2026 April - Otago, Southland

April 1st dawned sunny and we set off for Lake Tekapo, stopping in Burke's Pass/ Three Creeks , in the heart of the Mackenzie Country, to visit the vintage general store, 1950's service station, blacksmith's shop and Trading Store which provide an interesting collection of artworks, crafts, retro collectables, wooden furniture, cars (and ice creams!).

The photographer must have finished his Magnum!

A few old crocs around here.

After wandering up the road to see the quaint little historic church, St Patrick's, which was constructed in 1871-1872 making it the oldest surviving Union Church in NZ, and being a joint effort between the local Anglican, Presbyterian and Catholic communities, we continued on to the popular NZMCA Park in Tekapo. It was very busy as usual but as it takes 100 vehicles we did manage to find a park although there were not a lot left to choose from.

The sun was shining again the next day as we struggled to find our way to the 9 Hole Cairns golf course which is the highest 9 Hole course in NZ as well as being amongst the most beautiful in the world. First we had to locate the office which is on the way but still a bit of a distance from the course itself. Once we worked out where the car park was the next challenge was to find the 1st Tee. Once you know, it's reasonably easy but for first timers it's difficult especially as we were the only ones there, initially. 

Some rough to clear from this tee.

Gimme?

The views from the course made up for everything however as it was stunning to be wowed by beautiful Lake Tekapo down below us, and the snow-topped mountains behind, from so many of the hilly fairways which were lined with tussock grass. With little lakes to navigate around and  good greens we felt it was well worth the $30 each to play. Similar landscape in a way to Kinloch but with even more picturesque views and Kinloch's green fee is $350!  After golf we had a wander through town following that up with a walk along the lakeside from the camp after dinner.

When we were at Lake Tekapo last year we intended to play on the Mackenzie Course, just out of Tekapo but we found it covered with deep snow. This time we were much luckier with the arrival of another sunny day and the colour of the fairways brown rather than white. We played with Kevin, a good golfer from Christchurch, who has a family bach at Lake Alexandrina which we remembered swimming in 12 years ago when we stayed there in our bus. The course was mainly flat with a couple of medium hills, tree-lined fairways some of which were quite narrow from the tees, tussock grass along the edges which made finding a ball quite difficult and patchy greens but we enjoyed playing it, especially in the sunshine.

Tight par 3 at Mackenzie

Afterwards we tootled off down the road to the Omarama, another course that we missed playing last year. Here the fairways were all flat, wide and brown but the greens were well looked after and we both scored exactly the same as we each did on the Mackenzie course. We stayed the night here, in the car park, being joined later on by a  family with a very large caravan.

Saturday was a day of rain and after dumping/filling it was a catch-up day on indoor things like my accounts and making a large pot of pumpkin soup.

The night stop

We stayed at the Otematata District Club where, before a fish & chip dinner (elephant fish for Len)  we chatted to other motor-homers, Craig & Robyn, from Pyes Pa and some friendly locals.

Formerly a bustling town for hydro project workers in the '60s with a population of over 4,000 it now has only about 270 residents but can swell to over 5,000 in summer with it's easy access to Lakes Benmore and Aviemore plus tramping trails. Luckily for us the predicted rain for the next day stayed away although it remained cloudy as we headed to the golf course at 8.30 having been told at the Club that there was a big tournament starting at noon.

I think it's gone further than I can see!

It was an interesting course being surrounded by mountains, young trees off the first few fairways, then older trees as we came closer to the Wetlands. It was flat with some dog legs but no bunkers and we were all finished by 10.00 am.  We had a chance then to enjoy a good hour or so of walking through the Wetlands where there were quite a lot of other people/families also.

Photo taken by a young girl who'd just fallen off her bike

Lots of trees including apples, pears, strawberry trees, Lombardi poplars, willows and raupo. Since 2010 local volunteers have put in thousands of hours of work restoring the area to the beauty of today, being known as Otematata's Jewel in the Crown.

We wanted to see the Elephant Rocks which we missed last time we were in this area so we decided to do that next, after a walk through Kurow, and stay at the Elephant Rocks POP next door for the night. Elephant Rocks are massive, hummocky, limestone formations which have weathered over 23-25 million years, being the remains of an ancient seafloor from Zealandia being pushed up by tectonic forces and sculpted by wind, rain and ice into the "herd of elephants" seen today.

Elephant Rocks

We were the only residents at the Elephant Rocks POP (farmland owned by Avonlea Dairies) apart from all the cows, sheep and Highland cattle which look so imposing and fierce even though they are meant to be docile "gentle giants". 

We didn't want to have our coffee there anyway!

