Maggie The Road Maggot: 2010

28 September 2010

20.5°C, 13.57 hours, 280584 kms. Very blustery NW winds, but we are off! Haven’t been anywhere since what feels like forever, but weather has been anything but good lately. In fact, Southland has just had the biggest snow dump in 50 years, and although the snow missed us, it has been miserable everywhere. So now we are off – into Alexandra to get diesel and supplies, and then off “over the hill” for a couple of days before Mike gets picked up to go jetboating while I make my way slowly to Mayfield which is where I’ll be picking Mike up on Sunday. And then we are carrying on to Blenheim – we promised Dad months ago (before winter) that we’d come and help him clean out his shed. Filled diesel (280595kms, 70L) and got some shopping from New World. Stopped at the Stables for a stretch, and then I drove from there on. Mike finished nights this morning, got up at 10am and ran round the lawns, so he’s now pretty tired and needed to lie down. Very, very windy in places, making for a sometimes exciting drive! Got to Ohau C (parked in the trees) at 19:00, after stopping in Twizel to fill water and have a drink at the pub. Nice in Twizel – no wind and mild! Now 14.5°C – not bad for 7pm!

The post-night shift sleep!

Oh – they’ve put up a registration booth here now - $15 per night. Our thoughts on that: get stuffed. They charge $15 per night at Aviemore – and that’s ok: they provide toilets, dump station, rubbish collection, drinking water. Here nothing, and we are NOT going to pay to park on a bit of essentially abandoned land! Council have obviously taken note of the number of people who park here and decided to do some revenue gathering – big time, seeing as they haven’t had to do anything! 21:28 – had pork butterfly steak on salad for tea (yum – finally got the pan to get hot enough and pork was beautifully cooked – just a matter of patience with the fry pan!). Still mild out – 12.5°C and have just taken Roxie out for last toilet stop (Mike already sound asleep on back seat – absolutely tuckered out!) and seen lightening in the distance. Bed at 21:30.

29 September 2010

View from top of The Hermitage

Marielle up at 07:10, 6°C and clear skies around, except towards the Divide, despite rain on and off during the night. 10:10, have had breakfast of Mike’s cook-up and now heading off to be tourists for the day – decided we haven’t been up to Mt Cook for years and years, so we’re off tiki-touring rather than fishing. Very dark looking towards Mt Cook, and when we got there it was raining quite hard. Managed to find a park in amongst the tens of other campervans here, and went to explore the Hermitage – it has grown and become much posher since the last time we were here! Then up the Hooker Valley to the White Horse camping area – raining hard again!

Icebergs galore

So we carried on and decided to go and check out the Tasman Glacier Lake. Left Roxie in Maggie and walked (read: struggled, with a significant climb!) to the top of the look-out. Well worth the climb, because it was spectacular seeing the icebergs in the Glacier lake, which calved off a month or so ago. Weather clearing all the time, and we stopped and had lunch (salad sandwiches) beside the road to the Glacier. Headed off and checked out the Pukaki visitor’s centre (quite cool display in there – we’ve never, ever stopped and had a look!) and then took the “tourist drive” along the canal back towards Twizel – another bit of road we’ve never travelled on. 17:20 – stopped in Twizel for a drink (again – but hey, we’re on holiday!) and now arriving back at Ohau C. Parked in our old favourite spot beside the river. Lovely weather – mild enough to watch the news with the door open! Watched TV until about 20:30 and then had lamb steak on salad – lamb cooked good, but no flavour – bugger! Bed at 21:45.

