Out and About

We are away on another caravan trip, this time for three weeks, from Urenui in New Plymouth down to Waikanae with the ICA (International Caravan Assoc) group.  I’ve found time to do some handwork, stitching a little more on the tea towels I’m making for my grand-daughters.  I’ve got this far on the pink one, and still have the boy fish slice to stitch.

Tea towel stitchery

I’ve got my knitting bag with me, and thought it would be a good opportunity to start stitching up a pair of burgundy socks I completed a while ago.  This task is not quite finished, but I’m getting there.  And if these socks look familiar, it’s probably because I’ve showed the current pair I’m knitting, in the same wool.  I’d always intended to knit two pairs, one for me and one to gift.

Burgundy Socks

There's been plenty of interesting things to see while we’ve been travelling.  While in New Plymouth we drove down to see the lovely Te Rewa Rewa bridge, shaped like the ribs of a whale.  Arriving there we came to a glorious photo of Mt Taranaki framed by the bridge with the words “We’re giving the bridge a face lift but don't want you to miss a pic.  Take a photo of yourself with this backdrop until the real one reopens”.  So we did.  Was the bridge closed, we wondered, as we walked around the path.  No, it wasn’t but there were signs where work had been started on repainting the structure.  Streams of bikers whizzed past, and walkers ambled over the bridge, while we waited a turn to get a picture.  The mountain is there, but very hard to see on a cloudy day and without a snowy top, so this is a much better view.

Such n unusual bridge structure

Stopping at the local butcher down town we were amused to see the door handle going into the shop.  A meat cleaver, no less!  We certainly hadn't seen a door handle like this before. Here we purchased some sausages and black pudding.  The black pudding ended up as part of our BBQed Sunday breakfast.

Cleaver handle and BBQ breakfast

On our final morning in New Plymouth one of our group mentioned that there was a police dog training  close to where we were camping.  So I walked up and asked if I could take a photo of the dog.  Guess an old lady on a walking stick didn’t look too threatening to those big strong policemen and the dog.  No problem at all, the handler walked his dog over closer to the fence and instructed him to get down, so I could take a quick photo.  He certainly was a fine looking animal and posed nicely for me.

Handsome police dog

Then we were on our way, following Surf Highway 45.  This is quite an interesting road, passing several small beach towns on the way.  Oakura Beach holds special memories for Robin, as he spent quite some time at this surf beach in his younger years doing Surf Life Saving training.  We stopped for lunch at Cape Egmont Boating Club, pulling into a large grassy area.  The boat club has a replica lighthouse attached, which also serves as a museum, not open when we were there as it it run by volunteers on an occasional basis.

Replica Lighthouse at Cape Egmont

After a relaxing lunch we continued on our way around the coast to Opunake, passing hundreds of small rounded hills in the paddocks, as far as the eye could see..  These were created by ancient lahars flowing from Mount Taranaki.  A lahar is a rapidly flowing mixture of rock debris and water (other than normal streamflow) originating from a volcano.  New Zealand is dotted with volcanoes, and the experts say no volcano can ever be declared extinct.

Ancient lahar mounds

We are currently staying at the Opunake Beach Holiday Park for several days, and on arrival I made a beeline to the laundry.  You know me, doing the laundry is a necessary part of my life, on holiday or not.  The camp clothesline was behind the laundry and in the shade, so Robin erected my dinky little traveling clothesline for me.

Happiness is clean washing

Gemma seems to enjoy the caravan life.  She was determined to get into my tiny caravan wardrobe, it didn't matter that shoes and my bag were on the wardrobe floor.  She was getting in there, by hook or by crook!  I can’t imagine it was very comfy lying there, but she got her way.

Hunkered down in the wardrobe

I may not get a lot of stitching done while we are traveling, but there are sure to be adventures on the way.  Until next time….