A different type of rambling

 With Robin's passing, and the sale of our caravan, it was clear that if I wanted to keep tripping around the country I would have to come up with "Plan B".  So I have recently embarked on a coach tour traveling up to Cape Reinga.  Robin and I had planned to travel up that way in our caravan next Summer, taking our time, probably about 8-10n weeks or so, to rediscover those places we had last seen over 30 plus years ago.  Bay Tours 10 day "North to the North" trip seemed quite timely, so I jumped aboard to join in.  Here are some of the highlights of my time away.

Bay Tours Coach

It took us a couple of days travel, with stops along the way to finally say we were in the far north, arriving at Paihia.  The Fuller's cruise out to the famous "Hole in the Rock", something I had not done before,  was a fun day out, and luckily the weather was fine enough for the captain to take the boat through the hole, turn it right around and out the other side.  That doesn't always happen, we were told.

Captain gave us a great commentary

The famous Hole in the Rock

A BBQ lunch was part of the deal, held at Otehei Bay on Urupukapuka Island, famous for being the home of American author Zane Grey's fishing camp.  Zane Grey and his passion for big game fishing in the Bay of Islands in the 1920s put New Zealand and this area  on the map, dubbing it "the anglers Eldorado".  His presence is quite prominent in Paihia, and our group dined at the Zane Grey restaurant that evening, making it a nice finish to the day.

Zane Grey's restaurant, Paihia

Another first for me was a visit to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where there was the traditional challenge.  A young South American man was nominated to take up the challenge of our behalf, and he did very well.  There was a cultural performance, followed by a visit to the newly opened Te Rau Aroha museum featuring the Maori Battalion and other warriors, and a tour of the grounds.

Waitangi Treaty Grounds

Taking part in the  Fuller's 4WD 90 Mile Beach and Cape Reinga tour was real a highlight.  Although really only 55 miles or so long, the beach is smooth. flat, and goes on forever.  

90 Mile Beach

Then it was on to Te Rerenga Wairua, Cape Reinga, the northernmost point in New Zealand.  A very spirtiitual place indeed, the Cape is the departing place of Maori spirits, and where the Tasman and Pacific Oceans meet.  It was quite a long steep walk down to the lighthouse, and I found out later that the car park has been moved some way back to where it used to be all those years ago on our previous trip.  So it wasn't just the passing of years which made the climb back uphill such a challenge.

Cape Reinga lighthouse

We always need a photo of the sign post

Very calm Meeting of the Waters

The weather that day was fine and hot, not at all windy.  Most in the bus group made the walk down and back, and walking sticks were a bonus!  I'm so pleased I've been again after all these years.

Staying overnight at the quaint Opononi Hotel was like stepping back in time.

Opononi Hotel

And who can remember Opo the dolphin from the Summer of  1955-56?  Opo was "world famous" in New Zealand and there was a song about her played on the radio.  She loved swimming with people, tossed beach balls and escorted boats.  Opo died suddenly in March 1956 and is buried in front of the War Memorial Hall.

Opo of Opononi

  I can remember our caravan club traveling up to stay in the motor camp here in Opononi many years ago.  Some of the electric connection boxes were a bit suspect, and we were lucky that our member Ray was an electrician - he made sure they were safe for us to use.  Ray was called Speedy, as he was always the first to leave camp in the morning, and the first to arrive at our destination.  Just as well for us in this instance.  

The final highlight to share is visiting Tane Mahuta, known as Lord of the Forest, a giant Kauri tree in the Waipoua Forest.  Estimated to be about 2,500 years old, a girth of 51 ft, and 148 ft high, Tane is New Zealand's  largest known kauri tree.  A giant of the forest and a spiritual being in his own right, Tane Mahuta is magnificent indeed.  

Walk this way through the Waipoua Forest

Tane Mahuta, Lord of the Forest

On the final day of our trip, homeward bound, there was a problem with the coach engine.  Luckily during our lunch stop at Taupo a mechanic was available to check out the problem.  Not so easy, it wasn't what the driver thought it was, and the problem was hard to pin down, after discounting several possibilities.  So the decision was made to continue on our way to Napier.  The coach was very slow going up hills, but performed fine going down hill and along the flat, and we made it up and over the Napier Taupo road.  Plan B would have been to send a second coach to rescue us, but luckily it wasn't needed.

What's the problem here?

So how did I manage on this trip away?  There certainly were some sad moments without Robin by my side.  Although he wouldn't have enjoyed a 10 day coach trip, he would have loved traveling at our leisure as we had planned, revisiting places we had seen before, and discovering new adventures.  I'm so thankful we had all those happy years together, and got to see so much of our beautiful country.  