They made us not want to go walkabout to admire the views but thankfully our day had already been full of walking. During the night however we received quite a bit of jolting in Heidi as the cattle rubbed themselves against the van right by our heads! It did feel a bit scary and the next morning there were lots of dirty streaks on Heidi at cattle head height.

Another cloudy day on Monday 6th and we played golf at 9 hole Tokarahi where we initially had some difficulty in seeing where to pay as the clubhouse on the left side of the road, behind a locked gate, had no information, cards or payment slots and the phone number I found just belonged to a man who was playing all the courses in NZ, like Len, and he was asking for sponsorship! But once at the course on the right side of the road we found a little stand with the cards and payment information. The course at first looked absolutely delightful being park-like, well manicured, nice trees and no apparent rough at all.

Like walking up The "Mount" pushing a trundler

However after the first 2 fairways we turned to the left and there before us were substantial hills - I couldn't believe it! It was so steep and we should have looked on Google first where we would have seen that it was known for it's challenging hilly terrain. It was exhausting and I scored accordingly but I mustn't let that take me away from it's beauty with the variety of conifers and deciduous trees and the little lake we found when we descended from the heights. However I was pleased to get to the 9th green! The A&P Showgrounds at Oamaru was our home for the night and even though tired out I managed to make another big container of  muesli when we arrived.

No. 8 tee. what a great shot - Huh???

Rainy in the morning but by the time we got to Patearoa golf course it had cleared, the only other souls there being a couple who were just leaving as we arrived so, like yesterday, we were alone as we played. Thankfully this was a nice flat course, until we got to the Par 3 No 8 where the green was perched on top of a high tiered hill. We're sure Len did a great shot but his ball was nowhere to be found. Mine was ok as I climbed and hit it up there in stages! There was a hidden creek but good greens and pretty good fairways. That night we stayed at the Ranfurly NZMCA Park from which it is a very short walk into the quiet little village.

Just a note here to say that we're playing a lot of golf at the moment as we are trying to play all the courses which are more-or-less en-route to Arrowtown as Len has arranged to play golf on Friday with a friend, Tony, from Whakatane who now lives there and is a member at Millbrook. Tony leaves for a cruise around Japan & Alaska on Saturday, hence the rush with golf every day this week.

We had a good chat with the greenkeeper  and a nice couple with 'Willy's Way' on their motorhome as their name was Williams, when we arrived at the Naseby golf course on Wednesday. It's one you can't stay at as the nearby campground helps the club with sponsorship even though they have a good unisex toilet and shower room. Naseby is flat with pines lining the fairways, tiny clay bunkers and small greens but I think I'm 'golfed out' with 7 days of golf out of 9 even though they are 9 hole courses. I probably just haven't recovered from Tokorahi! 

Naseby Clubhouse

We stayed the night at Naseby Holiday Park which is a pretty old basic campground but with very good shower power which we appreciate. Dinner was found by walking down the hill to the Royal Hotel which was humming and we were lucky to get a table. We could see why - the food was delicious! Lamb shank for Len and smoked salmon for me and just because it was so delicious we decided to try the desserts as well, neither of which disappointed - sticky date pudding for Len and Creme Brulee for me. And the service was so efficient and friendly as well. I couldn't fault it and it felt like such a treat. On our return to the camp the lady in the motorhome next door to us shone her torch into my face and said "I know you!" Because it was dark and in my head I was trying to remember all the people we have met on our travels it took me a little while to realise that it was Jenny B, a fairly new member at our Whakatane course, who was there with her husband and daughter. Talk about a small world.

On the way to Cromwell we passed a little golf course at Wedderburn which I pointed out to Len who said that we must have already played it as it wasn't on our 'to do' list but when we had a coffee stop further up the road he checked and found that it was one we didn't have down at all. So we did a U turn and headed back. We now know why it wasn't on the list as it's a very rough 9 holer set up by I think 3 local farmers and isn't on dot golf but we thought we'd better play it anyway. Oh my, not the best, and an extraordinary challenge to say the least with a bog as part of the 1st fairway, the 2nd tee being in the scrub, a very steep cliff in front of a Par 3 green and as rough as - you couldn't really distinguish the fairways or greens very well but it did have a nice pond over the cliff, out the back. Enough said!

Local Rules

No.4 green on top of the cliff.

On the way to the Bannockburn Scottland POP for the night we stopped in nice little Cromwell, which we are pretty familiar with now from other visits, to do the washing - it's actually always quite uplifting to have everything clean again. The POP is on a high-up 10 hectare site with great views over the countryside although it was a little difficult to find a flat site. If we had had time we could have roamed the old diggings and explored the gold mining caves down in Smith's Gully but with our race against time it was just a one night stop before we were on the road in time for Len to play golf at the Remarkables Course, Millbrook after picking up my Meds from the Unichem in Arrowtown. It was a beautiful day with some frost about and the oak tree-lined approach to the Clubhouse through part of the course is idyllic. 