30 September 2010

Sunrise after rain

Marielle up at 07:10 – 4.5°C and has been raining off and on since the early hours – some heavy. 11:10 - 6°C and raining heavily. Has been raining regularly all morning. Had same brekkie as yesterday and had showers. Mike sorted out his gear to take with him this afternoon. 12:29 – into Twizel to dump and then we’re going to park opposite the Salmon Farm along the canal where Boyd will pick Mike up. Now 15:00 and rain has finally stopped and the sun is coming out! YAY!. 17:30: Mike has just left and now 15.5°C and lovely and sunny! Roxie and I are off to our usual spot below Ohau C powerstation. 20:30: Mike just rang to say they’re in Geraldine having fish and chips for tea – I’ve had a HOT Thai green curry (the only joy in Mike being away – HOT curry, but miss him already!), have watched the news and Coro Street and now going to have a coffee and a smoke while letting the gennie

1 October 2010
Up at 06:00 to let Roxie out – brrr, so turned on heating and went back to bed ‘til 07:20. 1°C and not a cloud in the sky. The river has burst its banks across the other side, which is not surprising given the amount of rain we had yesterday. Safe here though – way above the river, so all’s good. Anyway, looks like it’s going to be a glorious day. 09:30 – been for a fish (nothing) but Roxie found a rabbit warren right on the water’s edge and happily amused herself pulling out baby bunnies! Got her to leave the rest for later, as I am now cold and hungry. Will let her have another go when I came back later – will keep her nicely occupied while I fish. Haven’t heard from Mike, so he obviously has no reception at Mesopotamia Station, where they are staying. 13:10 – have all the bedding outside airing – beautiful day although a cool breeze is making it not so warm – only 12°C. But still, nice enough to be sitting outside with jeans rolled up and a T-shirt. Too windy to fish though, and the wind just got up and had to rescue the duvet from nearly ending up in the river! That would have been fun – how do you dry a duvet on a camper? 14:39 – have moved to the usual spot in the trees as it’s now blowing hard, straight down the canal and across to where I was. Now 17:30 and have had a shower and just about to start the gennie to watch Masterchef and the news. 19:00 – missed the weather as I’ve just had a very, very aggro lady bang on the door and demand that I move seeing as I hadn’t paid the fee! Turns out, after I had calmed her down, that where we park is their private land (so she says – find that hard to believe as we are parked right beside the canal, which is Meridian’s) and they are tired of cleaning up their land after people leave their rubbish, so they are charging instead. No facilities (including rubbish collection) so I can’t see how that’ll work. Spoke to another couple about the charges here this afternoon, and they are simply going to come down here and park and fish during the day, then move up the hill to beside the canal for the night. Anyway, took me a while to calm this woman down, the end result being that she caused me to burn my tea – almost – which is last night’s leftovers! And I paid her $15 – which is what the charges are for 2 people – should have only paid her $8. Bugger! Now 20:00 and 8°C, so not cold, but clouding over again and seeing as I didn’t see the weather, I can only guess what tomorrow will bring. Glad to be heading closer to where Mike is tomorrow – it’s actually not that much fun being here alone! 21:17 – off to bed, and it’s raining.

2 October 2010
Up at 06:40 – too early really, but I am excited to get going! Did read for another ½ hour last night, but I’ve obviously had enough sleep as I am wide awake. Had a good sleep and Roxie didn’t wake me up this morning either – I put her jacket on her last night before I went to bed and it’s obviously when she’s cold in the morning’s that she wakes us up – because no sound out of her ‘til I got up! And it is cold this morning – only 0.5°C. 08:07 – off to Twizel to get some diesel – may not need it but I do remember how quickly the last quarter of the tank goes down and don’t want to be caught short. 281022 kms, put in 16.01L ($20). 10:44 – stopped in Lake Tekapo for the last ½ hour – Mike rang – YAY! Had the most awful cheese and bacon scone ever – dry as, and absolutely no flavour (should have just had cereals!). 11:42 – at Lake Opuha. Good drive here – not too many idiots on the road and very little wind, so not bad going at all. Sunny-ish here, with high, high cloud but a coolish breeze, only 12°C. Heaps of people around – it is the school holidays, after all. And then the sun came out, the wind dropped and I had to get the umbrella out for some shade! Unfortunately though, the umbrella is broken and so will have to buy another one somewhere along the way. Oh well, just enjoyed the sun, read and watched Roxie being entertained by all the people, the water and chasing birds. Spent the whole afternoon outside, and at 17:35 it’s still 15.5°C and Roxie, after nearly 6 hours of running around, is finally starting to tire! No news tonight – no reception, just like Vodafone. Telecom must work though as I have heard people talking on their phones. 20:05, have had a shower and had tea (same as last 2 nights – make hay while the sun shines!) and all other people except for 3 other campervans have now gone. The other vanners are parked within sight, but not sound, so all’s good. Beautiful evening and cooling down slowly (now 10.5°C) and seeing as there are no clouds in the sky it will almost certainly be a cold one. Roxie completely out to it she’s that tired. In fact, she was so tired that she got completely disorientated when I woke her up for the last toilet stop and whacked her head on Maggie as she totally missed the drink bowl (which is always parked right beside Maggie’s back wheel). Quite funny to watch. Bed at 21:24.