Romany Rambler is sold

 Our caravan, named by us as Romany Rambler, has now been sold by C B Caravans, and  has a new home in the South Island.

The van was purchased on October 2019, and according to the log book, which Robin religiously filled in, we had travelled 30820kms before he passed away in November 2024.  So many monthly caravan club rallies, some with the ICA group we also belonged too, several club safaris, and two South Island trips.  There was certainly such a lot of driving up and down the country, towing the van behind us.

The last log book

Although the caravan is now sold, as a Life Member I will still be keeping in touch with the Heretaunga Caravan Club, and be involved with their social outings.  And I hope to do the occasional trip away, albeit a bit differently now.  

Last weekend I drove myself up to Hastings for a family birthday.  That was hard, as I haven't really done long journeys on my own.  Obviously, I was a bit nervous, rather tense and ended up with a sore muscle on my side!  The drive up to Hastings was through drizzly rain, and the never ending road cones on the side of the road.  There never seem to be any workers to go with the road cones, I noticed, but that seems to be what happens these days.  My little car behaved well on the trip, and as a bonus, I had discovered some petrol vouchers tucked away in the caravan when I cleared it out, so that filled the tank for me.  

My little car parked outside a rather uninspiring motel in Hastings

I encountered quite a bit of heavy fog driving out of Hastings on Sunday morning.  Or was it mist, I really don't know the difference.  Time for a spot of morning tea a little later and I turned off the road into Norsewood.  On the 15th September 1872 the sailing ship Hovding arrived at Napier with 483 new settlers from Norway.  A few days later the men trekked through the heavy bush to reach the area now known as Norsewood.  Families followed and the community became established, and over the years many more Scandinavian settlers arrived.  This family of three happy trolls, father, mother and son are in town to welcome travelers.

The happy troll family of Norsewood

The End of an Era

 Things have been happening here.  Our Toyota HiLux, purchased in July as a tow vehicle, has been sold back to the car yard we bought it from.  This all happened quickly and painlessly, and was whisked away last week.  Luckily for me, friends Bill and Val came around to help me unload and clear out the back of the ute - this was full with items from our last caravan trip away.  

Goodbye car - Robin didn't enjoy driving this at all

Over the last couple of weeks I have been trudging  back and forth to the caravan emptying out drawers, cupboards, pantry, wardrobes.  There was so much stuff tucked away!   I had help from Owen when it came to the lockers and all the different tools they contained.  He advised what must remain with the van and what could go.  This morning Owen and Helen came back up, helped me with the final cleaning, and after lunch towed the van to a sales yard for me.  I really couldn't have managed without their help.  The van will be sold on behalf, and hopefully the Summer holidays will be an ideal time to sell.

Goodbye, Romany Rambler

Our custom made caravan steps will be looking for a new home.  These were commissioned to make it easier to climb into the van, with my sore back and his knee replacements.

Caravan steps

So it really is the end of an era with caravanning.  We purchased our first caravan not long after we were married, and have enjoyed traveling the length and breadth of New Zealand.  Sadly, we never made it over the Stewart Island.  Once reaching retirement age, our trips have got longer, and we had booked the InterIslander for another long trip down south in January - not happening now, of course.  Gemma, and Muffy before her, became much traveled caravan cats.  

Farewell to Robin

 Farewell to my darling Robin, who passed away suddenly on Thursday.  He was doing what he loved best, away on a caravan trip, this time with our ICA group, up  in Hastings.  The previous night we attended the Christmas Dinner with the group, this is our last photo together.  

After a very restless night, the following morning it was all over for us.  Many thanks to friends Bill and Val who got me, the cat  and the caravan home safely, that was a big ask, and they did it willingly.

Farewell to Robin, we shared 41 happy years together, and many, many holiday adventures.  Life will be so different now.

Weekend at Feilding

The weather didn't bode well for the caravan club weekend away at Whisnowsky's Pop (Park over Property) in Feilding.  It was raining when we packed the caravan, and raining while we got on our way.

Another rainy day

Owen had put the flag out on the roadside as not everyone had been to this place before.  Eventually nine vans arrived, and we all fitted in rather snuggly.

One behind the other on the gravel

On Saturday morning we were all invited into Owen and Helen's van at 10.00am for an important announcement.  Goodness knows how the poor caravan coped with 17 people squashed inside.  Our hosts were pleased to announce that the long running saga (4 years) of the deisel heater waiting to be fixed was finally over.  It had now been repaired and refitted, and was up working well.  After all this time, finally, a resolution.  And at morning tea there was a cake to celebrate Helen's 70th birthday.