Len holding the flag.

Len loved the fine turf and excellent greens along with the panoramic views of Millbrook, the Crown Range and the Remarkables whilst I spent my time (after working on valuing our house chattels for Jim, my accountant) walking (a bus a part of the way in) to Arrowtown and back, just having a quick wander through some of the shops. Lots of tourists of all nationalities and seemingly not many locals. Len finished playing golf about the same time I returned and I was able to join "the boys" and Sharon for a drink in the clubhouse before we headed to Lake Hayes to stay on the drive of our friend, Derek's, holiday house. It has been a handy place for us to stay in the past.

Another beautiful sunny day on Saturday but I spent most of it working on my accounts before enjoying a scenic walk around part of the lake -  it was good have actually have a rest day after rushing around. Another easy day followed with us driving into Frankton to dump, buy a warm merino top each, visit the supermarket etc.

Monday 13th was our 20th Wedding Anniversary and it continued the tradition of not really doing anything special to celebrate. Len had been invited to play golf on the other Millbrook course, Coronet, with Jeff, an American who was in his group on Friday, and to his surprise had a free round, courtesy of Jeff who had vouchers to use - a substantial saving! There were a few light showers but Len, once again, appreciated how special the Millbrook courses are. Meanwhile I had another catch-up day working on this blog for one thing. We had 5 nights altogether on Derek's drive, catching the bus into Frankton on the last day mainly to get our flu injections and the next day moving to the Arrowtown Holiday Park where we had booked in for 2 nights so we could catch up with our friends Anne & Dave and Milly who all happened to be staying in Arrowtown that week and were both within walking distance of the camp.

After having coffee with Milly and Barbara at their nice Home Exchange house we all walked into town to the opening of the Autumn Festival which is perfectly timed for everyone to admire all the beautiful autumn colours on the plentiful trees. 

The girls - B, T & M

We met up with Anne & Dave there too as we listened to the opening speeches and watched the mainly children sing and dance. We had iconic pies from the famous pie shop which I actually thought were disappointing. However it's always a "must do", After a cuppa at the lovely house of Anne & Dave's friends and some time spent back at camp we joined them again for a Takeaway Indian and a few games of Uno - beginner's luck for me! Really nice to be back with friends again and enjoy their company.

Snowy tops from the Campground.

The view from the camp the next morning was just awesome being greeted by snow on the mountain tops although it unfortunately slowly started to melt. A&D picked up us in their friend's car and we had a lovely brisk walk around Lakes Hayes - about 1 hour 50 mins, followed by coffee and a snack at the very pristine and grand Ayrburn Estate where we went last year with Gilda and Owen - Billi's restaurant being particularly impressive with it's chandeliers, lighting, furniture and overall grandeur. The gardens are immaculate and make a relaxing stroll. Not quite lovely, outdoorsy Anne's cup of tea as she prefers a more natural environment and less 'embellishments' for want of a better word.

Lake Hayes autumn spectacle

Takeaway pizza, clam noodles, chicken and salad made for an easy meal at Milly and Barbara's that night followed by 5 Crowns, chat and laughter.

Len and Owen were booked in to play at Jack's Point on the Friday and although we knew the weather was not going to be the best you can't get your money back if you change or cancel your booking so it had to be all steam ahead. The sky looked sort of OK at first and so Gilda and I played together on the little 9 hole course at Frankton but from midday onwards it was rain, rain and more rain! Everything got horribly wet but at least Gilda and I had time to pop into a dry Cafe for hot soup and coffee after we played. The boys had already completed their round by the time Gilda and I were back at Jack's Point and Len was just emerging from the shower where at least he was able to warm up and dry off afterwards. It's just not very nice to have to put all the wet golfing gear and clothes back into Heidi afterwards. 

The freedom camp on the edge of the lake just north of Kingston was a handy spot to stop for the night even though the ground is rather uneven and there were quite a lot of other vans there already taking up the best spots. We just hoped that we weren't going to be stuck in the morning as the rain continued on and off all night but all was fine. The scenery is always interesting in the south - brown, crumpled hills and mountains with patches of irrigated green, brown leaves fluttering down rather like snowflakes even though not white, sheep that were now white, not dirty brown like the merinos we had been passing previously  - as we drove towards the Country Park camp just before Mossburn. The rain finally eased and the sun came out as we arrived at the camp where I was pleased to do the washing and get the clothes that can't go into the drier out on the line. Len was able to get the wet golf gear out of the garage and into the sun to dry while I whipped up some healthy banana, sultana in bran muffins - our favourite at the moment!

