Still traveling

I'm obviously much to busy to do too much knitting while we are on our road trip.  The only thing I've worked on is my pair of pink socks, mostly knitted while traveling in the car.  This pretty yarn was a gift from my daughter Nicky last Christmas, so I'd like to get them finished soon.  They are coming along, I think I'm just about up to the heels by now.   In case you don't know, I knit my socks flat, two at a time.

My pink socks

Not only have I packed my pink socks to work on this trip, I've also got two pairs of socks which need the side seam stitched up - no, not done yet.  Plus my blue cardigan which needs working one, not looked at either.  Guess I've been too busy getting out and about.

One of the interesting places we have been to while staying at Ohaupo while our caravan was getting its annual service was to check out the Peat Lakes, we had never been there before.

Ngaroto is the largest of the many peat lakes found between Hamilton and Te Awamutu.  These lakes were formed about 19,000 years ago when sand and gravel carried in the Waikato and Waipa river blocked up small valleys.  Water loving plants thrived and thick layers of peat eventually built up within the lake and around the margins.  There is a walkway around the lake, including stretches of boardwalk together with dirt and grass pathways, about a 6km flat walk.  Self contained camping is allowed at the lake side, and there were several motor homes staying the day we arrived.  

Lake Ngaroto

The next day we traveled out to The Mount (Mount Maunganui) while we were waiting for our caravan awning to be restitched,  so drove there and found a parking spot overlooking the beach.  What a busy bunch the locals were.  There were people climbing up the pathway on the Mount, tiny dots in the distance.  We watched as a never ending stream of people walked, jogged, ran and cycled along the pathway adjacent to the beach.  Fit youngsters  effortlessly ran by, older couples walked together, young Mums wheeled their babes in pushchairs, it was great to see many people out and about enjoying the morning.  Unfortunately when I got out of the car to take a photo I slipped and fell, and found myself on my back between the gutter and the adjacent car.  An unexpected fall is always quite frightening, and as I said to Robin as I clambered back up, it could have been so much worse.  I could have broken my ankle, or banged my head on the car, luckily all that was damaged was my pride.

  Mt Maunganui and beach

Another interesting find was the "Tree of Knowledge" at our next overnight stop, Welcome Bay, in Tauranga.  Perhaps I should have gone and hugged the tree, and asked it to impart some knowledge!

The Tree of Knowledge 

There is a large meeting room with books to swap, and several boxes of kiwi fruit had been donated for the members.  "Help yourselves", we were told, so we did.  What a bonus for the campers.

Help yourself to the kiwifruit

And just because we are on holiday, doesn't mean that the laundry doesn't get done.  There is always a trip or two to find a local laundromat while we travel.

Laundry time again

Gemma is stoic with car travel, she just puts up with it, but once out of the car and into the caravan she is completely relaxed.  Then she jumps up on the bed and spends time grooming herself, her way of calming down, I think.  She is always interested going outside on her lead to check things out.  And once she has finished sniffing the grass, she often likes to sit in the doorway.

I wonder what she is looking at, birds perhaps?

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.

With help from Gemma

 This blog is brought to you with help from Gemma.  She is excellent at holding the lap top bag in place while I'm tapping away.  And it makes such a good place to have a comfy snooze.

Gemma is a big help

Our four days in Christchurch seeing my son Michael had come to an end, so then it was time to hitch the caravan up to the car and travel slowly back up to Picton to catch the ferry again.  We had nearly a week to do this, so we planned several stops along the way.

One lunch stop was at the very royal sounding Balmoral Recreation Area.  No royals popped out to meet us, and then I remembered that they are having a family summer holiday in Edinburgh.  Such a lovely site, surrounded with pine trees, and  very peaceful indeed with just one other van in the grounds.  It would be great to stay here for a night or two on a future trip.  Gemma enjoyed some time outside on her lead.

Fed and watered, we got on our way again to our stop for the night at Waiau Tavern.  No charge to stay for the night, but there is an expectation that travelers would spend a little money in the bar, or have a meal.  Which is quite fair and reasonable, we think, when the parking is free.  Opening time rolled around so we went over for 4zees, just the owner and us in the tiny bar.  Plus a rather feisty ginger kitten who calls the tavern home.

The owner Lindsay told us about the 7.8 Hurinui-Kaikoura earthquake in November 2016.  The epicentre was located close to Waiau township and the fault ruptures ran for more than 180km along known and previously unrecognized faults.  The hotel was badly damaged, then while waiting for council permission to rebuild, was burnt to the ground by squatters.  This new tavern is much smaller but serves the community well. 

