A Tramping Trip

Now that we are back at work and doing ordinary things, there doesn't seem to be much of interest to write about these days, so I thought you might like to know about the last tramp of the year that I did with the Matamata Walking and Tramping Club.

We went to Wairongomai, which is near Te Aroha. It has a history of gold and silver mining back in the late 1800's to the early 1900's. There are a few mine entrances at the side of the tracks. They aren't safe to go into in case of rock fall. They are often filled of water too. Also there are steep inclines, which were used to shift the ore. The railway trucks were loaded up with ore and sent down the rail track on the inclines. The weight of the trucks going down,  pulled up the empty ones. There is work being done to recreate some of the lines. The huge winch at the top of the Butler Incline has been rebuilt.

There are a lot of tracks around the valley. We chose to do the high level walk, with the addition of the May Belle Incline. There is a track going up beside the incline, so we walked beside it rather than on it. Still very steep though.There are signs that the incline is being reinstated with railway sleepers propped up on the side of the incline.

 We passed by a dilapidated hut called Hayes Hut. The roof has fallen in, but you can see the bed made out of wood with wire to hold the mattress. Hayes was an old miner who used to live there.

Wairongomai town was at the bottom of the valley. At it's height. 2000 people lived there. The water wasn't very good and many babies died because of it. People came from Te Aroha to watch the fighting that went on in the street, from the safety of the local pub. Eventually, in the 1920's, the whole town was taken away, as the gold and silver had mostly gone. There is no sign of the town now.

A waterfall on the way

May Belle Incline

A view

A tricky part of the path. It crosses the top of a waterfall.

The site where the Wairongomai town was.

A Little Update

Well there isn't a lot to report these days, as we are just doing the going to work and coming home again.

This weekend we went to Taupo and stayed with Eddie's sister. We had an early Christmas dinner as one of her daughters is going to be away for Christmas.

The vege garden is growing well. The beans and tomato plants have flowers on them. We really could do with some rain just now. It is supposed to rain today, but I have my doubts. There are clouds about, but they don't look very promising for us here in Matamata.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a merry Christmas and a wonderful 2018. Thanks for reading my blog and replying when you could.

A vegetable garden

When we arrived here, Jim had said we could dig up a garden if we wanted too, so last Saturday I got digging. It took about two and a half hours of quite hard work, as the ground was very hard. I took the turf off first and then dug down about a spade depth. I wet it a bit and that helped quite a lot. I have planted silver beet, spring onions, lettuces, beetroot, beans and a tomato. I have put marigolds around the edge, but I will need another punnet of those.

It's not very big, but it will give us some fresh veges over the summer. I think I will get another tomato plant for the right hand corner too.

Washing Machine in situ at last.

The rain has stopped and now people are beginning to say that we need some. We are never satisfied are we.


Eddie built a bench, out of pallets, for the washing machine to sit on. We have bought it a bbq cover for it to keep the rain off of it. Of course the one that fitted best was a webber and the most expensive, but it will keep the washing machine nice and dry.

Now it's a webber

Now it's a washing machine.

When the stock was in the paddock behind us they were very interested in what I was doing, but no one offered to do it for me the next day. They just stood and watched. By the third day it was very boring and they didn't bother at all.
I can do all our washing in it except for one large winter sheet that I couldn't spin as it was too big for the spinner. It had to drip dry. Now that summer is here it won't be a issue for about 6 months.

Of washing lines, patiios and soak holes

The soak hole is complete and is working well. This photo was taken as they were getting ready to fill the hole up with drainage metal. 

We also have a pellet patio which I am sure will be the envy of all who see it.
We have purchased a fly mow via Trademe so we can mow around our little section. The grass is growing up between the slats on our patio, so we may  have to pull it up so Eddie can mow it.



We just have to get the washing machine going and we will be all hunky dory. Eddie is working on that as we speak. It is going to be an out door laundry, so we have bought a cover for the machine. Up until now, I have been doing a bit of hand washing every day, and Janice lets me put the sheets and towels in her machine.Eddie and Jim have also organized a washing line for me

The washing dries really quickly on it. Even the hand washed things.

settling in well

Eddie went for the CT scan of his kidneys on Monday  morning at Tauranga hospital. They are very efficient. His appointment was for 9 am be there half an hour before, so we arrived about 8 20. He went in for his scan at 8 25 and was out again by 8 35. I am not sure when we get the results. I am sure they will contact us if there is anything amiss. He is finally got back to himself over this last week with his appetite coming back at last. It has been a bit of a long haul.