Better start plucking!

Another 9 hole golf course, Mossburn, $15 each, was tackled the next day.  There was a group from the Invercargill Workingmen's Club about to tee off so we started off No 7 to avoid a wait. The course was flat, wet with no run but no hazards and although my golf is haphazard Len is doing OK. A pie for lunch at Bracken Hall in Naseby was our next stop - not much food to choose from here and they were even down to their last pies. They must have been heated in the microwave from frozen I think as the pastry was so doughy - won't go back there! From there to Nightcaps Course which, although only $10 each, was in better condition than Mossburn. Undulating but good short grass on the fairways so there was a bit of run and the greens were in good condition. The ladies toilets on both courses we played today were locked which is unusual. 

Matilda's in Nightcaps.

Matilda's Friends POP, almost in town, with power and a $20 donation was our stop for the night - a smaller area than I expected to park in but just a couple of other vans there. They have a dump station and a handy toilet plus an outdoor shower which we didn't use as you would need to be tough in these wintry conditions. We appreciated our own Heidi one on this occasion. At the moment we are getting nights of 0 & 1° but luckily our heater works well.

The day was fine at Drummond golf course where we played and stayed the next night. The fairways were flat, had nice grass, not too long and the greens were good. We chatted to one of the green keepers beforehand while he surveyed the course with his coffee. I was surprised to learn that they have 3 paid mowermen who were all out working while we were there.  

"Snow" bunkers!

The unusual thing was that the bunkers had very white "sand" in them which looked like snow on the approach and we couldn't tell what it was! Another motorhomer, a man with his 2 dogs arrived to play the next day before we left, with me driving this time, for the Otautau golf course where there was a group of 6 just starting their 2nd 9 when we arrived so we had lunch first to put some space between us. We would have been welcome to join the Chair Yoga Exercise class that was about to happen in the Club rooms but decided that golf was foremost!

The course was one of my nightmares - very hilly & steep and long grass on the fairways which meant there was no run at all. The greens were nearly all torn up with bad scarifying which meant they hadn't bothered to put the flags in the cupless holes. It was a very bad day for me again and I was pleased when the golf came to an end- I think I got 6 stablefords for 9 holes! After stocking up with groceries in tiny Otatau we drove on to the Carriers Arms Hotel in Riverton where you are welcome to park out the back for free. The reviews had said the meals were very good but unfortunately their chef had just up and left so none were available. the barlady, who had no-one to serve all night it seems, recommended that we go to the Aparima Restaurant & Bar over the river so we took her advice and walked there in the freezing cold wind. I think it only took about 20 minutes but it was oh-so-cold even though I was multi-layered with clothes and had my thick jacket and scarf over the top.

Too cold to sit outside.

Once there we soon warmed up fortunately and really enjoyed our fish and salmon meals as we gazed out over the estuary. It was a good choice. on returning to Heidi after another cold walk we thought we should pop into the tavern for a nightcap as support for allowing us to stay. As we sipped our little port and whisky we had a good chat to the friendly bar lady about life in Riverton/Aparima as she still had no other customers even though there was another motorhome parked out the back. I just hope they manage to get a good new chef soon. 

A seat with a view of the Aparima River

In the morning we had a wander around the Estuary, again well clad, as it was only 5° and we're not used to the cold yet, before driving past Tihaka Beach on to the freedom camping area right alongside the beach at Colac Bay, a really great spot especially for beach lovers like me. On the way we drove out to the Rocks at Howell's Point, Aparima, passing all the holiday houses, mostly unoccupied, with owners apparently living in places like Wanaka, Queenstown and Auckland and just coming down for summers. A fishing boat was about to go out at Colac Bay when we arrived but was waiting for the tide to be high enough to launch and a sole man was fishing off the rocks nearby. Once parked with only the narrow metal dead-end access way between us and the beach the sun came out and we could enjoy listening to the sounds and watching the activity of the blue sea in the warmth of Heidi with 9° being the top temperature for the day. There were a few vans parked near the boat launching area but none at all close to us. The night was cold, going down to -2°, but luckily our heater kept us cosy and it was so good to listen to the waves.

Absolute beach front!

T in her happy place.

Sundown over Colac Bay

The next day was again cloudy and Len decided that he would like to visit Lake George which he could see on the map was on our way to our next destination of Monkey Island Beach.  There being no proper car park was probably a clue but we found a spot off-road and walked a little way along the short rough track towards the "lake" until we could follow it no more, being impeded by mud and dense flax through which there was no access so we were pretty soon back on the road. The tide was out at Monkey Island Beach so we could have easily walked out to it, as we did last time we were here, but really there was no need as it's tiny and really there's nothing to see. Although we could have stayed here, like a few others, we decided to head on to Gemstone Bay which we love. There are so many beautiful stones in such varying colours that you could search and wander through them forever. 