3 October 2010
Up at 06:20 and I don’t believe the temperature gauge this morning – it says 0°C but it feels much, much colder. Doesn’t matter though, because today we get MIKE BACK!!! YAY!!! 07:30, off to fill with diesel at Caltex in Fairlie (and driving along the road, in full sun, the temp gauge said minus 1.5°C, so I was right – it was cold!), see if we can find water and the head north. Dumped the toilet at the Gladstone Hotel dumpstation, then out to the truckstop. Turns out, Caltex Fairlie is no longer a truckstop that accepts Caltex cards – so no choice but to head back into Fairlie to go to BP (281157kms, 60.28L). Did find a water hose at the Caltex site, so that’s good as the water tank is now full. Stopped just outside Geraldine for some breakfast and just as I was pulling out, Mike rang to say could I pick him up in Methven instead of Mayfield.

Washing-drying weather

Got to Methven at 10:22 and had a coffee with the jetboating guys before doing some much needed laundry. While washing was on the go we downloaded Mike’s photo’s and had a quick look through them and now off to Taylor’s Stream to park up for the rest of the afternoon and dry the washing!

Got there about 12:15 and had a great afternoon just chilling – Mike had about 3 nana-naps (he’s not feeling too good – too much “male bonding” over the weekend?). Watched the news, had pork stir fry (honey soy) for tea. Bed at 21:00.

4 October 2010

Up at 06:50 – damp all around and misty in places but the sun is coming up which should improve the 1°C! 9:00, ready to roll, have had brekkie (muesli) and showers. Got detoured off SH 77 before the Selwyn Bridge which was damaged in the 4 September, 7.1 earthquake, so we are now travelling along new roads to Hororata. We stopped at the domain there, then out along a different route to Christchurch. Signs of earthquake damage everywhere – just like in Methven, which also had a large number of red-stickered (do not enter) buildings. In Hororata the damage seemed even worse, with the one and only local pub taped off with bricks everywhere all around it. 10:29 – in Christchurch. We had thought about going into town, but 2 very rude and aggro drivers changed Mike’s mind pretty quick! Amazing how pushy people are – makes us realise just how lucky we are, not living in or near a city. Bloody one-eyed Cantabs – ok, they might have had a major quake, but honestly!! Anyway, instead of heading into the city, we took the first road that said “Picton”! Had BK for morning tea (oh so good and oh, so bad!) in Kaiapoi, beside the Waimakariri River (no paradise ducklings this time!) and did some shopping in Rangiora (NW in Kaiapoi closed due to ‘quake damage, and we couldn’t be bothered trying to drive round a much disrupted town looking for anything else). Also dumped and filled in Rangiora and now 12:25 and heading north – again along new roads as we have never been up this bit of SH 1.

Hurunui Mouth

We're tucked in behind
the trees on the right.

Stopped at the petrol station at Domett to buy some ice (last bag!) and now 14:15 and parked at a small but cute camp site at the Hurunui Mouth. Tried to go for a walk along the beach but couldn’t get very far as the tide is in and there is nowhere to go. Mike slept on and off all afternoon while Marielle entertained Roxie and sat outside in the sun (good, as long as you’re sheltered from the wind). 20:09 – starting to cook tea and we are looking forward to it: fresh ASPARAGUS! Oh, and pork and boiled garlic spuds. Yum, it was delish!! Bed at 21:24.