We moved to Matamata on Saturday and have settled in very well. The place we are staying is where Eddie stayed while I was in South America. Jim (the property owner) was determined to find a pipe line for our water that he knew was nearby. So Sunday morning saw us all out side watching Jim and his son Sean, dig where they thought it was. Jim finally found it by putting the spade through what he thought was a small tree root, but no. It was the pipe.So then they dug the other side of the drive after Sean had used water divining to find it. That was rather cool. He just used a bent piece of wire and it turned towards the water pipe. So now our water is attached to the fence beside us and not on the other side of the drive with a long hose going to it.

set up at Matamata 

fancy new tap

soak hole

Browning thought he would check out the soak hole, which Jim started one evening during the week. The ladder is there so he could climb out if he fell in. It is very deep. Jim needed it to climb out last night.
We have new neigbours too. Browning hopped up to say hello, but they were too busy eating to take much notice of a small kiwi.

Browning being neighbourly.

Back to Matatamata

We are off to Matamata on Saturday morning. It will take an hour and a half off of Eddie's driving day.
Rather looking forward to catching up with everyone. On the other hand it will be funny not traveling.  We have really enjoyed our 7 months on the road. It is only for a year and then back out there and doing it again.

Eddie is having a scan to check on his kidney on Monday, so we will have to come back over the hill. Quite ironic or something. He is still getting his appetite back, but is much improved.

New Truck Picture

Here is the picture of the new truck as promised.

I haven't driven it yet. I am still getting up my courage.

New Truck

Just a quick update.

We have purchased a new tow vehicle from New Plymouth. It is a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 HD.  Tomorrow we are going to fly down to pick it up and then drive on down to Wellington for my mother's 90th birthday. We are going to spend the weekend there.

Eddie is back driving for Swap Contractors, after having last week off.  We haven't moved over to the other side of the Kaimai Ranges yet. It will be a week or two yet.

I will post a picture of the new vehicle when we get it home.

kidney stone update

The stone came out yesterday. Eddie had time to think "ouch that really hurts" before he heard a ping on the porcelain. So that is over with. We hope he doesn't get another one anytime soon.

It is very wet today so we are just blobbing and not doing much. The rain started last night and hasn't really let up all day. We are certainly over the wet weather as I suppose you all are too.

Whitianga and Omokoroa

Well I knew I hadn't been on the blog for a while, but I didn't realize how long. Sorry about that Chief, as Maxwell Smart used to say.

Where to start.
We enjoyed our stay at Whitianga. Friends Peter and Josie came to stay for a week or so. We went to Otama beach near Opito beach one lovely day (there haven't been many)and put out Peter's long line. It was the first day of the scallop season and there were a few boats dredging as well as a pod of dolphins in the bay, so needless to say, the fishing was terrible. It didn't matter as it was good to be out in the sun for a change.

Josie waiting for the fish that never came

Lovely people at the camp at Whitianga. They all made us welcome and we all got together several times with them at different caravans. There are a few permanent sites there with tiny houses on them and caravans set up for permanent living.

We lived in Whitianga many years ago when we had a fishing boat. It is amazing how the town has grown in the interim. It now has 2 supermarkets, warehouse, placemakers and other large stores. We went for a drive to find the house we lived in. We found the section, but the house has been rebuilt so it looks quite different now. It was a bit old when we lived in it with a sloping floor in the kitchen.

To pass the time on wet days we went to the movies 3 times.
"Dunkirk" Very tense, but it gave a good insight into what the soldiers and the rescuers went through.
"Hampstead" funny and delightful. Based on a true story.
"Victoria and Abdul" Also funny and delightful. Based on a true story (mostly) is how the movie described itself.

memorial of Cook's observations, Whitianga

Cooks Beach near Whitianga

Eddie at Cooks Beach

We bought a Ford 250 truck to tow the caravan with. Eddie went to Christchurch to collect it. He had a long drive home up the centre of the South Island, because of road works. He finally got to Picton in time to see the ramp go up on the ferry, so he had to wait until the 7 pm crossing.