Fossilised log in mud stone?

I wish that I could take a trailer-load home to put in the garden! After spending quite a bit of time admiring the gems - far more precious to me than any jewels we returned to Monkey Island Bay so we could walk east along the interesting elevated coastal path adorned at times with hanging paua shells, seeing goats, horses, observing the many graves in the grave yard and enjoying a chat to a local in the garden of her new house, in a recent subdivision, with amazing views over the bay to Fiordland. 

Driving on to the Orepuki Tavern where we could spend the night in the car-park for $20 but be compensated by being given a free drink at the bar, we mused on how many flax bushes you see in Southland - they are everywhere as are the rows and rows of sileage bales instead of stacked ones as we are used to seeing. 

Southland bale placement.

Apparently just a couple of the reasons for this are that it reduces the chance of damage to the plastic and allows rain water to drain away more efficiently than if they were stacked. We had dinner in the Pub where quite a few of the locals were also congregated and I was in awe of how the owner/publican, Alistair, managed to be the jack-of-all-trades during the night, taking food orders, taking phone orders for takeaways, cooking the dinners solo and serving them, as well as being barman although we did notice that a lot of the locals knew how to serve themselves. I guess they paid their debts at the end of the night. Alistair said that he does occasionally get help in and his accountant tells him he's mad not to do it more often. Len enjoyed his blue cod and chips but I was disappointed with my very sparse whitebait fritter - most of the whitebait had got away. The next morning we had a $4 shower in the "outhouses"which were very basic, but the shower-head flow was pretty good. I also did a clothes wash and dry for $4 each which was good value. Monkey Island Bay was calling again so we could do a good walk down the beach at low tide towards Gemstone Bay which was further than we thought. There was a little stream to cross initially with widespread crisscrosses of water all about and after getting one foot totally wet I considered it wise to take my shoes and socks off until we were clear which is what I should had done in the first place. Len was ok in his crocs. We did a good walk along the beach but stopped when we saw a man panning for gold by firstly putting his spade through the top couple of inches of the dark  layer of the sand and filling his trailer.  A nice fellow who explained what he was doing and hoped to soon recover the cost of all the equipment he needed.

The sluices

The panner

He had set up 2 sluices in the little creek to do the initial wash through before taking it home for further extraction. He could get an ounce of gold from a trailer-load which he said was worth about $250. There were more colourful gems to see on the beach around here as we were getting reasonably close to Gemstone Bay so that slowed our walk down considerably.

I wanted to return to Colac Bay for the night to enjoy listening to the waves again before we headed to Invercargill and on the way we stopped at the Orepuki Beach Cafe on the main road, not at the beach, for an Eggs Bene and Bacon & Egg lunch - my Eggs Benedict was mouth-watering deliciousness!! A place I'd rush back to if I had the chance! There were a lot more vans, maybe 14 or 15, at Colac Bay than when we were there a couple of nights previously, no doubt because it was a long weekend with the next day being Anzac Day but we managed to park pretty much in our favourite spot. A neighbour, who had been out amongst the rocks in his wet suit very kindly gave us a paua which was already prepared and beaten for cooking and Len, putting his chef's hat on, sliced it and cooked it up beautifully in butter, garlic and chilli. Previously we've only had it done in coconut milk at the marae before, which we enjoyed, apart from a fritter which I have had in the far past and I think it will take me a little while to get used to the texture when eating it on it's own but Len happily tucked in.

The next morning, Saturday, after cleaning up the porridge I spilt all over myself, behind the oven glass and onto the floor and the sweet chilli sauce which spilt itself in the fridge when the lid somehow came off it was time to catch up with Madi in Invercargill, via Riverton to dump, something I had really been looking forward to. We stayed at the NZMCA Park in Invercargill for the next 3 nights, initially taking Madi into town to the Black Shag Cafe for coffee and something to eat followed by a walk to Madi's favourite Asian shop and a walk past SIT where Madi has lectures and studies and through pretty Otepuni Park alongside the little stream. Once at the "camp" it was good to get the washing that can't go in the drier on the line in the sunshine and breeze. Len and I went for a walk down to the Estuary and not far from the historic wharf along the estuary path we heard a loud whistlely bird call which we had never heard before. On searching in the trees we saw our first ever large, long-tailed cuckoo or Koekoea which are not at all common with the species being threatened. Any about will be leaving soon for the Pacific Islands such as Fiji, Samoa and French Polynesia, returning to NZ later in the year to breed. What a special moment - we stood watching it for quite a long time and it only stopped occasionally calling when I thought to put my voice recorder on unfortunately. How do they know?