5 October 2010
Up at 07:00, 2°C, and very cold breeze blowing but looks like clear skies all around – except for the mist blowing down the river mouth at a fair rate of knots! Mike had a sleep in ‘til 08:30 (still not feeling too good).

Gore Bay

On the road further north at 09:40 and instead of joining the State Highway, we stuck to the little inland roads and ended up at Gore Bay. What an absolutely beautiful spot. Had a play with Roxie along the beach – she managed to find a pine cone in amongst the debris! 12:00, in Kaikoura and we have just got a cooked crayfish and a smoked seafood platter for tea – oh, that sounds good! Gorgeous day – full on sun and a mild breeze. Filled up with diesel at the Kaikoura Truckstop (281634kms, 65.01L) and we are really hoping that the price on the pump is what we’ll get charged – it says $1.00 per litre. If that’s right, it’s a saving of 28 cents per litre! So here’s hoping. Tiki-toured round Kaikoura a bit, and ended up at South Bay for lunch (chop chop chuck and salad sandwiches).

South Bay, Kaikoura

Nowhere to park round here, so we carried on looking and ended up at Peketa Holiday Park – we really wanted to be on the coast somewhere nice but Mike not good, so we didn’t want to drive too much further.

Peketa Holiday Park

This place is lovely and just outside Kaikoura. Very laid back people (there was a sign on the door when we arrived saying they were working on the grounds, at to make ourselves at home and register later) and no problems with dogs. Had a lovely afternoon – went for a walk along the beach and out of the breeze it was lovely. Did some washing and sat and enjoyed the sun. Now 18:25, 11°C and watching the news. Tea was yum, although the smoked seafood platter was a bit of a letdown – some smoked fish and mussels is all it turned out to be. But the cray and the asparagus were good! Bed early at 21:04.

6 October 2010

Up at 06:38 and 4°C. Mike had a bad night and was up and down lots, not feeling well. So we’ve decided if he hasn’t improved when we get to Blenheim that we’ll have to go and see a doctor. Beautiful sunrise this morning and no wind, and no clouds. Muesli for breakfast. Oh, discovered last night that there is something wrong with our power system – the house battery isn’t being charged when plugged into 230V but it does off the alternator. It was ok the other day off the gennie, so we’re going to have to fix that when we get to Blenheim too. 08:41 – off to dump and then tally-ho: Blenheim here we come. 11:00 in Blenheim, stopping to have a look at some other campers. 12:11, at Dad’s. Had lunch (even though we had a McDonald’s Angus burger after we finished looking at the campers!) with Dad and Anne and then walked to A&E for Mike to see a Doctor – still not well. Have to go back at 18:00 to see the after-hours GP, so now at the auto electricians to sort out the charger. They ended up giving us a loan charger for a couple of nights while our one is being fixed – or replaced. Had Anne’s delicious cooking for tea, Mike ok but has to have bloods done in the morning. Bed at 21:00.

7 October 2010
Up at 06:48, 4°C and looks like it’s going to be a good day. Went and had bloods done and then took Roxie for a long walk to Harling Park. And then we tackled the garage. Looked like it would be a major when we opened the door, but it was all done well before afternoon tea time, so a good effort all around. Dad’s chuffed to have room to move and sort things out! Back to the after-hours GP, Mike is ok but needs to watch his alcohol intake as his liver and kidneys are stressing a bit. Had spare ribs for tea (now, these really are finger licking good!). Mike went to bed early again (21:00) and Marielle sat up with Dad ‘til 22:00.

8 October 2010
Up at 06:40, 3.5°C. Took Roxie for a walk in Harling Park again – good place to walk a dog – and now back in town trying to get the charger sorted. But, the replacement they ordered for us is completely wrong – way too big for the hole and not what we wanted at all. Mike had been on the net last night and found the exact same one as ours, so he rang them (they make them, in Auckland) and the guy said, send it up – we make ‘em, we can fix ‘em! So that’s what we did. The outfit have let us rent the temporary one ‘til we get our one back, for $60, so that’s not too bad! Had lunch at Café on the Park (where we had brunch with Angie in January) and drove out to Rarangi to let Rox have a run. Sat and chatted and chilled, had roast chicken for tea and bed at 21:30.

