travel – Page 3 – Away From Home NZ

Hamner Springs

April 10, 2025 by awayfromhomenz

We have been to Hamner three times before but we absolutely love it so we had to go back again. We stayed at the NZMCA park again and while the weather wasn’t beautiful and sunny, it was still nice enough to let us do the walks and things we wanted to do.

Hamner has wonderful facilities for visitors, and one of the places we love best are the sculpture walks in the forest. We have taken Oscar (our standard schnauzer, who has since passed away) there in the past and he was a lot of fun because he really got into the sculptures, whereas, despite Bruce’s best efforts, Hunter and Beau just were not interested. The walk is about 2 kilometers though and the dogs and us really enjoyed it.

The first thing that was noticeable were all the beautiful red toadstools. There were hundreds scattered about, probably due to the recent rain. Beautiful as they are, they are very toxic – red for danger. Luckily the dogs were not interested in them.

It was fun following the “dog” signs in the forest and coming across the various wooden art works.

We managed to get the dogs to pose next to some, but it took a bit of effort.

In all, we went through the forest twice, and another walk took us across the highway from the camp, and towards the river bank. The track was very uneven, with large mud puddles and if you tried to dodge those, you had to contend with blackberry vines, but it was still a nice walk.

We arrived just in time to see the Hamner jet boat speeding by, but I didn’t manage to catch a photo of it.

On our last day in Hamner Springs, we actually went to the springs for a soak. The whole complex is a wonderful set up. Many different pools, including a full sized swimming pool for swimming laps, and at least 4 different waterslides. Bruce and I enjoyed riding the circular track pool with fast flowing water (like tame water rapids). There were foam rings and flutter boards available for anyone to use in this pool and it was a bit of fun. There are smaller rock pools, very hot pools, water jet pools and medium temperature pools. I think we spent 2 1/2 hours there and all for a very reasonable price of $22 per person (compared to $70 per person for the Lost Springs in Whitianga).

We could easily have stayed longer, but there is more to see, so after doing the various housekeeping tasks (laundry, filling and emptying tanks etc), we headed out onto the highway again. This time there was a bit of anxiety about it as there was a severe wind warning for the area, – strong winds and high sided vehicles are not a good mix!

Mt Terako

April 5, 2025 by awayfromhomenz

It was a cloudy day, but not raining, when we left Kaikoura, headed inland towards Mt Terako. We stopped just outside of Kaikoura for a coffee and to give the dogs a good walk before the drive inland.

The area we were driving in to is called the Inland Kaikoura Range. The road was predictably, windy and seemed to go up hill forever, and I was glad it was Bruce’s driving day. Before we got to the steep stuff though, we were treated to beautiful hill country farm views. Some of the farm houses out here were quite substantial as I guess they had to be because they would be cut off by snow in the winter. Some of the houses were absolute showpieces.

We even came across the TUX dog trials which we stopped to watch for a minute.

As we got further inland the landscape was notable for its very steep drops down to gravelly rivers, and erosion was evident everywhere, especially on Mt Terako itself.

It seems that the “Roar” was in progress because we came across a large deer enclosure that seemed to be full of “bulls” who had recently had their antlers removed. It didn’t stop them roaring to each other though. The dogs weren’t at all sure what to make of the noise.

We finally got to the Mt Lyford Lodge, which is the second largest log house in the southern hemisphere. We thought we might stay there a night, but it didn’t suit them as they had been without electricity all day. We were joined in the carpark by a fellow group of travellers, some of whom had also come from Beach Hop. They had really fancy cars – corvettes and AC Cobras, but because of the electricity issue, they also decided to move on.

