Tawa-Paekok July6-12

As Hilary does every Sunday, we cleaned the house, though not as well as she does! Junior does make a lot more mess, what is it about boys/men that creates dirt? Then I went shopping & then cooked ‘Family Dinner’ for us plus Adam, we had a nice time but it was a bit odd without Hilary. Then they wanted to watch a DVD, so I banished myself to the study to write this blog for last week, I know this is one of the reasons why Hilary doesn’t allow Junior to move in, she wouldn’t be able to call the house her own.
On Monday I drove back to Paekok, not sure why really, seemed like a good idea at the time! Needed more clothes anyway. Erola was late home as she was on a course with Porse, her nanny agency, but she then updated me on her week, she was only in one night. I left again Tues morning, but agreed to go back on Thursday for a Landmark Introductory, more later.
On Tuesday morning I met Wayne at my site, supposedly so he could show me exactly where the house was going to be positioned. But he didn’t have a tape measure with him & the site plan is wrong, so it was all very unsatisfactory. I also noticed that someone appeared to have taken a ‘chunk’ out of my section at the front, which goes down to the path through the reserve, so checked with the Carrus developers office, they said they’d get back to me. Returned to Tawa, Ali & I went into town to meet Gordon at Wagamama for lunch, when she tried to explain indirectly that she didn’t really want to go & stay with him once I go home on the 19th, very difficult! Then Ali & I went to Te Papa to see the Rita Angus exhibition, it’s really good, we thought most of the paintings were very impressive & it’s good to see her story explained. I think Ali is quite glad of the company since Junior is practising a lot for his performance at World Youth Day in Oz, when he goes to see the Pope.
On Thursday I said goodbye to Junior since I won’t see him again before I go back. He managed to fix Hilary’s printer/scanner so I sent off my application for the little house in Leighton Buzzard I hope to rent. Then I went back to Paekok for a walk along the beach and to try & sort out how to get some money to Emma to pay the rental agent for the referencing process. It’s not possible now in Nationwide without using the card-reader which I haven’t got, we didn’t think it was safe to send it by mail since I STILL haven’t got any post! In the end my ex leant it to me/Emma, it’s good to be the needy person for a change! I met up with Erola at Vicki’s house for the Landmark Introductory session. Landmark is an organisation which provides (very expensive) self knowledge education really, I won’t be doing it but it might be useful for Emma, will think about it once I’m home if I have any money at all! On Friday we cleaned the house thoroughly, I went to see Johannes in the afternoon because my shoulder is still very painful, though I’m hardly knitting at all. On Saturday Erola cooked, best I kept out of the way so I did some errands for her and cleaned the bathroom. It was her birthday, she ‘s 64 but doesn’t want anybody to know, I promised not to sing the obvious song at the party tomorrow! I took her out to dinner at the local Fisherman’s Table restaurant, we were hoping to get a table with a view of the waves, but got the car-park instead! It was a horrible day weather-wise, so not that disappointed really.

Paekok-Tawa Jun29-Jul05

This week has been very different from the rather dream-like state I feel I've been in since I got here. Reality can be very cruel indeed.

