More Safari Travels

 Akitio on the coast was our next stop  This is a sheep and beef farming district and the small town has a school, volunteer fire brigade, a motor camp and a freedom camping area by the beach, and not much  else.

We found ourselves a site with  plenty of room here for our group.  Water, rubbish bins and a toilet block was available, but unfortunately the weather was not kind to us at all.  The beach was covered in driftwood and bigger logs, no doubt washed ashore after a storm.  

Akitio Beach

It was just one night here, so we packed up and set off again, to arrive at Te Paerahi Beach, Porangahau.   Along the way we stopped at the site of "The longest Placename in New Zealand".  There is a nice large area to pull off the road and check out the sign, which was very long indeed.

The name translates to "The place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as land eater, played his nose flute to his loved one".  The story goes that Tamatea was so grieved over the loss of his brother that he stayed at the battle site for some days.  Each morning he would sit on the hill and play a lament on his flute.

That's a very long sign

Te Paerahi Beach was another freedom camping area, not one we had stayed at before.  A toilet block was available, plus a drinking fountain, but no tap water available to top up the vans.  There were other vans staying there too, but still plenty of room for our seven vans.  The wide sandy beach was beautiful, and most of us strolled along it during our stay here.  There were no piles of driftwood cluttering up this beach, unlike the previous one we stayed at.

Te Paerahi was a lovely sandy beach

Gemma enjoyed relaxing on the caravan bed as a sliver of sunshine came through the window.  Cats always find the best spots for themselves, don't they.

Gemma's happy in the sunshine

The last stop on our safari was two nights at Takapau camp.  It was nice to be on  power again, as we were still experiencing cool weather.  We ate together in the hall on Saturday night, enjoying our local fish and chips.  Then everyone was invited to share an embarrassing story.  I started the ball rolling when I related my tale of woe as a young Mum driving a car with L (learner) plates, remember those, plus two kids and two dogs.  I was traveling up the Wairarapa side of the Remutaka  Hill when all the traffic came to a standstill.  When the cars started off again I found it impossible to do the dreaded hill start and kept sliding back, getting closer and closer to the car behind me.  Finally, the driver came to me and offered to start my car and drove it to a flat pull off area.  I was mortified, and stayed put till all the traffic had passed by, before slowly driving home to Lower Hutt.  Other embarrassing tales followed, most of them long forgotten and buried in the subconscious, as it turned out.

Sunday was a free day with people out visiting friends and family, or in our case, a little shopping and attending to the laundry.   These are always busy places and many locals come to use the machines.  I took my knitting along while I waited and did some rows on my pink socks.

Sock knitting in the laundromat

The grand finale was dinner that evening at Sawyers Arms in nearby Tikokino.  Once again, many muddy gumboots were left at the door.  The pub was quite full with patrons  and our group was seated in the dining room on a long table, which suited us fine.  Menus were studied, our choices were made, and generously heaped plates  arrived at the table.

It was a lovely evening, thanks were made and we were presented with a pretty card, signed by all the attendees on the safari.

Thank you card 

Everyone departed on Monday morning, and the gusty wind made towing a little difficult.  We stopped at NZ Natural Clothing shop at Norsewood  to make a couple of purchases, two nice warm plaid shirts for Robin, and a big kg of cream wool for me, for a future project.  As a thank you for our purchases I got a pair of cozy socks, printed with caravans.

My purchases

A little further on we stopped for lunch.  We had planned ahead and made some bacon sandwhiches before we broke camp to eat on our way, and they were very tasty indeed.   Then we drove up and over the Pahiatua Track, and we were on the home stretch.  As much as I always enjoy our trips away, it's always good to get back home, safe and sound again.