Leaving Wairau Tavern it was a short 52km  to our next stop, Conway Flat Ocean Edge.  The photos looked delightful, vans parked on the cliff overlooking the sea, room for large vehicles and pet friendly. We turned off SH1 at Hundalee and drove down to the coast, finally spotting several vans and motorhomes parked up in a large paddock.  This is the place.  Peeping over the cliff we could see the wavelets roll in.  This is a good area for fishing, we were told.    It was a lovely restful day indeed, and we were lulled to sleep with the soothing sounds at bedtime.  There was no show of catching the sun rise over the ocean the next morning, we slept so well that the sun was well up by the time we surfaced.  This is a wonderful place to stay and we certainly plan to return in a future South Island trip.

Our ocean view site for the night

After talking to another couple we mentioned that we travel with our cat.  Can we see her please?, they asked.  They own a Maine Coon but don't take it camping.  Gemma was not at all impressed with being picked up by a stranger, and I had to warn that she was not necessarily a friendly cat.  After that, she pointedly jumped on the bed, and turned her back on these people who dared to touch her!

Continuing on our way the next morning we saw glimpses of the snow capped Southern Alps again.  This is always such a pretty sight.

Snow capped mountain range

We were on our way to another camping site with an ocean view.  We turned off SH1 at the tiny village of Ward, and the first thing we saw was this happy Mama pig.  She wandered over to the fence to show me her very best side.  Shall I tell you a secret?  With a suburban upbringing, I've always rather liked pigs, for some reason.  And chickens too, or rather "chooks" as we tend to call them here.

What a gorgeous pig

We drove to the end of the unsealed road to the camping area.  There were a few other campers on site, and we found ourselves a spot overlooking the beach and settled down for the afternoon.    There is nothing nicer than being by the sea.

Another lovely place to stay overnight

Gemma had a fine time exploring the grassy sand bank just outside the caravan door, safely secured with her lead of course.  Goodness knows what she was tracking in the grass, probably little bugs and insects I expect.  This kept her so occupied for such a long time.   She has aspirations of being a great while hunter, but sadly for her, that is not going to happen.  Gemma was having such a wonderful time that she didn't have time for her usual afternoon snooze.  You know what cats are like, they generally sleep the day away.

Gemma had a wonderful afternoon stalking tiny critters

Painted rocks are very popular and there was quite a collection here, it has obviously grown and grown over time. 

Lots of painted rocks

So how has my knitting coming along then?  Rather slowly, I'm afraid.  I often knit while in the car, but not when we are traveling up and down hills and around sharp corners, that's too difficult for me.  Waiting time at the laundromat is also good knitting time, so as I tell myself, each row helps.  I'm knitting socks for my older granddaughter.  It is interesting how the two balls of yarn make different patterns on each sock.  And I've also spent some time knitting a beany for donation.

4ply socks for my granddaughter

Started knitting a beany

Our trip is winding down, and in a few days time we will board the ferry for our homeward journey.  It's been a great trip, and I'm so pleased we spent some time with my son Michael to share his 60th birthday with him.  Will you come down for my 70th? he wanted to know.  Probably not, sadly.

Donations, and Lunch with SLG Friends

It was time for our monthly lunch with our Super Leisure Group (SLG) friends, and Calvin had arranged for us to meet down at Porirua.  That suited us fine, as on the way I could do a donation drop off at Paraparaumu Beach, on the way to Porirua.  So I packed up some goodies for Foster Hope, and we set off bright and early.  These had been finished some time ago, and were waiting patiently to be delivered.

Three draw string bags for toiletries or pencils

Three toddlers aprons, a woolly beanie and two pencil cases with pencils

Two quilts, one for a boy with Happy blocks, and one for a girl with floral nine patches

These were handed over to the local Lotto and book shop which accepts donations for Foster Hope.

We had plenty of time to spare before our lunch date so parked up on Paraparaumu Beach for a while.  The tide was out, and empty several boat trailers attested that a  few fishermen were out to sea.  Sea gulls were busy calling and it's always nice to see Kapiti Island offshore.  Robin remarked that when he was truck driving for Toops he often used to park up on this beach during his lunch break.

Kapiti Island off shore

Then it was time to continue with our journey down to Porirua to meet our friends.  This was at a "new to us" cafe in Mitre 10 hardware store, and it certainly was busy.  Just as well that Calvin had booked a table for us.  There was a further donation at the cafe.  You may remember that I had gifted Trish's GGD Charlotte a quilt featuring pretty unicorns a while ago.  With some of the unicorn panels left over, I stitched up three unicorn cushions recently, and gave this one to Trish to pass on to Charlotte as a little extra.  

Trish with a cushion for Charlotte

As usual, we had plenty to chat about as we checked out the menu and the cabinet food.  The cafe was humming with customers.  Then it was time for the draw.  Our group originally started with 12 members, so the draw was done annually.  Sadly, with only five remaining SLG members the drawing of the months comes around much more regularly.  The name of the months we each organise our outing were pulled out of a cup, and notated, always very necessary in case we forget.  Robin's month is September, so he will have to put his thinking cap on and decide where we will meet.  In the group's early years we were all so much more actine, and went for tramps up and down hills, along beaches, and walked through fancy gardens which were open to the public.  These days with our various sore knees, backs, feet etc we just meet somewhere for lunch.