9 October 2010
8.5°C at 07:00. Sunny day now but it rained quite a bit overnight. Heading south today – via the East Coast. We have never been home that way, and the weather on the West Coast does not look at all good for campervans, and we thought we might check out Akaroa this trip. 281837 kms, 10:22, 14°C and on our way. Few things to do before we leave town (dump, fill, check gas bottle etc.). Met another rude youth with a chip on his shoulder and an attitude even bigger while we were filling the gas bottle at BP Blenheim. Time to leave the big smoke! Put 4.9kg into the gas bottle – not bad, considering how much heating we’ve used this trip so far.

North Island from Cape Campbell

12:06 – on our way again after having a cup of soup at Cape Campbell, looking out across the Cook Strait at the North Island. Very blustery NW winds – which is ok as it’s a tail wind for where we’re going.

Ward Beach

13:04, been for a stroll along Ward Beach – sheltered and gorgeous. Southerly arrived while here, though, and it’s starting to spit – the forecast is for another short, sharp wintry blast to come through.

Ominous looking clouds at Wharanui

13:46, stopped at Wharanui – another lovely, sheltered spot – we sat on the beach enjoying the sun. Next time we’re up this way it’s a definite place to park overnight. Now (14:10) driving through some of the heaviest rain we’ve ever seen, sleet and lightening and only 8.5°C. And at 14:20 it was only 6°C, and there is fresh snow on the hills just above us. The rain was just incredible, and SH1 turned, in places, into a river. 15:23 – in Kaikoura, filling up with diesel (282004kms, 50.51L) and also been to NW to get some supplies. Still raining a bit, but nothing like before, but it is still very cold (8.5°C). 16:00 – set up at Peketa (yep, again – it’s a lovely place!). Load of washing in the machine and a few spits but mostly dry. Gave Roxie another run along the beach – didn’t need a big one as she’d had an hour in Blenheim this morning, and then a decent run at every stop. Watched the news and played cards.

Camp food!

And we discovered another good reason for staying here, rather than checking out some of the places further south – this place is sort of in a valley, and has the sun much longer than further down, where you are parked in the shadow of the hills.

Had cray (couldn’t resist another one!) salad and yummy NW seafood salad for tea – YUM. It’s now 21:05 and I am having a coffee, before bed, (Mike is already in bed) outside – clear, starry night. Could be a bit cold tonight, I think, as it was about 8°C when I checked about an hour ago.

10 October 2010

Up at 06:44 – both of us!! Yay, Mike is feeling better! 3.5°C, partly cloudy and bitterly cold southerly blowing. The forecast is cold and horrible today, but clearing tomorrow, so we’ll keep heading south. 08:15, rolling. 09:11, stopped for a run along the beach at Claverly.

Claverly Beach

12:45, just had lunch sitting at the Christchurch A&P grounds – Chinese from a take-away in Papanui. Hard driving through Christchurch because everywhere you look there is damage to buildings – makes it hard to concentrate! And the more you look, the more you see. Some of it fairly minor (broken window) and some of it much more serious, like buildings that look ok from the front and then you realise that half the side wall is missing.

15:10 – have had a look around Akaroa Lighthouse, which is super cool. Drove around a bit – from the view point at the top of the hill it looked like such an awesome place. Signs of earthquake damage here too – the saddest is the old, old hotel at Devauchelles – so badly damaged it’s closed. But, turns out Banks Peninsula and Akaroa are not really that cool – we went to see if we could stay at the Akaroa Top 10 Holiday Park, and were greeted by the most unwelcoming, grumpy, weird and rude manager we’ve ever met, who told us in plain English that we weren’t welcome here, or any other camp ground in Bank’s Peninsula, because we had a dog. So we are heading back towards Christchurch. Very disappointing, because the last time Mike was in Akaroa was 30 years ago, and Marielle had never been there and we were both looking forward to a couple of nights there. Not only that, we had our heart set on doing a dolphin cruise, and would have probably gone out for something to eat somewhere along the line. Akaroa’s loss – if they don’t want Roxie, they don’t get our money! Drove down to French Farm Beach and Wainui Beach and despite what it says in the Travel Directory we didn’t think either spot was our idea of somewhere to park – on the grass verge right beside the road. We stopped at Little River Hotel, which is a POP, but not spinning our wheels at all. Peeing down with rain now and blowing a fierce southerly.