The week started very happily, with Gordon, Hilary’s ex, coming to ‘Family Dinner’ on Sunday. Of course I thought at the time that would be the last time I’d see him before I returned to the UK, so we said our goodbyes, hugs all round, even Hilary got one. The weather was absolutely appalling all weekend, I was really glad I’d come back early, and later in the week there was snow in Palmerston North, which hasn’t happened for about 10 years. So the Kiwis are really paying for their wonderful summer, but the rain is very much needed to fill up the hydro lakes.
I came back to Paekok on Monday and heard all about Erola’s week while I’d been away, she seems not to have been home much at all, which is good I guess. On Tuesday I went to visit her where she nannies in Ngaio, where the 2 children are very gifted, but she thinks ‘Nicky Noodle’ (see above) has Asperger’s syndrome. He does seem a little bit odd to me, but he did take to me, Erola said I would make a good nanny if I couldn’t get an IT contract back in the UK! I think I’ll stick with being my grandchildren’s Nanna thanks!
On Wednesday everything changed. When my sister emigrated to NZ with her second husband Gordon, she left her daughter Liz from her first marriage back in the UK. There had been a huge falling-out, but there was a later reconciliation. Liz had an on-off relationship for at least 8 years I think, with Gary, a guy with quite a few problems. I got the dreadful news on Wednesday that Gary had committed suicide the previous weekend in Liz’s flat, & she had found him. He had broken in to do so, they were apart at the time. Of course Hilary took the first plane available back to the UK, which meant going via Sydney and took much longer than usual, and she arrived without her suitcase. I haven’t heard from her since, she has written one email from her ex-husband’s house, and texted Ali a couple of times, but of course it is very difficult for her. Apparently Liz is holding it all together, but only cos Hilary’s there I think. I hope to see them both once I get back too, Hilary had a return flight booked for 27 July, not sure if she’ll be able to persuade Liz to come back too. Liz has 2 dogs, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, who are her babies, & even more so now, one of them was Gary’s, so she won’t want to leave them.
So of course I offered to look after Ali (& Junior) in Hilary’s house for the duration of my visit. Ali is suffering from post-viral syndrome, which means she keeps going down with infection after infection, though fortunately she seems relatively OK at present. I’m just making sure she looks after herself (she’s Type 1 diabetic), and I feed them both proper food. Junior is never allowed to stay overnight while Hilary’s there, but of course he’s there now! He is off to Australia to see the Pope on the 13th anyway, so it isn’t for long.
I didn’t actually leave Paekok till the Friday, because Erola and I had booked tickets to see The Music Roadshow put on by Paraparamu College in the theatre at Southwards Car Museum (see above) on Thursday. It was very good, the boy on the far right is Joe, one of Erola’s Taiko drummers.
On Saturday I took Ali to Stephan’s restaurant north of Otaki, because she’d been wanting to go there for ages and we had planned it with Hilary anyway. Her friend Lucy, who died in the car crash I mentioned way back, was a chef there, and for a while there was a dessert named after her on the menu, but no longer. Otaki has some outlet stores, so of course we went shopping. I intended to buy stuff for me, but ended up as usual buying clothes for the grandchildren. I also bought some tops and a jacket for Ali for her birthday, which isn’t till next month but I won’t be here. It took our minds off things anyway.

North Island holiday Day 7 NAP to WLG Jun 28

Day 7 Napier to Wellington Sat Jun 28
The day dawned bright blue and clear, despite the forecast, so decided to do the ‘Art Deco’ walk at 10a.m. There was a big earthquake in Hawke’s Bay in 1931, which destroyed most of the old Victorian/Edwardian buildings in Napier, mostly because fire broke out and the water mains were fractured. Next door Hastings was not so badly hit. So downtown was re-built in the ‘Modernist’ style, only called Art Deco much later. Napier also gained lots more land, because there was an inland lagoon which rose 2 metres, so lots of new houses were built then too. An awful lot was accomplished in just 2 years. The Public Trust building above was one of the few which survived the earthquake, being built of reinforced concrete. The last picture of the 6 wooden houses, the ‘Six Sisters’, also survived because the fire swept inland driven by the sea breeze and missed them. So the new buildings were built out of reinforced concrete too. A lot of them look good on the outside but the interiors are just plain concrete, it being the time of the Great Depression and so not much money around. It is lovely though, and the guide was very knowledgeable, I learnt a lot in a very short time. The replacement street names were set into the pavement, there being no building on which to hang the signs. Like a lot of other places, even some of the 1930s building were destroyed right up until 2000, but they’ve stopped now!
As I drove on Highway 2 back to Wellington, I could see heavy rainclouds and snow on the central plateau, but it didn’t start raining heavily till I got to Woodville, where I stopped for brunch and switched to Highway 3 for Palmerston North, to come down the coast rather than the ‘scenic route’. I have noticed that there are a lot of rainbows in NZ, far more than in the UK, I guess because the weather is so changeable. The worst bit of the drive was coming through the Gorge, but I followed a camper van which was going quite slowly so that was good, in very poor visibility. Arrived at Hilary’s at about 5, having had a very interesting week. There are some places I would like to re-visit, Gisborne is on the list! Also, Hilary hasn’t been to Whakatane & I think it’s well worth a trip. We plan to go to Banks Peninsula and Hanmer Springs on South Is when I’m next here, and a camping trip (complete with kitchen sink, Hilary doesn’t do anything too basic!) to Hawke’s Bay. Hopefully we will do the full day wine tour next time, while the children do their own thing. I’m really pleased I took the time out to see a bit more of this beautiful country, I shall miss it, only 3 more weeks here!

