Homeward Bound

Another cloudy morning, but at least no dew while we packed up. There has been a drastic change of plan because as soon as I mentioned craft brewery, winery and restaurant by camping ground in Eskdale Duncan was prepared to forego the difficult drive through National park to Turangi - even though we do remember the Italian restaurant being very good.

As soon as we hit the Eastside of the island, the blue, cloudless sky bursts out of its box, and the temperature begins to soar. The Esk Valley camping ground is rather "Rustic". We found these Harlequin Beetles with all sorts of patterns on their backs. Fascinating - but - we were to find later - a real pest to fruit growers.

 The beer packs look very interesting, but unfortunately no tasting today so Duncan had to just buy a selection pack and try them out. We had an interesting time at the Linden Estate and returned there for a very pleasant dinner that night.

Excellent marketing strategy . Duncan particularly liked the Fourstroke which was recommended to be drunk after mowing the lawns.

Next morning it was up and packed and back to Gisborne - in time to start the clearing out process before we put the caravan away for the winter in the shed,

Thursday 25th April - Anzac Day

The Whanganui Top 10 is on Somme Parade, which is probably quite appropriate as the river is so muddy, and I believe the Somme battlefields were pretty muddy also. It is shrouded in fog so we have a leisurely start before driving to Mosquito Point - a swimming hole in summer but who would want to swim here.....

Mosquito point

Then we go to Cooks Gardens where Peter Snell broke the World Mile record (3 mins, 54.1secs Duncan tells me) The only person training here today is a one-legged lady and her carer - But what an inspirational place to train!

Bell Tower - a Miss Tinker was the first carillion player 

Our next "adventure" is on the Waimarie, a coal fired paddle steamer. We found it rather sedate, despite "exciting ANZAC" addition of a geriatric band playing songs of yesteryear. We would have found it very disappointing had we not watched a short video while we were waiting to board as there was no commentary.

Waimarie gettting up steam

A really great game for the kids, jumping from one bollard to another.

The guts of the engine

The geriatric band

It was pretty cold, and all the food sold out very early, except for icecreams. Sometimes our fellow passengers were more interesting than the view.

Look!!! a bridge

The lady on the left has severe arthritis, so we had hours of fun watching her try to use her cell phone. Her husband had a vast swathe of dandruff from his beard. The lady in yellow was too frightened to go down the steps (ladder) and so missed out on the food.

The lady on the left was an incredible size, but the lack of one breast made it very poignant. Her friend - obviously recovering from Chemo had a bit of a bald top.

Towards the end of the trip we were lucky to find a bench seat with its back to the boiler room. Mmmmm warm.
Probably the highlight of the day occured next - we went to the Durie Hill Elevator. You walk in this long echo-y tunnel to an antiquated elevator which first started taking people up the hill in 1919

This reminded me of a near-death scenario in Waikato Hospital. The stupid nurse had forgotten to turn my oxygen on.

Inside the lift - souvenir pens if you wanted one!

The War Memorial is on top of the hill, but no signs of commemoration here today

As we got closer we found out that it was now deemed an earthquake risk.

We chose not go go up to the top of the War Memorial tower (176 steps) and went up the less impressive Durie Hill Tower, which still gave us good views over Whanganui.

These next 4 pictures sort of join together in a panorama

Early Elevator riders.

The tunnel was started in 1916. It seems a very forward thinking undertaking.

The young man on the elevator had done 120 trips that day, and thought he would get up to 150 before closing time at 5 o'clock.
Dinner at the caravan tonight.