16:55 – at the Motukarara Racecourse. Wouldn’t have found this without the Travel Directory, and it’s not a bad spot at all, really. In fact, the best spot we’ve seen all day. Cold and raining and blowing something wicked, but we’re sheltered behind some massive macrocarpa’s, so not too bad. 18:00, and now 5.5°C. Had crayfish (we didn’t eat a whole one last night, just half!) seafood salad and green salad for tea – YUM again!. Still raining and cold and we went to bed at 21:30.

11 October 2010

Up at 07:45 after a rather disturbed night from 3am onwards when things became very stormy outside. Lots of rain, but that wasn’t what kept waking us up – it was the wind, with some very heavy gusts, and still blowing hard now. Thank heaven we are reasonably sheltered. 5°C, so not very warm either. 10:10, had a fry-up for breakfast and have had showers and now off into Christchurch. Weather is settling down, although still occasional nasty squalls coming through with vicious winds and still only 5.5°C. 14:05 – have been doing “city” things, like getting a top up for Maggie’s oil from Armstrong Prestige, been to Burnsco to look for an anode for the hot water heater on Maggie, been to the Warehouse to replace the umbrella, walked round Animates ooh-ing and aah-ing at all the animals and fish, bought Mike some more shoes etc. Had lunch parked on the road beside Burnsco (sandwiches) and now off to find the Sockburn truckstop, then supermarket and then on southwards. Not raining as much now but still blowing and still only 8°C – so the weather forecast was right!.

Rakaia Huts Campground

18:07 – at the Rakaia Huts campground, after what seems like hours and hours of driving along roads that are signposted for you to follow them if you’re wanting to go to Rakaia Huts, and then you come to an intersection with no signposts at all, so you can only guess which way you are supposed to be heading. This is the only time since we have had Maggie that we could have done with GPS/Navman unit! We started out looking for Coes Ford – which we eventually found, but decided to carry on a bit further, as there is also a Chamberlain Ford – which we have yet to find. So on to Rakaia Huts. Well, we stopped in Lincoln to go to the supermarket and dump and decided we’d stop and have a drink. Well, not in Lincoln as their one and only pub was flattened.

Rakaia Mouth

So then we stopped in Leeston to have a drink there – yuck, and on to Southbridge, which was cool.

Anyway, Rakaia Huts is not a bad sort of spot, and very cheap – has all the facilities you need for only $12 for a powered site ($34 at Peketa). There is now no wind and it’s sort of sunny, so we went for a short walk along the track out to the bar. We watched the news (on TV3, as we couldn’t get TV1 here!) and the weather is meant to be good ‘til Friday at least. Had chicken stir fry for tea (honey soy) and now getting ready for bed at 21:44 and 6.5°C.

12 October 2010

Up at 07:10 after a good night’s sleep – really good! 0°C and not a cloud to be seen and it’s supposed to be a good day! Took Roxie along the beach – awesome waves and views. Had showers – best ones ever in a camping ground and only $1 for ages, and ages of hot, mains pressure water. 10:21 – rolling and going down various roads around Highbank looking for a small powerstation that’s around here somewhere.

Highbank PS

Yes, we are once again looking for a hydro powerstation – some things just never change! No firm idea of where it is, except that Mike did Google it before we left and we are now following some promising looking powerlines in what Mike thinks is the right direction – LOL! And then – found it! No signs to indicate it’s here, but as Mike said he “can smell a powerstation from miles away”! 12:25 had a quick stop at Taylor’s Stream for a snack (Marielle was really hungry and couldn’t wait until Geraldine, where Mike was going to shout her the best fish and chips ever.). While Marielle made a sandwich, Mike did our “tidy Kiwi” bit for the day – picked up a whole heap of big beer bottles left lying around and put them in the rubbish bins provided! 13:05 – just as well we stopped for a quick bite, as Geraldine sort of went on to the “later” list because we found the sign to Lake Clearwater – another one of those places we have been meaning to check out, if we had time. Well, we have time to spare now, so why not.