Just down the road, about 8 kilometres on, was the Terako Downs Park Over Property, and we pulled in there for the night. The place was quirky to say the least but the birdsong was out of this world. I thought I had been spoilt at home when I had a chorus of 2 bellbirds, but it could not compare to a whole hillside of them, plus some tuis adding some harmony. It made me remember the song that my sister and I used to sing when we were younger _ so ring your bell bellbirds you’re calling me back home, to my home up in the mountains, no more I will roam, for there will be contentment, and my heart will be at ease, at home up in the mountains, close on the mountain breeze. (Hope I have remembered it correctly)

The camp had a little foxy, that Beau was quite friendly with, but little did Beau know that while he wasn’t watching, the foxy stole his bone!. The camp also bordered on the Wandle River, and supposedly, there was a swimming hole, and as it was a hot day we had to go and investigate. No swimming hole could be found, but Bruce had a great time trying to build rock fjords (and getting his feet wet) trying to get to the other side. It was just as well he didn’t because a short time later, some of the young men staying at the camp went across to the paddock on the other side to test their rifle sights, as they planned to head out for a four day deer hunt tomorrow. The very loud shots had Hunter in his customary state of shivery, shaky, panting mess but fortunately it wasn’t prolonged and peace was restored not long after.

Farewell North Island

April 4, 2025 by awayfromhomenz

We had a very early start to catch the ferry – alarms set for 5am which was a bit hard for Bruce, who is only a morning person when there is fishing involved. Nothing happens in our house though, without that first cup of tea, so we indulged in that and then took the boys out in the dark to have a pee. Once they had obliged, we were off – and we were not the only ones!

Predictably, the traffic into Wellington was light and we were greeted with the most beautiful pink sky when we arrived at the wharf – just like a pink carpet.

Bluebridge have a very slick operation and it wasn’t long before we were driving on to the Connemara.

This time we opted for a dog friendly cabin, and I was impressed with this also. We were individually greeted by a staff member who gave us a little pack including a dog bowl, some dog treats and a couple of bags. Hunter and Beau weren’t sure what to make of it at first but soon settled down to have a sleep on the bunk beds – actually pretty stress free for them. They had to navigate some steep metal steps there and back, but they handled it well – not like a black lab cross who had to be carried by its owner.

We were intending to catch up with my cousin Dee (and David), who live at Mapua, but unfortunately that was not to be – they were heading away on holiday themselves, so we decided to head straight for Kaikoura to try and avoid the worst of the weather. That proved to be a good move.

Kaikoura

This has always been one of my favourite places to visit, and the truck always veers left when we get to the seal colony. There were lots of babies this time, and Hunter and Beau were pretty keen on them. It was such a delight watching them frolic in their “training” pools.

We booked in to the NZMCA Park for three nights, to ride out the weather, which was not bad at all really. There were a few showers here and there but we were able to go for several walks and explore this rugged coastline. It is amazing how much of the sea bed was thrust upwards in just a 2 minute earthquake.

The wild life is diverse here. The area is known for dolphins, whales and all sorts of bird life. We came across a few Spoonbills on our walk which I had not seen here before.

Last night we went into town to celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary – we both remembered this time. The blue cod was divine!

Tomorrow, we head off to the alpine area of Mount Lyford for at least one night.

Heading South (with a few stops along the way)

March 31, 2025 by awayfromhomenz

We have been looking forward to heading back to the South Island, especially as our last trip there wasn’t all that we had hoped in could be thanks to us both getting Covid. The lead up to the trip was pretty busy with Judy’s 70th celebrations (see our previous blog), and the frenzy leading up to Beach Hop.

For those of you who don’t know, Beach Hop is an American Muscle Car festival, held in Whangamata every year. This year was different in that it was the 25th Anniversary, so lots of people and cars were coming to help in the celebrations. There were 2000 cars booked in, as well as classic caravans, and some fancy trucks as well.

Judy takes the bookings for those Caravans and Motorhomes visiting the event who want to park on the Whangamata Area School grounds – parking around 200 RV’s and 18 Beach Hop muscle cars.

So it was off to Whangamata for the first leg of our trip – to get the parking set out and to receive the incoming motorhomes. We went from an empty sports field to this….

By the time we left, more than half the vehicles had arrived and all was going well, and we were thankful to those, especially Rod, who agreed to take over so we could get away a bit earlier.

From Whangamata we headed straight down country. Our friends Dianne and Gary were flying to Europe on Monday, so we wanted to get to their place as soon as possible to spend a bit of time with them before they went. We grabbed a coffee and drove, not stopping until we reached Lake Whakamaru (thanks to NZTA blocking off State Highway 1). We pulled in to the freedom camping area on the side of the lake for dinner. We had not been there before but it was beautiful and clearly popular – there were lots of motor homes there, including an NZMCA rally.