North Island holiday Day 6 MOR to NAP Jun 27

Day 6 Morere to Napier Fri Jun 27
I stopped at a coffee shop south of Wairoa for breakfast of pancakes and bacon, unfortunately not crispy bacon like the Americans have, which is what I prefer. Very nice though. Arrived at the Napier information centre just before 12 noon, having decided that I would try to do a wine tour that afternoon, rather than wait till Saturday and then drive afterwards! Luckily for me a group of wives whose husbands were attending a horticultural conference had arranged to go on one with Odyssey tours, I did get the details from the internet last year when Hilary and I were thinking about a long weekend in Hawke’s Bay. I booked accommodation in an expensive B&B on Marine Parade, Mon Logis, so I could walk into town for dinner, had 15 minutes to get there & check in before the bus arrived, a bit of a rush!
It was a beautiful day, Napier was the warmest place in NZ that day, at 18, so I did the right thing. We visited 4 vineyards, Church Road, Matariki, Ngatarawa and Vidal. At Church Road we were taught the basics of wine-tasting by Daphne, & then tasted 6 wines, we did slow down a bit after that! Of course it isn’t necessary to drink every last drop, in fact I did throw away quite a bit which I didn’t like. However I did manage to buy at least one bottle in each place we visited. At Vidal, which we got to at about 4, we had a beautiful large platter of food between two, containing chilli peppered squid, their speciality, steak, smoked cheddar, green mussels, peppers, marinaded mushrooms, salmon & at least 3 different types of bread. Needless to say I was too full to need dinner, so it was a bit of a waste choosing a place so close to town. Gareth, the driver of the bus, also stopped at a restaurant called Pacifika on Marine Parade on the way back, to get us all menus. It changes daily, depending on what’s fresh, and the restaurant was being judged that evening for the Finals of Cuisine magazine’s Restaurant of the Year competition. I have no idea if they won or not!
I watched the news and saw how awful the forecast was for the weekend, and decided that I would give the south Wairapa a miss this time. I didn’t fancy being blown away at Cape Palliser and then being blown off the road through the Remutakas going ‘over the hill’ back to Wellington.

North Island holiday Day 5 HKB to MOR Jun 26

Day 5 Hicks Bay to Morere Thurs Jun 26
I really wanted to go to East Cape lighthouse, just to say I had been to the eastern-most part of NZ. Probably against Avis rules, because the road is gravel for about 10k and a bit scary to drive, I did go there, but chickened out from climbing 600 steps up! On my own I did think about what happened if I fell, nobody would know till they spotted my car and people die every year in NZ going ‘tramping’ on their own.
The road going down the east side of the cape doesn’t hug the coast, and was a bit easier to drive, the west coast was very tiring. I noticed lots of scrap cars in the backyards of the local ‘shacks’, and also lots of horses. I did meet 2 herds of cows being driven by Maori cowboys, the old-fashioned way but a very good idea now petrol is so expensive. I took photos of the old Shipping Company building in Tokamuru Bay, now in ruins but there was a box in the door asking for ‘koha’ (donations) for the upkeep! The bay itself is a beautiful turquoise, and some very up-market houses were under construction on the small slope behind the beach, I bet it is reasonable to build here, but a long long way from anywhere. I stopped in Tolaga Bay, some distance south of Tokamuru, for coffee, and heard people discussing where they bought petrol to go into ‘town’, being Gisborne, over 30k away!
I had intended to stay the night in Gisborne but had not booked anywhere. I wanted to see both Cook Memorials, since this is where Captain Cook first landed in NZ. The view above shows ‘Young Nick’s Head’, named after the lookout boy who first spotted the anchorage. Cook called the area Poverty Bay, because ‘it afforded not one single thing we needed’ (a paraphrase!), but it is very fertile round about. Gisborne was being dug up, maybe as a result of the earthquake last December , but at any rate I couldn’t get near either place I wanted to see. I debated stopping in town, and if I had I would have gone to the Museum, which I’d have known about if I’d taken my 1001 Things to do in NZ book which was a gift from Avis. I have used it extensively, but it was too heavy to put in my case to take on the train. I decided to drive on to the next place, Morere Hot Springs, because I love hot pools. I was able to book a cabin across the road, which was lovely, almost new, though I had no food with me so had to buy a very expensive tin of soup from the tiny shop to heat up later for my supper. Then I went and sat in some very hot pools of ancient sea water, very unusual, and the pools were stainless steel so it was a bit like being cooked for supper! Bliss though, it’s my very favourite thing to do in NZ.