Lake Clearwater

Absolutely beautiful spot with the most stunning views, and signs everywhere, big and small, saying No Dogs! Bugger, ‘cause we would have loved to have stayed here, it is so awesome. Drove 30kms for pretty much nothing – well, not quite, ‘cause it is now off the list of places to check out.

Lake Heron

13:47 – at Lake Heron, which was only another 16kms down another road, and seeing as we’re here we thought we might as well check this one out too. There is a camping ground here, but again no dogs. Bugger, bugger. Funny thing too, neither Lake Clearwater nor Lake Heron are in the Travel Directory. Guess no-one’s interested in travel along metal roads for too long. Had the rest of lunch parked beside the DoC information sign and now – 14:09 – heading back. Stopped and had an icecream at Mt Somers – very cute wee place, we thought. It’s amazing how you get to some places and they just don’t do it for you, and then you get to other places and they’re cute, because there wasn’t really anything much at Mt Somers, it just had a good feel about it. 16:50 – have had a drink at the Village Inn in Geraldine – nice place – and now off to find a spot at either Waihi or Orari Gorge.

Waihi Gorge Campsite

Waihi Gorge it is – 17:05. Beautiful spot – lovely little stream, wide open grassy spaces and views to the mountains. Says no dogs, but since we’ve been here have counted 4 other dogs – locals by the look of them, as they’re out walking, so not too bothered! Now 19:22 and have been sitting outside ‘til now enjoying the warm sun and the views. Walked around the camp a bit – gosh, it’s nice here. Had pork steak and fresh asparagus for tea. Mike had yet another (it’s been on-going for a while now) conversation with Kirsty about her not-willing-to-start lawn mower and how to try and fix it (and Cody got involved and once again won’t listen to Mike, got shitty and put on yet another attitude session!). And then it was clean up time around Maggie - I sent Roxie’s water bowl (which was inside) flying and then a little while later Mike went to get a toothpick and decided we needed a game of pick-up-sticks – LOL. Bed sometime around 21:30.

13 October 2010

Sleep-in!!! Up at 07:40, sun streaming in and 5.5°C. 08:20 – rolling – and not even an hour since we got up. Checked out the Orari Gorge – ok, but doesn’t hold a candle to Waihi Gorge – no river in sight and not nearly as open or spectacular. Also checked out Woodbury Domain – a good back-up spot if nowhere else to stay, quite pretty with lots of rhododendrons and sheltered. We put a little slurp of diesel in at Shell Geraldine – just enough (about 7 litres) to get us over the hill to BP Fairlie where we can use the 10c litre off supermarket voucher we have. 10:44 – have just spent the last 1½ hours looking around the Geraldine Vintage Machinery and Car Museum. Very good collection and worth the stop. 11:50 – had brunch at the Farm Barn Café just before you drop down into Fairlie – what a fantastic meal, and great value for money. We each had a gourmet pie and they came with heaps of salad, a couple of small pieces of delicious bread and a substantial rice salad – all very tasty and filling – for only $12.50 each. Best value lunch! Now off to Lake Opuha.

Got there just after 12:00 and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting outside, basking and watching the rods and Roxie, while Mike had his usual nana-nap. Marielle caught 1 tiddly fish, while we watched a couple of other fishermen reel in fish after fish. Thing is, we just couldn’t be bothered “winching” – sitting watching a couple of worms drown was more our style! As the day progressed a poxy little NE breeze came up, so we decided to try and move round beyond the boat ramp to see if we could get out of it, but to no avail: the track has been badly chewed up by people getting through bogs, and is now so rutted and still very boggy in places – too boggy for a Maggie. So off to Fairlie to fill up with diesel and water, and to dump. Oh, also to borrow someone’s big spanner – noticed this morning that the handle for emptying the grey tank was pointing in a completely different direction to normal. Mike looked and sure enough, the whole thing had rotated – probably after being rattled to bits on the roads to Lake Clearwater and Heron yesterday.