It rained all night and all the next day but we could still enjoy a coffee etc with Madi and Geoff (Madi's other step-grandad) at Geoff's favourite cafe - Sip Society where we all returned the next day as both the food and coffee were very good. Madi spent all her spare time on Saturday and Sunday working at an assignment at SITS - she's really liking the subjects in the B.Comm degree she is doing, which is great. On Sunday we took her out for a late lunch at Batch where we were lucky to get a table with it being very busy. After another session for Madi at SIT we dropped her home again. Normally she has her "own" little car, which belongs to her Gran, Rosina, to drive but it sadly broke down last week and is waiting for some major repairs.

Monday was a holiday to observe Anzac Day which fell on a Saturday this year and after meeting up with Geoff and Madi for coffee we drove down to the 9 Hole Bluff golf course, very challenging, hilly and wet at the moment with all the rain.

Steep and slippery.

I opted not to play because of the terrain, drizzle and slippery slopes, instead making muesli and trying to get this blog up-to-date.  Len was pleased to finish and rejoin me in Heidi for lunch after which we popped out to admire the garden and greenhouse at Rosina's (she is on holiday in Japan at the moment, returning tomorrow night) and Geoffs. The greenhouse has beautiful big ripe grapes, lots of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries etc and we were treated to plenty to take home. The flavour of everything is so much better than normal, especially the sweet baby tomatoes which actually taste like real tomatoes, far superior to the shop ones. We played SkipBo and Rummikub with Madi which was reminiscent of the time she spent living with us as it was something we did every night. The cat, Ruby, and the kitten Frankie provided some entertainment with Frankie tormenting Ruby at every chance and Ruby aptly putting him in his place. We all went to Turkish Kebabs for dinner, one of Madi's favourite places, and  all really enjoyed the food, the others having kebabs while I had mixed meat and salad, taking some home as I couldn't fir it all in. We also samples a little Baklavah which was pretty good but nowhere near the deliciousness of the Baklavah that we had years ago in Turkey.

Otatara Golf Links, just out of town, was the next course on Len's to do list so we played the next morning, Len doing 18 holes and me just 10.

Invercargill Golf Club

The course was really nice with lots of just little undulations, some wet patches from all the rain especially on the first fairway, but good to have the ball able to run a bit. There were lots of bunkers of which I found 2 but they weren't too deep fortunately. The greens had recently been cored but were good, just not as fast as normal apparently and no balls were lost. It was cloudy and windy but the rain stayed away with the sun coming out when Len was on the second nine. He joined up with a couple of other men for the last 2 holes, one of them being the ex All Black, Jimmy Cowan from Gore, who played 57 games for NZ 15 or so years ago. It was good to be able to stay at the course overnight and I even had a lovely shower in the clubhouse, instead of Heidi, in the morning before we left to walk down Oreti Beach where Len had thought he would go fishing but really it was all too shallow. Instead we drove round to Daffodil Bay where we stopped for a coffee right on the water's edge of the estuary where Len could put his fishing rod out but he must still have the wrong bait!

Still no luck!

Luckily he stopped just before the heavens opened and the rained poured down and the wind blew for the rest of the day and into the night. We picked up Madi from SIT and had a tasty dinner at Bombay Palace before dropping Madi back at her home in the country.

We had another night at the NZMCA Park in Invercargill, being woken early with the activity and noise from machinery and a large concrete pump just over the fence.  Queen's Park Golf Course was really nice to play on after breakfast, being flat with just some small undulations and within Queen's Park itself, so there were plenty of gardens and trees to admire as well as walkers and joggers on the paths. However because of all the rain over the previous few hours it was wet underfoot with large puddles around as well as a tall tree that had been blown over by the strong wind and was lying directly across the entire 15th fairway. It seemed quite unusual that the walkers weren't very friendly - they often didn't make eye contact, and if they did, and you greeted them, they seemed to just stare at you with no response. The sole golfer we came across was friendly however. It just seemed strange as Southerners are known for their friendliness but maybe they just don't tolerate golfers in their park.

After golf we finally left Invercargill after a 5 day visit and meandered out to Fortrose to play the very hilly Tokanui Course. There is an excellent Freedom Camping area, right on the edge of the Estuary, which is usually very busy but not so bad at this time of the year with only 5 or 6 other vans there. 

