to find. Eventually we found a place in the town where we had some lunch and then headed back to camp. We had a quiet afternoon of reading and knitting (Dianne and I) and a nap for Bruce.

This morning we decided to visit the Napier Prison – NZ’s oldest penitentiary. It was set up in 1903 and not closed until 1998. Many of New Zealand’s most notorious criminals have been held here, and more troubling, many 13-15 years old children who made some bad choices. Hangings were also conducted there until they were stopped in 1957. However, the death penalty itself was not stopped in NZ until 1989.

We opted for the self guided prison tour and while it was interesting, and we learned quite a bit about the facility and how it was run, I was somewhat disappointed with the lack of effort made to keep the premises maintained, clean and tidy. We were going to to do the Escape room, where they lock you up for an hour in a room, with clues, and you have to try and break out of it. However, just looking at the way things were looked after elsewhere in the prison, I felt the room would likely be in a similar state and being there for an hour (if we did not manage to make our way out) would be a bit much.

We had a good look around though and then made our way back into town for lunch.

The remainder of the day was spent doing practical things such as refilling the vans with water, emptying the tanks, and preparing to move on tomorrow.

What a magical day we had today. We booked for the Overland Gannet experience this morning, and it was worth every cent we paid.

We arrived to the tour in plenty of time and were loaded aboard a 4wd minibus and we were driven over the vast Cape Kidnappers Station, a sheep and cattle farm of about 2500 hectares. Parts were very steep, and the terrain seems very friable and chalky. The owners have put a considerable effort into pest eradication, with some success – all possums gone and 85000 rabbits culled, and an ongoing program to control rats, stoats etc. A lot of native birds, lizards, tuatara and even wetas have been reintroduced and are now thriving.

The drive of around 30kms took us to Cape Kidnapper’s gannet colony, but on the way we had a couple of stops to look at the scenery. In the distance we could see Mt Ruapehu (about 90km as the crow flies) and the steep cliffs of the coastline where you could see the fault lines in the rock patterns. There had been a slip here a few years ago which temporarily halted tours to the gannets, and we were shown photos that were taken as that slip happened.

We were traveling around a windy and hilly metal road when we came around a blind corner and there were thousands of gannets – just right there! Oh Wow. We stood no more than 3 metres from the birds who seemed unperturbed that we were there. At times they were coasting in to their nests flying over our shoulders, so close that we could have reached out and touched them.

There were three colonies in this area. The one we were next to were on a plateau at the top of a cliff, near the Cape Kidnapper’s lighthouse. This allowed the birds a bit of wind current to help them become airborne.

But there was also a colony on the rocky beach below

and another one on a flat rocky area of an outcrop, called the Saddle Colony.

The nests are little more than a small mound of seaweed, weeds and gannet poo, and the birds are very territorial of their patch. They can be quite vicious if another bird lands too close to their mound.The male birds are the ones who forage for seaweed to bring back to their mate. We watched as one poor male, with a beak full of seaweed, had to circle 8 times before he found his girlfriend and their nesting site. Pairs of gannets mate for life, and produce only one egg. The egg is incubated under their webbed feet which have blood vessels near the surface making the bottom of their feet nice and warm. We occasionally got a glimpse of an egg when a bird was changing position.

When the male comes back to the nest there is an affectionate welcome dance the two of them perform before they get down to business.

The tour went for 3 hours and by that time we were a bot hungry so we went to visit a cafe down the road. It looked lovely but was booked out – we had forgotten to account for the holiday weekend. It was the same story when we visited a place called Birdwoods, so we finally drove into Havelock North and found a lovely cafe there to have a bit of lunch.

It was then off to the chocolate factory, Silky Oak Chocolates to purchase a treat or two before heading back to the motorhome park. Overall, a lovely day.

Bruce and I had a really peaceful night and woke refreshed this morning. Apparently the dogs are coping with us being away, so we did not lie awake worrying about them. Somehow though, the motorhome just does not seem the same without them.

Diane and I started the day off well by doing half an hour of Pilates in the common room. Apparently a few of the locals thought it was an interesting spectacle, but I had my back to them so I was blissfully unaware.

All four of us then piled in the little Jimny and went off to meet my cousin Anne for a coffee. Of course the place she suggested we meet (to help with motorhome parking) was identified the night before as a place of interest for Covid 19, but that had been visited a week before with nothing since so we figured we would be safe. Well, that was one hazard avoided, just to be met by the next one – an earthquake! Fortunately, although it was a 5.8 magnitude, it was based in the Taranaki area so it was just a gentle shake for us.

After the coffee with Anne we headed into town to browse the shops and look at the beautiful buildings.

We were not exactly big spenders but the ambience was very pleasant, and it was great just ambling along. We particularly enjoyed the murals.

The amount of details on these paintings was amazing, considering the size of them.

We headed for home then after a quick trip to the vege shop. Lucky us, Diane is cooking tea tonight so we are looking forward to a delicious chicken curry and a pleasant evening with friends. An early start tomorrow to go and see the gannets.

It seems to have been a long time since we had a real trip away in the motorhome. We had a trip planned to Northland with our friends Dianne and Gary, but with the latest outbreak of Covid 19 this was not possible, so we about turned and decided to head to Napier. This time we are dogless! The original intention was to stay in DOC camps in Northland and therefore, no dogs, so we had arranged for house sitters to come in a care for the boys. We decided to stick with those plans, also giving consideration to Oscar’s advancing age in increasing frailty, so the lovely Stephan and Sandra came to care for them.

The packing up of the motorhome went smoothly this time and we actually left at the scheduled time, with the first stop being Taupo to catch up with Dianne and Gary.

The roads were remarkably quiet without all the traffic from the Aucklanders and the Waikato people. The large number of trucks became very noticeable though.

We were treated to a delicious dinner and headed off somewhat early to find a park at the Taupo NZMCA park. It was pretty busy but we settled in for a quiet night.

After a leisurely start we hit the road headed for Napier, on a day that was still a bit cool, but grey and hazy. Certainly no mountain views today.

First stop on the road was to see the Waipunga Falls, about halfway to Napier. They are beautiful, but can only be seen from the carpark – no track to the base of the falls or anything. They were beautiful though – there is something quite calming about watching a waterfall.

The drive along State Highway 5 was an interesting one. It was spectacular at times, with steep hillsides covered with pine forests, chalky cliffs falling down to the Mohaka River, and beautiful farmland far into the distance. The views would have been even more spectacular if it wasn’t for the persistent low cloud and haze.

However, it was very evident in some areas that human-kind has done the landscape no favours at all. There were acres of gorse in bright yellow flower, and lots of scrubby growth when once there would have been native bush.

It was an easy drive to Napier and the NZMCA Park here is large and there is plenty of room to park up without being on top of anyone else’s bumper. It will be a leisurely afternoon for us – time to plan the days ahead.