Filled up with diesel (forgot to look at the quantity, but $78 with the 10c per litre discount) at 282903 kms. Had a drink at the Top Pub - YUCK – so tried the Gladstone instead which wasn’t bad, especially seeing as we got talking to Steve, the owner, who used to own the Bendigo in Alexandra. Now 17:48 and back at Lake Opuha, out of the wind and lovely. Sat outside ‘til it got too cold. Had tinned tuna and salad and boiled spuds for tea, which was very tasty. Bed at somewhere around our usual time.

14 October 2010

Up at 07:10 – well, Marielle was. Mike was up at 05:00 (he thought), wide awake. So he put the jug on only to realise when he looked at the clock again that it was only 04:00. So he read for a while and eventually fell asleep on the back seat. 3°C at 04:00 and still at 07:10. Not a cloud in the sky, sunny with a light breeze coming off the lake.

Dare I say it? Once a hydro man ...

Walked around the lake to the Dam – took us an hour, and Pete McKenzie (Contact employee) was working at the powerstation, so Mike persuaded him to come and have morning tea with us – which saved us another hour’s hike back as Pete drove us back to Maggie!

Lake Opuha Dam & PS

Got back just after 10:00 and sat and talked outside in glorious sunshine and 18°C at 11:15. Going to move beside the lake now and throw some more worms in – and NO nana-naps for Mike today or else we’ll have another 04:00 wake-up call tomorrow morning! So he spent the afternoon reading while I repeated yesterday’s activities. The wind got up again, which made it quite chilly out of Maggie’s wind-shadow (only 14°C). But still spent the afternoon outside, alternately wearing shorts, T-shirt and jandals and then jeans and sweatshirt! Peter dropped by on his way back to the motel, sat and talked to him. Now 18:30, 12°C and Mike is about to fire up the gennie to charge the battery. Had same tea as last night and crept under the covers at 21:00.

15 October 2010

Up at 07:00, 6°C and foggy. Fog lifts and then rolls back in again, but when it’s lifted we can see that it’s a beautiful morning! But it persisted, and at 08:44 it’s back quite thick, and we decided to start moving. 10:00 – just done another real “tourist” thing – we have had breakfast parked beside the Church at Lake Tekapo! Beautiful day! 10:51 dumped at Twizel and although we had thought to fill up, while we were dumping we decided that we are now quite keen to get home, so we’ll carry on to Clyde. There’ll be enough for us to do at home (lawns etc.) to keep us busy for a couple of days! And yay! no wind – which made for the fastest trip EVER from Twizel through the Lindis. We honestly loved it – we can’t remember the last time we drove from Twizel without having to fight and struggle our way into an always stiff head wind! What a pleasure.

Lindis Hotel ruins

Lindis Pass Rd from
Old Faithful Rd

12:12 – Pete told Mike about the old Lindis Hotel site, and we’ve just checked it out – it’s on the Central Otago side of the Lindis Pass, down “Old Faithful Road”. Absolutely gorgeous spot and one definitely worth coming back to for an overnight camp – lots more to explore than what we looked at today.

Stopped and had an icecream from the Tarras store - $3 for a single scoop (that’s about half the size of the ones we get at home, for nearly double the cost – what a rip-off!). 13:14 – picking up the mail from the Post Office and home – 18.5°C, sunny and we are glad to be in some decent, hot, dry heat. We really noticed the difference between 18°C in Central and 18°C in other places – it’s a good, dry heat here! 283198kms – that another 2,416 kms added to the speedo this trip. A thoroughly enjoyable trip!

Maggie The Road Maggot

Testing the new battery trip, Omakau, 22 & 23 November 2010

Poolburn & Omakau, 8 to 11 November 2010

Blenheim and Jetboating, 28 September to 15 October 2010