 

2026 March - A month of golf tournaments and unplanned extended stay in Masterton

On Sunday 1st we arrived at the Waipukurau Golf Course to play in a 2 day Vets tournament joining about 8 other vans in the car park where we were moved 3 times mainly because of a bees nest close to where we first nestled. We had hired a cart as when we booked we weren't sure how hilly it was and I didn't want to run out of breath. However I would have been fine walking. Len and I played together, the first day with Glen from Napier and Miles from Wellington and the second day with Caren from Mount Maunganui and Alistair, the Waipukurau Golf Club President. It's hard to remember a lot about the golf course as it was soooo freezing cold with the odd little shower. We can't remember being as cold as that before and it seems like it didn't help the golf much with neither of us playing particularly well. The second day I put so many layers on that I felt like Michelin Man and could hardly move.

We also played in a 2 day golf tournament at Dannevirke on Wednesday and Thursday with me just playing 9 holes - a new format from normal. 

Good finish!

On the way there we stopped for a game at the 12 hole Takapau course, for only $10 each, which looked flat until we got out the back where there were some quite steep hills for me to struggle with but it was an interesting course and a shame that they might not be able to keep it going much longer, being just run by worn out volunteers. We passed through Norsewood to go to the Norsewear shop where I bought a pair of bed socks for the suddenly arrived cold nights, getting a second pair for free. We also enjoyed a homemade pie and soup at the very nice Norsewood Cafe - guess who had what?

Parking at the Dannevirke Golf Club was easy, although there was no-one to tell us where to go, and the weather had totally changed - 2 lovely hot sunny days so we were back to summer attire on a nice course with well kept fairways and greens. Even though I only played 9 holes it was very hot and I drank my bottle of water long before I finished the round. There was no water on the course but luckily a lady I played with had some to spare. Lots of bunkers but I managed to stay clear of all of them, thank goodness. The back nine was particularly interesting with a railway line running through the middle of it. Len played better than me but wasn't in the prizes except for winning $10 in the raffle. 

There were 14-15 motorhomes staying and we happened to be parked next to Caren, from Mount Maunganui, whom I had played with at Waipukurau and her husband, Martin. We all got along very well and had lots of laughs when we joined up for Happy Hour each night. And they happen to live over the road from my daughter, Sandra.

Saturday 7th we were on the way to the Pahiatua Golf Club for the night, stopping in Dannevirke on the way to dump, go to New World and stock up on fruit and veges at the fruit shop on the main street where Caren always goes to buy her peaches for bottling. Lunch was at the Wind Farm Cafe in Woodville where I sadly had probably my worst Eggs Benedict ever - won't go there again even though Len thought it was passable. It might have been better for me to stick to a toasted sandwich or make one in Heidi. Good to support the local cafes though. Steve, from Miramar I think, who also played in the 2 tournaments,  already had his motorhome parked at the course when we arrived and he was out playing with the locals in their competition but we waited to play on Sunday when the course was quieter. I filled in the time with making some more muffins. 

Pahiatua - nothing under the bridge

We were out early the next day and found Pahiatua to be a very good, interesting course, made even better by not being in a tournament I have to say. Lots of pluses for me - flat, pretty good fairways and greens, hardly any bunkers and it finished with a Par 3 which is unusual. Covered in cloud and a little drizzly but the temperature was perfect for playing in.

A quiet night at the club

The Club at Eketahuna was a good quiet spot for the night and although right by a railway line there weren't any trains - no other vans staying either although a few came in to empty their waste at the dump station there. We had a wander through the tiny town which is tired and depressed. 

The following morning we played golf at the Eketahuna course which was just down the road, finding that Steve had played in a fundraiser the day before and stayed the night. I think we're following him around!! Surprisingly the 18 hole course was really nice and you have to wonder how a golf course can be maintained as well as it is in such a depressed little town and with many other courses in the area. Well done them! 

The course is flat except for hole 14 which rises back up at the end and we only saw one bunker. The signage of holes 13/15 was confusing and we ended up getting a long way down, the Par 5, No 15 before we realised our mistake, having to go all the way back again. We weren't able to play number 17 due to tree felling work. There were light showers while we played the last 3-4 holes which prepared us for actually having a shower in the clubhouse afterwards. Taking the advice of the lone club member we saw we had quite a nice lunch at the Lazy Graze in town before heading on to the NZMCA Park in Masterton, a fabulous spot close to the walking and cycling paths into town and around Henley Lake.

Still more golf to come as, in the morning after walking to New World along the cycle path past the playground and the top end of Queen Elizabeth Park and it's lake with eels - about 15 minutes - we drove out to Castlepoint stopping on the way for a round at the 9 Hole volunteer-maintained golf course which looked flat until the big climb up to the No 2 tee block but after that it was all very easy and definitely my kind of course being all Par 3s and 4s  and no bunkers - like being in heaven especially as with all this golf my game is actually improving! 

