Heading to Whanganui

Brilliantly clear day, but a heavy dew. By 10.30am the mountain was cloaked in cloud again.

We stopped at the same cafe in Inglewood. It was a really interesting place, having been a lawyers office, a grain supplier and a hairdressers and then the cafe since it was built in 1878. One further stop in Waverley to go to the loo, then we pushed on to the camping ground in Whanganui.

All the vans have a concrete pad to park on, the wifi is reliable, and the amenities are in good order so we decide to stay 2 nights. We drove out to Castlecliff through the industrial area and port. The sand is dark, and the water is dirty after all the rain we have had. Still there are a few hardy surfers.

The wide entrance to the Whanganui River - Whanganui means Big Bay

Looking up the breakwater - lots of people fishing

We walked out on the breakwater  and saw where the Whanganui River flower out to the Tasman Sea.

Down the river to the sea.

After a drive down the main street, Victoria Ave, we have a cuppa down by the river at a cafe at a cafe called The Muddy Duck - I have to say that this word muddy keeps popping up with reference to Whanganui. We went to the supermarket to restock, and then Duncan went of for a bike ride while I got tea.

We'll be going around the cloud : 23rd April

We start off with some exciting glimpses of Mount Taranaki. Our goal is to circumnavigate it today.

 Our first stop is at Waitara.

Can you see Australia???? Very  muddy water after all the rain.

 By the time we turn back onto the Main Rd the mountain is starting to be shrouded in cloud.

 We had morning tea in Inglewood, and stop in  Stratford - famed for its glockenspiel clock where the little figures come out - but not every hour, just some.

We missed it by about 2 hours either way.

Lots of things in Stratford are very Shakespearised - like the drains!

The farmland is more typically dairy farm now. When we went to the museum yesterday there was an interesting video showing how the volcanoes in the middle of the North Island erupted spewing ash over the Taranaki District (long before Taranaki blew its stack) - sort of prehistoric fertiliser.
Its hard to find a decent cafe for lunch and we drive on past more CLOSED museums to Opunake.
Below are two views of the hotel there - the top one on this trip and the bottom one taken on our honeymoon 46 years ago!

Unfortunately we took them from two different aspects.

A nice ANZAC display - every cross named, so the men were remembered.

Once back in New Plymouth we head out to Hurworth, which is the original homestead of Harry Atkinson (became Prime Minister) who also settled in the Mangorei District (Carrington Road). Alas this pioneer cottage - the only one remaining  - is closed. It seems every avenue to explore my ancestry in New Plymouth is CLOSED.

Brooklands Bowl in  Pukekura Park

Extensive new seating being added to the cricket ground.

Easter Monday is a Washout!

Very heavy rain overnight, but it stopped long enough for Duncan to go for a run. The showers came at frequent intervals, and it just sheeted down! the ground is saturated.
Full of enthusiasm to research my ancestry we set off to Puke Ariki, the museum, but unfortunately the research library is closed today - it was open on Easter Sunday (we understood that it was to be the otherway round). The general exhibits are very interesting and we fill in a couple of hours there before checking out Moturoa Beach where the Amelia Thompson had anchored in 1841, and where the Olivers and the Allens came ashore by lighter. There are breakwaters there now, and I suspect they had bad weather too as it took six months to fully unload.

Then we drove to Mangorei Road where the ancestors broke in land to farm and finally went to Marsland Hill where the new arrivals sheltered in one room huts, and where the redoubt was established during the New Zealand Wars.

Marsland Hill, looking out over the city

The carillon  on Marsland Hill - but of course we missed hearing it ring.

Monument to fallen soldiers during the NZ wars.

The "vibrant restaurant scene" we were promised in the brochure had also gone into hibernation but we finally found a nice Italian one, and it was not really hampered by the leak in the roof, although all the rest of the tables were quite close together. Unfortunately, although I really enjoyed my creamed spinach and a yummy dessert, I fear they were just a bit - well - creamy. I was hit my diahoera in the early hours of the morning!! Note to self: Only one rich dish per meal.

That Weather Forecast!!

21st April 2019
With heavy rain forecast today,  we got up early - to fog! But by 9 o'clock the sun and blue sky pierced through. We scurried around and got on our way - again through such pleasant landscapes with with wonderful stands of tree ferns. We really enjoyed our morning tea at PioPio at The Fat Pigeon

Across a little bridge to the park at the morning tea.

Toasted Hot Cross Buns

Stands of tree ferns line the road

The rain does not start until Awakino. It is a bit of Erebus Conditions now with clouds right down to the foothills and of course no sightings of Mount Taranaki.

Awakino Tunnel

We set up on the Fitzroy Beach Motor Camp, and then had to dry out a bit.

We decided to go to the Len Lye gallery. His early works did not impress me, but the movement ones were fantastic - shadows and sounds caused by random events; but the scariest thing was the optical illusion of glass in the loo doors!!! I was assured that from the hallway you can't be seen.

Like Alice through the looking glass

Silver fibres reflecting in unusal ways on a bendy metal ribbon

The metal thing is built in 2 dimensions in 3D space - but the shadow appears to be in 3D on 2D space!!!!!!!

The black arc is a shadow, the orange ball bounces around making drumming sounds in the metal oval.

The front of the Len Lye centre is very shiny metal pleats - a great juxtaposition with the clock tower. It is hard to believe that this picture was taken in colour!! Such was the nature of the day.

Very poor reception on the TV, so scrabble tonight - Duncan;'s game.

The rain is pouring down!!

Easter holidays

We've had two glorious days travelling in the caravan - crisp, clear blue skies and pleasant temperatures. We stopped for lunch in Opotiki, by the estuary just before the turnoff to Ohiwa. Lots of families picnicking here.

Our first night was at Awakeri - and unfortunately we got a site next to a tree with a wasp nest in it - I got stung on the foot on my way back from the hot pools.

The trip to Rotorua was astonishingly slow - 1/2 an hour to make our way along Te Ngae Rd. Lovely lunch with Lyn, but met a file of cars - about 2 km long trying to get into Rotorua from the Taupo end.

It was such a pleasure driving through South Waikato, the farms look so well cared for - waterways fenced, large area of native bush, and pine forests on the steep parts, and willows and poplars preventing erosion - just starting to turn yellow. It looks great!

The dams on the Waikato river at Whakamaru look very attractive.

Whakamaru

Of course there was the obligatory stop at Te Kuiti for a photo with Colin Meads.

Tackle him around his legs!!

Duncan rated the loos at Benneydale at 10/10!!
Onto our lovely camp site at the Waitomo Top Ten. Very pastoral outlook and rather rural odour!!