To put money back in the bank, he tried to get work at the local quarry, but that didn't happen and there was no where to park as the grounds we were staying in wasn't taking any more full time people. A few phone calls to Swap Contractors and he had a job at the quarry near Kati Kati. ( we thought), so we moved to Omokoroa on the 16th September. The quarry job didn't quite work out either, so he is back driving and oversize piloting instead. He is having to drive over the hill, which puts another 2 hours on to his day, so we are going to move back to Matamata in a few weeks time.

Unfortunately the perfect truck and I had an accident on our way to Omokoroa. We got to Paeroa and filled up with fuel and then I took a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of the Kaimai Ranges. I took the Poripori Rd and just before the last bend at Wairoa Rd I slipped in some diesel and went around the corner on the wrong side of the road. As I tried to correct I did a 180 degree turn and the truck slipped into a culvert. I was very lucky and only had 4 stitches in my elbow, where I connected with the window. People stopped and helped me out through the windscreen. We found out yesterday that it has been written off, so now Eddie is looking for a new one.

Just to add to the excitement we have been having, Eddie had a kidney stone on Sunday morning. I called the ambulance and he spent Sunday night in Tauranga Hospital. I had to put suppository pain relief up his bottom, but he didn't seem to be feeling any better. If anything he was worse, so on Wednesday night I took him back to the hospital. After some time a doctor decided to admit him as he wasn't sure what was going on. He did do a CT scan and we saw the stone in the bladder. It has to come out of there at sometime, so that will be painful. It is 6 mm in size. I got home at 1 am and had a snack and a drink, crawled into bed only to be woken a few minutes later by Eddie phoning to say he was allowed home. A second doctor had realized what the problem was. The suppository pain relief has side effects for some people, which affects the kidneys. Eddie was effectively going into renal failure. All a bit scary, but a relief they got on to it in time. He is so much better today (Friday) and more like himself.  They are going to do a scan again in a month to see what is going on and make sure the kidneys are happy again. We rather wish they would blast the stone and get it over with.

Travelling to Whitianga

All is good here, except the rain. We are definitely over it now.

 The sun rise at Waitangi was especially lovely one morning, but the colours didn't come out as good as they really were.

We left Waitangi, for Whitianga, last Tuesday. State Highway 1, over the Brynderwyn hills was closed, because of a truck crash on the south side, so we were diverted via the coast road that comes out near Wellsford. One of the trucks stuck at the bottom wasn't able to use the diversion because he was too heavy for the road. He had a hitch hiker on board, who was looking for another ride. The road worker man ask Eddie if she could go with him and he said she can travel with my wife. She is from Argentina, so I spoke Spanish and she spoke English. That way we both got some practice in. We had a lovely drive together. The road is very windy, but I didn't even notice, so I am not sure how safe it all was. She understood all I said, so that was a bonus. She was very helpful when I got stuck too. We dropped her off at Wellsford, as she was going to a Buddhist retreat near Helensville.

We spent that night at Snells Beach, which is near Warkworth. We stayed at a car park where there is parking for overnight caravans. We left the truck on the caravan and, of course, we stuck out quite a long way. The slide outs used most of the parking space beside us where we put the jeep. Luckily only 3 other vans came in, so there was room for us all.

Snells beach

Snells beach

sticking out a bit

The tide at Snells Beach goes out about 600 metres from the high tide mark to the low tide mark. It is sandy, so it is easy to walk on.

On Wednesday night we stayed at Kaiaua, where we stayed on our way north. We went to the fish and chip shop for tea, but I don't think they are as good as they used to be.

Janice and John came up to Waitangi for a week while we were there. (Eddie's sister and her husband)We had a good catch up. 

Josie and Peter (old friends from way back) have come up to stay here in Whitianga for a couple of weeks. We are going to the movies this afternoon to see “Dunkirk.”.

We are still looking at downsizing or getting a smaller tow vehicle that I can drive when it isn't connected to the van. It is a work in progress. 

New Decisions; New Vehicle; New Boots

We have been thinking about a change of caravan for a while (which has been quite painful). We love the 5th wheeler, but it is hard to park and some places we would like to go too are too small for us. So we have decided to put the set up we have on the market and get a 8 or 9 metre caravan with a full awning, so we will have that space to use. Hopefully it won't take too long to sell.

Elvira is way to small to tow a caravan, so she has had to go. We went to Auckland on Wednesday to purchase a new vehicle and sell Elvira.