Helen, Calvin, Robin, Jenny and Trish

It's always so nice to get together and Trish had brought along some photos of our escapades from earlier years.  Goodness me, not a grey hair in sight back then!  Many thanks to Calvin for planning our day.

The following day I received an unexpected phone call from a lady thanking me for the donations, and the quilts in particular.  She is the founder of a group "Grandparents raising Grandchildren" and obviously works alongside the Foster Hope charity.  She told me she was very impressed with my thoughtful donations and told me she was going to take the two quilts to use in her own group.  I commented that I had no problem with that, and also that she was the only person ever to acknowledge my donations that I had made over the years.  She was astounded by this, and thanked me profusely, explaining what her group did, and how many grandparents end up taking care of the grandies for various reasons, usually drinking and drugs.  I'm sure like all who donate to good causes, I don't do it for thanks, but as I always leave a note inside the bags with my phone and email details, would just like to be acknowledged.  

   

We've been Busy

 We've had a busy old time lately.  Robin had a hospital procedure recently, one of those which require drinking large amounts of horrible liquid before hand - I'm sure many of you have undergone this as well.  Driving up to the hospital early in the morning, he had his paperwork done, changed into a gown, and taken away.  While I waited I spent some time in the hospital cafe with my book, a cheese scone (not the best one I've ever eaten), coffee, my knitting, and my phone, waiting for the call to come and collect him.  The procedure went well, the results were good, and there is no follow up, so all is well.

Morning tea while waiting for the call

Knitting and my batik  hospital bag, made by Jean

With a weekend caravan club rally planned, we went early and stayed at a new to us camp, parking  beside an older lady who lives full time in her motor home.  She was 94, and had just passed her drivers licence again, she proudly informed us. What an achievement.  The grand tour around this little village didn't take too long, but was still quite interesting.  driving around,  up and down the few streets, then we stopped at the beach.  Cell phone reception here is very weak, and there is a platform on the beach to climb up to and hopefully get a stronger signal.  Here in towns and cities we just take cell phone coverage for  granted, and don't think of the problems those living in smaller places may have.

Local cell phone users come here for a better signal

On leaving the next morning we stopped SH3 to check out Turakina Antiques and Collectables, after years of driving by, towing the caravan behind,  This place was huge inside, room after room choc full of crystal, silver, fine china, and some furniture.  Cabinets were packed full with crockery and china, there were several large dining tables with large place settings, and cabinets full of other collectables.  All quite beautiful, but nothing jumped out to say "buy me".  It was sad to see so many beautiful treasures, sold off and looking for new homes.  These beautiful items for sale needed a large colonial home with big rooms to show them off.  

Inside the antique shop

Then we enjoyed a weekend away with the caravan club, up to the coastal village of Kai Iwi.  The beach is rather wild with signs warning of the dangerous conditions.  We glimpsed a tiny little hut for Life Guards tucked away overlooking the beach.

At the beach

Our club President had arranged a visit to local car enthusiast Sandy's home to view his cars.  Sandy wanted a sports car with a long bonnet but couldn't find a commercial option, so decided to build one himself.  No plans, it was all in his head, just waiting to be acted on, he said.  What a clever man, so talented and I'm sure not many people would be able to accomplish such a thing like this.  I know that quilters can design and make a quilt from their imagination, but this is certainly a much more technical achievement.

An original car, designed and made by Sandy

Time for lunch - but with the first choice closed up tight, we backtracked to Pukeko's Nest Cafe.  There was a group from a car club in attendance taking up a lot of tables,  but we managed to find a couple of tables for our group, and settled down to enjoy our lunch.  Soup was on the menu so that was my choice, and Robin enjoyed his bacon and egg sandwich.  Robin and I posed in front of the place names inside the cafe for a photo shoot.

Then just the other day we met up with our SLG friends for lunch, it was my turn to arrange this and we met at Porirua at Denny's.  There was plenty of choices on the extensive menu, but it still took us  a while of dithering to finally decide.  Calvin and Helen had recently celebrated their 65th Wedding Anniversay, what a wonderful achievement.  They will be enjoying a big family celebration very soon.

Calvin and Helen

We all enjoyed our meal choices, and even indulged in desserts, that doesn't usually happen at lunch time.  It was lovely to catch up again with everyone.  Another customer was walking by and offered to take our photo for us, how kind.

Calvin, Helen, Robin, Jenny, Trish

With all these happenings going on, it is no wonder that my stitching projects have been neglected.  But never mind, it's been lovely getting out and about, and we are home this weekend, so I should be able to spend a little time in the sewing room again.