14th to 27th Jan - First NZ Road Trip
Having scrubbed and polished our Little Tinker we bid farewell to Erika and Clayton to head off on our first road trip. We were fully stocked up for all emergencies - a box of Corona donated by Clayton, spare fuel and and lots of sun cream. Minor items such as a wheel brace in case of puncture were not deemed necessary at this time! Misson objective: to loose the excess baggage that we had accumulated caused by the feeding/drinking forced upon us by E & C. You know how much we must have objected - but what can you do?!
Our route took us round the remote and stunning nubbet of the North Island known as the East Cape or Eastland. The SH35 main road runs 330 kms around this rarely visited and sparsely populated area of steep mountains dipping down to beautiful bays of white sand and blue green water. Clayton and his friends had told us about the stunning scenery but warned us that we should be careful where we stopped if we wanted to ensure we got round in one piece with all wheels attached to the van (the East Coast is apparently harbours a number of the harder NZ gangs). So it was with some intrepidation that we set off on our first exploration. In the back of my mind I was confident we could avoid any potential hassle by paying people off with bottles of Corona!
When we saw our first coastal view from LT we stopped to take pics and wow at the sight. We did this several times until we realised that every bend we turned gave us something similar - 1000s of pics later - promise you don't have to see them all unless you want to!
Any concerns we may have had about Deliverance style piggy encounters with East Coast locals were wholly unfounded and we never once had to trade Corona for our safety. Everybody we met from pie selling shop owners in run down abandoned villages to drunken Kiwis returning from their OEs were extremely friendly. The only occassion of minor concern was in Ruatoria - a has-been trading town miles from anywhere now suffering from unemployment and derelict buildings - typical of the East Cape settlements that used to be prosperous trading towns for meat and wool in the late 19th/early 20th century before their remoteness made them uneconomical. Stopping in the town for a pie and loo stop I spotted a large tatooed Maori guy (it was difficult to make out his facial features against the intricate patterns) looking pretty unimpressed about our presence - In the absence of a lock, I made sure I held the toilet door tighly closed!
One thing we weren't expecting was the lack of road surface in many places. Bimbling along nicely was often rudely interupted by frantic window and air vent closing to avoid chewing dust for the rest of the day. A curious maintenance procedure in this part of NZ seems to involve ripping up perfectly good tarmac and replacing with loose gravel chippings, which are left for joe public to roll flat. I must write a letter of complaint detailing every last cranny that I have found encrusted with road dust - it gets places that even beach sand hadn't previously found!
Perhaps the highlight of the Eastland was watching the sun rise from the eastern most tip of NZ from the East Cape Lighthouse. Arriving in Te Araroa it was like stepping even further back in time than the rest of the places we had driven through. The town didn't really seem to have a purpose other than marking the eastern most point of the island. In search of some victuals for the evening we popped into the general store - it was like a village hall crammed full of everything you might ever need to buy - from nails to 2 year out of date baking flour and tins of mushrooms so rusty you couldn't even see the sell by date! After buying some chilled beers from the local bar where the bar maid was engrossed in a game of scrabble, we drove 20km along another gravel road and parked up on the beach near the lighthouse for the night.
We woke at 5am - questioned whether we could be bothered actually getting up but Pol uncharacteristically decided it would be rude not to! The walk up to the lighthouse was through thick steep bush so we donned head tourches, fleeces, jackets and for Pol a pashmia sweedie. Thank god I was wearing my bikini under all the gear as I was soon sweating and heaving my very unfit (but obviously beautifully silflike) body up the 700 steps up to the top. The lucky family who had beaten us up were treated to a bikini clad perspiring princess - with all sorts of clothing tied whereever it could be - hints of mad bag lady! They hadn't been warned of that in their Rough Guide! Shortly after settling down to watch the start of the day the wind chill hit us. I knew the pashmina was an essential part of my survival kit! A little while later we were rewarded with a golden glow that began to peep over the horizon.
Emerging from the remote and rugged beauty of the East Coast we arrived in Hawkes Bay at the Art Deco town of Napier that was
entirely rebuilt in the early 1930s after a devasting earthquake. A major contrast to the tin sheds and derelict freezing works of the previous few days. The main goal of the Hawkes Bay visit was two fold - sampling of the gastronomic delights and tracking down Pol's relatives in the area - a prominent family involved in the founding days of Havelock North near Hastings. The first goal was quickly underway as we immersed ourselves in the local farmers and village growers markets and visited wineries for tastings and lunch! Just as we thought we were going to miss the second goal of finding the relys we got a call from Carrie (Pol's Dad's counsin) and were soon driving up the track to their farm at Kahuraniki, just outside Havelock North.
The 3000+ acre sheep and cattle farm surrounds the highest mountain in the area and is breathtaking. They treated us to a barbecue of home grown lamb and yummy avos, and the following day we got a tour by quad bike up the mountain and around the steep tracks of the farm. Farming on this type of terrain makes West Country farms look easy! During the stay we were also lucky enough to meet Cynthia (Cobbers' sister) - it was amazing to see the similarities with Cobbers' - from the love of cats to the starfish hand wave. The family tour of Hawkes Bay was completed with a beer with Dad's other cousin Jennie and then a meal at the local English pub where we met Pol's cousins (second or removed or something like that) Jeremy and Richard.
Full of family trees and tales we headed over to Wanganui on the west coast where there are yet more Foster descendants!
Pete and Mary welcomed us into their home where we were treated to a great barbie and late night drinking with their daughter Rebecca. It was with sore heads the next day that we set off at 7am to walk around Mt Cook and head up the coast to the surf beaches of Raglan.