The rain was absolutely pouring down all the way there and all the way home. We could hardly see the lane markers on the motorway, because of the water lying on the road. On the way, we got a puncture, so Eddie had to change the tyre in the rain. He had a raincoat, but we didn't take the umbrella. We stopped at Whangrei to get it mended and, of course, we needed a new tyre didn't we. Sigh. Never to mind. Onward and upward.

We have bought a 2005 Jeep Cherokee. It has a Mercedes Benz diesel motor and is very economical. We filled it up at Wellsford and the computer said we could go 610 miles before it would be empty. Which is 976 ks. Rather impressive we thought.

It doesn't have a name yet. Any suggestions?

Eddie has got a part time job, which he is starting next week. He is going to be piloting over size trucks for a man he has known for a while now. The business is boat transporting. ( I can hear you laughing). Luckily they all belong to someone and aren't on sale!! He will be away for some nights, but is isn't every day. We hope no more than 30 hours a week.

It is muddy here at Waitangi and we can't find my gumboots anywhere. They must have been left behind somewhere. So now I have new ones. Pretty flash.

This morning we walked into Paihia and had morning tea. It's tough but someone has to do it.

view of the bay

There are lots of quail running around the camp. They are very cute and rather chubby too. No we haven't caught one to eat. I took the photos out of the window. As you can see, it is a big flock. This is only half of them.

To Waitangi

Well, I have been a bit slack lately writing in the blog, but there hasn't been a lot to write about. We have been very quiet. We enjoyed our stay at Tauranga Bay. There were several couples doing what we are doing. One couple come from Blenheim every year and stay for about 5 months. We often had morning tea at their caravan, along with other campers. There were lots of laughs at those gatherings.

Sunset at Tauranga Bay

The above picture was taken on the last evening of our stay at Tauranga Bay. Pretty isn't it?

The sparrows are very friendly here. Eddie was sitting on his chair, looking out over the sea one day and felt something on his knee. When he looked down it was a little sparrow looking up at him. They often came into the van if we didn't have the fly screen shut. 

Eddie had a bit of a bug last week, but it didn't last long and I never got it. 

On Friday we came to Waitangi camping ground, which is on the edge of the river. It is tidal so there are mudflats to look at times. Over the other side we can see the boats tied up in a marina area. We went to look at them yesterday. One looked like it was sinking, so guess who thought he could get a bargain.

We go for a walk most days. Today we walked into Paihia and home again. We think it took an hour, but we don't take a lot of notice of time these days, so who knows. We went along the beach and back  home along the footpath.

Here is the view from the edge of the camping ground. In the far distance you can just see the bridge that goes over to the Waitangi historical site. If you squint, you may see the boats on the other side, just to the left of the bridge. But may be not.

Our set up at the camping ground. The truck has sunk a bit in the wet grass, so Eddie has put boards under the front wheels to try and hold it up a bit better.

beach rubbish

Most days Eddie and I take a stroll along the beach. There are not many days we don't come home without some rubbish. We find a lot of clothes pegs, which come from the oyster farms in the Whangaroa Harbour. They get cleaned and put into the peg basket at the camp laundry. Very convenient. Mostly we get bits of glass, fishing line and the odd bit of rope. Today we had quite a haul, which we had to dig for. First we pulled out an old onion bag attached to a rope, which would have been used for holding berley in while it dispersed around the fisherman. The other dig we had was for a very long piece of rope attached to an old net.

Rope with net attached.

 They both would have made a marine animals life quite miserable if they had gone back out to sea. The net rope had barnacles on it, so it had been out in the ocean for a long time.

berley bag and rope.

A visit to Kaeo and Whangaroa Harbour

On Tuesday we just went into Kaeo to do our shopping, as it is only 17 ks away and there was no reason to go into Keri Keri. Very quaint little town, with lots of old building in the main street. The only trouble is, they are so run down they look like a puff of wind would blow them away. They definitely wouldn't survive an earthquake.
They have a jandal fence ( as you do), so I took some photos to show you.