North Island holiday Day 4 OHO to HKB Jun 25

Day 4 Ohope Beach to Hicks Bay Wed Jun 25
The overnight forecast had been very bad, and there was snow on the Desert Road (going south after Taupo) which meant it was closed, but in Ohope the day dawned bright and clear but with a cold wind. Brian said grace before breakfast and then Pat insisted on saying a prayer for me before I went on my travels. I didn’t mind but I guess some people would. East Cape is the least visited part of NZ, and very Maori, extremely beautiful (of course). My drive today was up SH35 round the west coast, a series of little coves, mostly with blue-black volcanic sand, but some sandy ones. Very few villages, hamlets really. In fact there are no towns at all in the whole of East Cape, so I made sure to fill up with petrol in Opotiki. Hardly any cars at all, just a few trucks and lots of roadworks. Landslides and washouts (where the road has disappeared) are very common in NZ, a lot of the roads do go through narrow valleys on hill/mountain sides. I stopped at a new hotel in Te Kaha hoping to get lunch, Pat & Brian had mentioned it, but it wasn’t open for business. They told me the builder had gone bust, but later on the motel manager in Hicks Bay told me the owner had sold the hotel rooms on a timeshare basis, but hadn’t realised that no-one would come in the winter, so he had gone bust. Fortunately the local cafe next to the postshop in the village was open (the only 2 commercial premises in the place) so I was able to get lunch there. The local Maori pensioners were on a minibus outing, in fact I was the only pakeha in the place. I didn’t feel unwelcome though. Later on I saw lots of notices on land beside the sea saying ‘Private No Trespassing’ etc. Apparently Maori believe they own the foreshore, and so, although it is probably illegal, they prevent people camping in this part of NZ, or even walking on the beach. I don’t think anyone would argue with them, as you’ve probably seen from the rugby, most of the men are huge!
Hicks Bay motel didn’t look very open at 3 when I got there, so I drove on to Te Araroa which on the map looked like a reasonable size place. It did have a few shops, mostly closed in winter, and was being dug up, obviously winter is a good time to do all these things, serves me right for going at this time! I did go into the local dairy (corner-shop) to get a paper and asked if there was anywhere I could get a coffee. She said over the road, but it didn’t open till 4, so I sat & looked at the waves crashing in for a bit & then went back to the motel. I checked in and discovered that breakfast was between 6:30-8, because of the ‘construction workers’. Of course the motel keeps open in winter by putting up all the workers whom I’d seen on the roads coming up! Consequently dinner that night and breakfast were HUGE meals. My room was very nice, had a heater and a tele, only got 2 channels though, but at least I could catch up with the news and feel warm at night! It was very windy overnight but another blue sunny day dawned for the next leg of my expedition (it felt a bit like that, all alone in the wilderness!).

North Island holiday Day 3 ROT to OHO Jun 24

Day 3 Rotorua to Ohope Beach Tues Jun 24
Forgot to mention that I finally heard from Wayne at Golden Homes yesterday. Apparently he has now out-sourced my plans, costing the company $800, I’m not sure I believe him! Should have the site plan by the time I get back on Monday, I wonder?
Drove 10K south towards the thermal park at Wai-o-Tapu which I haven’t visited before, but gave up and turned round because the weather was absolutely appalling, sleet and wind, no fun!
It would’ve been a very scenic drive north to Whakatane beside several lakes if they hadn’t been shrouded in low cloud. Fortunately by the time I reached Whakatane (pronounced F**k-a-tarn-i, so most pakeha call it ‘wocca’!) the weather had improved dramatically. I went to the information centre and got a very good map showing all the local landmarks, so first I went to see the statue of Wairaka, the Maori maiden, at the entrance to the harbour . This is the first place where Maori landed in the 1300s, legend has it that the women and children were left on the shore while the men explored inland. However, being a harbour, the tide came in and started to wash the canoe out to sea. Although women are not allowed to paddle canoes, Wairaka decided to jump in and bring the boat back to shore, thus saving it. Whakatane means ‘I become a man’ in Maori. It is a beautiful statue, I found it quite moving looking at it. Then I climbed up to an old ‘pa’, where there was a spectacular view over the town. Then I visited the waterfall in the town itself, again, very significant to Maori.
I bought a hand-thrown pottery bowl because it makes sense to buy stuff for my new house when I see it, and then went to my next B&B in Ohope Beach. I watched some young guys surfing on the lovely beach, bright blue skies by now. Again, I had been ‘handed over’ to my new hosts, Pat & Brian, ex-farmers from Napier in their 70s, who knew Judy but she hadn’t mentioned it. The house was spectacular, made out of macrapaka wood brought from the farm and insulated with wool of course. I watched Coronation St with Pat, in their lounge, a very interesting room since it’s octagonal and contains about 15 chairs. It turned out they are devout Christians and hold regular meetings there. The doors contain stained glass made for them in Israel when they visited a few years ago, depicting the Mt Ararat dove, & the water & hills of NZ, very beautiful. The house was much warmer than Judy’s, but the north coast of NZ is warmer anyway. I had bought another thermal vest and a cheap merino wool jumper in Rotorua just in case! Ate in a very up-market local restaurant, Ohope Beach has lots of swish holiday homes in it so I guess that’s the normal clientele.