After a couple of weeks on the road LT had served us impeccably (and was even treated to a few new hand sewn curtains after the orginals had been shredded by the washing machine) and we cruised back into Papa Moa to meet the Beverly elders who had flown over for their hols. Our valiant and partially successful attempts to become tanned and toned travellers will once again be thwarted by more boozey nights at the Mt Mellick - after all, we are on holiday!
Our route took us round the remote and stunning nubbet of the North Island known as the East Cape or Eastland. The SH35 main road runs 330 kms around this rarely visited and sparsely populated area of steep mountains dipping down to beautiful bays of white sand and blue green water. Clayton and his friends had told us about the stunning scenery but warned us that we should be careful where we stopped if we wanted to ensure we got round in one piece with all wheels attached to the van (the East Coast is apparently harbours a number of the harder NZ gangs). So it was with some intrepidation that we set off on our first exploration. In the back of my mind I was confident we could avoid any potential hassle by paying people off with bottles of Corona!
When we saw our first coastal view from LT we stopped to take pics and wow at the sight. We did this several times until we realised that every bend we turned gave us something similar - 1000s of pics later - promise you don't have to see them all unless you want to!
Any concerns we may have had about Deliverance style piggy encounters with East Coast locals were wholly unfounded and we never once had to trade Corona for our safety. Everybody we met from pie selling shop owners in run down abandoned villages to drunken Kiwis returning from their OEs were extremely friendly. The only occassion of minor concern was in Ruatoria - a has-been trading town miles from anywhere now suffering from unemployment and derelict buildings - typical of the East Cape settlements that used to be prosperous trading towns for meat and wool in the late 19th/early 20th century before their remoteness made them uneconomical. Stopping in the town for a pie and loo stop I spotted a large tatooed Maori guy (it was difficult to make out his facial features against the intricate patterns) looking pretty unimpressed about our presence - In the absence of a lock, I made sure I held the toilet door tighly closed!
One thing we weren't expecting was the lack of road surface in many places. Bimbling along nicely was often rudely interupted by frantic window and air vent closing to avoid chewing dust for the rest of the day. A curious maintenance procedure in this part of NZ seems to involve ripping up perfectly good tarmac and replacing with loose gravel chippings, which are left for joe public to roll flat. I must write a letter of complaint detailing every last cranny that I have found encrusted with road dust - it gets places that even beach sand hadn't previously found!
Perhaps the highlight of the Eastland was watching the sun rise from the eastern most tip of NZ from the East Cape Lighthouse. Arriving in Te Araroa it was like stepping even further back in time than the rest of the places we had driven through. The town didn't really seem to have a purpose other than marking the eastern most point of the island. In search of some victuals for the evening we popped into the general store - it was like a village hall crammed full of everything you might ever need to buy - from nails to 2 year out of date baking flour and tins of mushrooms so rusty you couldn't even see the sell by date! After buying some chilled beers from the local bar where the bar maid was engrossed in a game of scrabble, we drove 20km along another gravel road and parked up on the beach near the lighthouse for the night.
We woke at 5am - questioned whether we could be bothered actually getting up but Pol uncharacteristically decided it would be rude not to! The walk up to the lighthouse was through thick steep bush so we donned head tourches, fleeces, jackets and for Pol a pashmia sweedie. Thank god I was wearing my bikini under all the gear as I was soon sweating and heaving my very unfit (but obviously beautifully silflike) body up the 700 steps up to the top. The lucky family who had beaten us up were treated to a bikini clad perspiring princess - with all sorts of clothing tied whereever it could be - hints of mad bag lady! They hadn't been warned of that in their Rough Guide! Shortly after settling down to watch the start of the day the wind chill hit us. I knew the pashmina was an essential part of my survival kit! A little while later we were rewarded with a golden glow that began to peep over the horizon.
Emerging from the remote and rugged beauty of the East Coast we arrived in Hawkes Bay at the Art Deco town of Napier that was
entirely rebuilt in the early 1930s after a devasting earthquake. A major contrast to the tin sheds and derelict freezing works of the previous few days. The main goal of the Hawkes Bay visit was two fold - sampling of the gastronomic delights and tracking down Pol's relatives in the area - a prominent family involved in the founding days of Havelock North near Hastings. The first goal was quickly underway as we immersed ourselves in the local farmers and village growers markets and visited wineries for tastings and lunch! Just as we thought we were going to miss the second goal of finding the relys we got a call from Carrie (Pol's Dad's counsin) and were soon driving up the track to their farm at Kahuraniki, just outside Havelock North.
The 3000+ acre sheep and cattle farm surrounds the highest mountain in the area and is breathtaking. They treated us to a barbecue of home grown lamb and yummy avos, and the following day we got a tour by quad bike up the mountain and around the steep tracks of the farm. Farming on this type of terrain makes West Country farms look easy! During the stay we were also lucky enough to meet Cynthia (Cobbers' sister) - it was amazing to see the similarities with Cobbers' - from the love of cats to the starfish hand wave. The family tour of Hawkes Bay was completed with a beer with Dad's other cousin Jennie and then a meal at the local English pub where we met Pol's cousins (second or removed or something like that) Jeremy and Richard.
Full of family trees and tales we headed over to Wanganui on the west coast where there are yet more Foster descendants!
Pete and Mary welcomed us into their home where we were treated to a great barbie and late night drinking with their daughter Rebecca. It was with sore heads the next day that we set off at 7am to walk around Mt Cook and head up the coast to the surf beaches of Raglan.
After a couple of weeks on the road LT had served us impeccably (and was even treated to a few new hand sewn curtains after the orginals had been shredded by the washing machine) and we cruised back into Papa Moa to meet the Beverly elders who had flown over for their hols. Our valiant and partially successful attempts to become tanned and toned travellers will once again be thwarted by more boozey nights at the Mt Mellick - after all, we are on holiday!
posted by Polly and James at Saturday, February 05, 2005
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