A sign to tell you all about it

The fence in all it's glory

Lots of them had little messages on them

I wonder if the owners of these ones ever come to Kaeo, will they want their jandals back?
Kaeo isn't very big, so the walk up and down the main street didn't take long. We got into the car and drove up the hill to the suburbs. There was a sign pointing to the Wesleyan Mission, but we didn't find it. I think it dates back to the early European settlers. We did find the cemetery though. Not quite the tourist attraction we were looking for!
Kaeo floods badly. The main street (Elliot St) was raised up in the 1930's to try and keep the water our of the town. The local church looks as if it would be in a lake when it floods, as it is quite low down off the road built on a dish shaped section. ( I hope that makes sense).
After the excitement of Kaeo, we went to check out the Whangaroa harbour. A very peaceful place.

The day was cloudy, but not cold. There was no wind so the harbour was very tranquil.
Then it was time to go home before the milk got too warm and the butter melted.

Some bits and pieces

Last Saturday, the camp manager, Leah organized a camp lunch. They had a kai cooker, which is like a hangi out of the ground. We had pork, chicken, chops and vegetables. We didn't realized it was for everyone and we had eaten our lunch by the time it was ready. So we had another lunch, just like a hobbit. A lovely afternoon talking to the other campers.

Eddie caught a gurnard yesterday out at the harbour entrance. He saw 3 orcas while he was out there. Of course he didn't have a camera with him, so unfortunately no photos of them.

We were very lucky with the bad weather that the rest of the country endured last week. It got cold and we had some rain, but nothing very much. We had a glorious day yesterday, but today it is cloudy and cool.

We haven't left the camp since last Tuesday when we went to Keri Keri to get the groceries and get my hair trimmed. We will go again tomorrow. May be subway for lunch.

The camp is quite busy at the moment because of the school holidays. Several people of our age doing what we are doing. It seems to be the thing at the moment.

Overlooking Matauri Bay

On our way to Keri Keri last week we went the tourist route and went past Matauri Bay where the Rainbow Warrior was sunk. We went down to have a look at the camping ground and may go there when we leave here on the 4th August.

Cliffs at Tauranga Bay

I have forgotten to tell you about the cliffs at the western end of the bay. They are quite dramatic and rise straight up out to the sea.I think it is volcanic. May be the Whangaroa harbour was a volcano in a past life.

That isn't a cave it is just a large dent in the cliff face. There is a hole in the rocks over the other side of the harbour, but it is too far away to get a picture of.

Fog creeping out of Whangaroa Harbour.

This picture shows the entrance of the harbour as seen from the beach we are camped beside. There was no fog anywhere else; just creeping out of the harbour one morning last week.

cliff face

The sand on this beach is a reddish brown colour. We think it must have clay in it. It is very hard to walk on as we sink down quite a long way into it. By the time we get to the end of the beach, our calf muscles are complaining. It is a good work out, that's for sure.
We were able to go around a bit further today as the tide was out. Around the corner is a little beach, which you can just see in the photo below.

Hidden beach

Here is a close up photo of the cliff face. It looks as if it is crumbly.

close up of cliff face

We went into Keri Keri on Tuesday and got the groceries and I had my hair trimmed. On the way we stopped at Matauri Bay where the Rainbow Warrior was sunk. We may go and stay there for a week or two after we leave here on the 4th August.

overlooking Matauri Bay

A visit to Keri Keri

Yesterday ( Saturday 8th) we went to Keri Keri to meet up with friends from Hamilton, who are staying over at Opononi. We had a look in the Stone Store and then had a lovely lunch at the Pear Tree Cafe over the road from the store.
The store has been operating since 1836 and is the longest operating store in the country. I bought a little wooden spoon to put into the salt container and Jeaneen bought some merino gloves.

Eddie and I at the Stone Store. Photo Jeaneen.

View from the Pear Tree Cafe looking down the river.

It was a beautiful day and the sun streamed into the cafe. Above is the view we had while we ate our lunch.

A selfie .

After lunch Eddie and I did a bit of shopping; meths being high on the list! I finally got a new battery for my watch, that has been flat since we were in Papamoa. I just have never got around to getting one. It seems a bit weird to be wearing a watch now after all this time.

Today ( Sunday) is quite a different day with lots of wind and a few showers about. It is supposed to get up to about 100 k winds this afternoon, so we have moved away from the water's edge towards the back of the camp with our nose pointing into the wind and the truck in front of  us. We are getting good at this sort of thing now. I hung the washing on the line this morning and it was nearly dry in 2 hours. Another hour and it would have been dry, but the rain has returned.