Happy Birthday Helen

In the afternoon a group of us drove to the delightful Christmas Barn.  So many people had the same idea - the place was packed.

Christmas Barn

So many lovely Christmas objects inside, all beautifully displayed.  Elegant Christmas trees everywhere, all colour co-ordinated, shelves full of goodies, and the barn was full to overflowing with customers.  There was really so much to take in.  While the ladies in our group browsed, the men retired to the cafe, where we eventually joined them for a reviving cup of coffee.  Most of the ladies had a little parcel to take back to the camp, including me.

So many beautiful Christmas decorations

We ate our evening meals together in the evening, and all brought a contribution for the shared dessert.  There certainly was plenty of tasty desserts on offer.  And later, when our meals had settled, there were some spirited games of ping pong (table tennis) taking place.  Seems that Flo was the ping pong champion.

Shared desserts

Our hosts, Selwyn and Jan, joined us for the evening meal.

Look at all these cute teddy bears in the front window of prospective member Graham's van, collected over the years by Graham's late wife.  Graham saw me out and about with my camera and invited me to take a photo.

Teddy Bears sold each year to raise funds for the Cancer Society

It often happens, doesn't it, after a wet weekend, Sunday was fine and sunny.  It was a matter of waiting for the front vans to move out, before the ones at the back were free to go.  As people headed off home, we went north, our next stop was Napier.

50 Years of Probus

 It was a special celebration at our Probus club meeting this week, celebrating 50 years of Probus in New Zealand.  Probus had its beginnings in the UK in 1965 with retired members of Rotary forming a community based social club in Welwyn Garden City, north of London, named the Campus Club.  Then the following year the first actual Probus Club was established by the Rotary Club of Caterham.  Probus then found its way to New Zealand with the first club in the Southern Hemisphere being the Probus Club of Kapiti Coast.  Our own club, Levin Combined Probus Club was formed in 1995.

We had an interesting speaker, Cliff Rasmussen, Operations Team Manager of the newly opened St John Levin Ambulance Station, telling us of how the centre is run, and the different roles the staff have.  This talk was followed by a special morning tea to mark 50 years of Probus in New Zealand.

Dot, Jenny and Robin at Probus meeting

Rainy and Cold

 It rained off and on all night at Turangi, and didn't look much better in the morning.  Not entirely unexpected as the long Labour Weekend often has cold and wet conditions.  Our Spring weather can be very fickle indeed.

It's wet out there again

I'm always a little nervous driving along the Desert Road, especially on a holiday weekend.  The traffic was quite heavy, as expected, and Robin did his best to let the faster traffic go by.  The scenery changes dramatically, from sub alpine trees, to miles of tussock covered land which is used for military training, and then changes again to rolling farmland at the southern end. The rain and low clouds followed us, obscuring my view of Mt Ruapehu.

Very low clouds indeed

It was time to stop and catch our breath at Waiouru.  Robin attended to the fuel requirements while I went over to the coffee cart.  I had an interesting chat with the owner and another customer inside when I mentioned we were on our way home to Levin.  Both of these ladies had lived there in the past. 

Time for coffee at Waiouru

The bad weather cleared and our final stop on this trip was the Marton NZMCA Park.  Yes, we could have traveled all the way home, but a little while after settling in, the heavy rain came down again, and lasted overnight.  This is a handy little camp, one of the few with toilets available.  This harks back to the days when this property was a Council administered motor camp.  We can remember coming to the camp years ago with the caravan club.

Overnighting at Marton

Robin had decided to leave the car hooked up to the caravan overnight.  But the camp custodian came and advised us and the owners of the adjacent van to unhitch the car and park it across the way.  Although both the caravan and car fitted in the long sites, it seems that there had been instances of late arrivals damaging the cars as they drove in.  And that is also why bollards had been placed around the meeting room, to stop vehicles running into it, as had happened several times.  Unbelievable!

Bollards added to protect the building

Just for a change, we woke up to a fine and sunny morning.  A nice surprise, after all the rain we had encountered lately.  It was a short 70km trip home the next morning, always good to arrive home safe and sound and to unpack in fine weather.

Our trip north was necessary for caravan maintenance, the annual service.  And the awning needed repair too, although not ripped, a little of the stitching was coming undone.  That couldn't be left as it would have only got worse.   We were pleased with how this job was done too, and the very friendly and helpful workers at Cvana.  But...... the fridge in the caravan had been playing up all trip, so now that needs looking at.    All in all, it was a very sucessful trip, and we towed the van 1300km while we were away.