It was nice to stretch our legs and refresh ourselves. The bottom of the lake looked muddy, and had that not been the case I might have had a swim. That wasn’t to be so after dinner we kept driving until we reached Turangi.

We had intended to leave by 8am the next morning, but in true Philpott style, we left an hour and a half late, but arrived to Dianne and Garry’s place, in Paraparaumu, just before 3pm. We had the grand tour of their new house, a coffee, and then jumped into their pool – very refreshing.

We had a great few days with them, but the boys didn’t enjoy it so much. Their dog Teddy was so pleased to have company he wanted to play and play, and when it didn’t happen he would either nip or nudge their butts to encourage them to play. Beau wasn’t keen on this at all. Garry had an electronic gadget that was supposed to be heard only by Teddy to get him to behave and mostly it did, but it also made Bruce behave (because he could hear it in his hearing aids) and it made the other dogs anxious because they could also hear it and had no idea what was going on! At one stage I had a shaking Foxy on my knee (belonging to a visitor), Bruce had a shaking schnauzer on his knee, the house sitter had another, and Bruce was calling out “what have I done wrong!” Teddy, all this time, was having a great time!

Anyway, it was a great, but too brief, catch up. Sunday we went on our way and stopped in for lunch with Brendon and Helen and had the grand tour of inspection of their new Dethleffs Alpa – a very impressive machine. I couldn’t believe the amount of storage that was in that motorhome.

From there we headed to Plimmerton NZMCA Park to wait until our ferry crossing. This is a big park, very well set up, with a big dog park next door. The first time we went there, one of the enclosures had 6 schnauzers running around. Hunter and Beau had a great time and wore themselves out. I had to admit though, that two of the schnauzers had very funny haircuts – designed to look like lions I think, and they were terrible barkers , which made me feel quite good about ours.

We leave here at 6am tomorrow to catch the ferry – South Island here we come!

Judy’s 70th Celebrations

March 13, 2025 by awayfromhomenz

I am sure that no-one likes to admit that they are getting older, but I figured if I had to turn 70, I would do it with enthusiasm and style. I actually turned 70 on the Tuesday and was given breakfast in bed by my man, given cuddles by my dogs, and then we set off for an adventure.

Otara Bay

We had been told about Otara Bay by Bruce’s daughter and her partner Justin, so we decided to go and have a look for ourselves. Access to this beach is off Sailor’s Grave Beach and it was an easy drive to the parking lot there. We donned our tramping shoes and grabbed the camera and some drinking water and set off.

The path was not well maintained like the ones on Shakespear Cliff and at times we were pushing through grass higher than ourselves

The first view of the bay was beautiful, and worth all the huffing and puffing up the steep incline.

We were all alone on this beach. There were the occasional footprints on the beach, but they were clearly from a while ago as the waves had obliterated some of them.

It wasn’t until we were here that Bruce told me that this was supposed to be a great swimming beach. Well, we did not have our swimsuits, and as we were the only ones there, there was a logical solution – skinny dipping. I was a skinny dipping virgin so what better day to try it out than on my 70th!

After a bit of relaxing and drying off, we hiked back to the car (more huffing and puffing) and headed into Tairua for a late lunch.

Bruce spoiled me with a lovely dinner that night, and I had a lot of phone calls from family and friends to round out the day, and then to start thinking about the big party on Saturday which was being put on by my youngest son Steven and his wife Stacey.

We packed up the motorhome and headed off to Hamilton on Friday. We wanted to arrive in plenty of time to help Steve with the set up, and also because my three siblings were coming over for it, so it was a good time to finally interring Dad’s ashes. Dad’s only remaining sister Phyl and her husband Ross were there also which made it a bit more special.

While we were there we also went and said hello to Mum.

Unfortunately, the weather was showery for a lot of the day so there was a lot of work setting up the marquee for the party, but it somehow made for a nice atmosphere at the party. There were about 40 of us, plus children, but Steve’s place was an ideal venue, and we did not feel cramped.

It was so lovely being surrounded by friends and family. Three out of my four children were there.