Very high slope index?

Trish on a "mish"

Only a couple of other men on the course and initially it was cloudy. However the sun came out in the afternoon and we experienced Castlepoint with no wind, unlike last time when it was blowing a hooley. We did the lovely obligatory walk along the beach and up to the lighthouse and drove back to the Hotel next to the golf course where parking is free for NZMCA members. They have a large, flat area out the back where there seemed to be a couple of permanents and units with a team of bikers staying but we were the only casuals, picking a spot close to the pretty hen enclosure. We were looking forward to a beer in the Pub but both the bar and the restaurant are closed at present for some reason that we don't know.

The lovely Riversdale Golf Club with it's brand new clubhouse was the next course of call and even though it's just down the coast you have to first travel inland to get to it, following a very narrow, but sealed road, where we were pleased not to meet anyone coming in the other direction. Again, like Castlepoint, it's all Par 3s and 4s so once again we had good games with the course almost making me want to live there, but the sea's too cold!

Greenkeeper's best friend came to greet us

Afterwards we made ourselves at home with the 7 or so other vans at the NZMCA Park before doing a good walk along the beach from the little river entrance as far as we could in front of the houses before returning back via the road. By having a good chat with a man from Wellington in his holiday house garden we learnt that the permanent residents only number about 400 but over summer it swells to about 3000. Certainly most of the houses appear to be unoccupied, the hub of the village being the golf course and the general store which has a large outside eating area and serves the biggest ice creams we have ever had. I think Len wants to live there now!

Riversdale NZMCA Park

We found out that night that Sue & Pete, our friends from Tauranga, were staying at Castlepoint - surprise, surprise - so we arranged to meet back at the NZMCA Park in Masterton the next day. Plenty of room there so it was easy to camp next to each other for the night. We all had a nice dinner at The Farriers which is an easy walk from the park, Len enjoying his lamb shoulder and me, my pork belly. We were staying on in Masterton to play some more golf but the next day Sue & Pete headed off to Plimmerton as they had planned to do the trip out to Kapiti Island.

The next day - Friday 13th - was very hot again at 29° and we were very pleased that we hired a cart to play the Masterton course which seemed very hilly, long and pretty difficult when we started with thick, long grass lining the fairways, especially on the 1st hole making it difficult to find balls. 

Good views over the town

It did get a bit easier as we went along and the big redeeming feature of the course, for me, was that I managed to get a Par 5 with my ball going into the hole from off the green. A rare occasion for me. Lunch was at the Cafe at the course and after settling back at base we had a walk into town. We 'brushed the cobwebs' off the bikes the next day to follow the good cycle paths out and around Henley Lake, Len continuing on to take a peek at the Mahunga golf course while I did a bit of blogging. That night we enjoyed a flavoursome curry from Spices of India, having enough left over for the next night - don't I love that!!

Our golf game at Mahunga on Sunday turned out to be the last game for a while for a very sad reason which I'll talk about soon but really I think I've played more golf in the last couple of weeks than I did all of last year! 12 games in 16 days I think. Wow. And Len has played more than me. 

Snack time

The Mahunga course was a nice surprise and although the clubhouse, which was originally the old homestead is very rundown and in need of lots of work the course was nice to play being flat except for the climb up to all the holes on the 2nd level. It was park-like with streams and a little lake, the course itself being dry with brown patches but quite a bit of run. It was sunny with no wind, the greens were pretty good and, although it was Club day, there was no-one in front or behind so a nice, easy day out.

The next day all our plans changed and this is where we really get to know Masterton!

Poor Heidi had been doing a few little bunny hops the last couple of times she was started and this all came to a head at a busy roundabout in Masterton whilst we were on our way to play golf at Carterton. She just refused to move as the traffic backed up behind us - a lovely passing police-woman stopped and even offered to push us but once there was a break in the traffic we managed to coast down the very slight fall in the road to a truck petrol stop where, after doing all the necessary phone calls, the biggest tow truck in Masterton arrived. 

Oh no!

Fortunately Heidi just managed to fit on to be taken to Motor works, a garage which fortunately had worked on a Comfortmatic gear box before as not many mechanics have. It's not a traditional automatic gear box but rather a manual one with a robotic actuator so it feels like an automatic. Until it won't go of course! They found that the clutch and a couple of other things needed replacing and with a bit of research we found that this is not an uncommon problem with these motors. The garage was very busy and had to wait on parts but they allowed us to stay in Heidi in the yard where the tow truck had left us for 6 nights until they were ready to work on it. The work took 2.5 days but was all set to go at midday on the Wednesday which meant we had 3 nights at the Berriman's Cottage AirB&B, a quaint cottage built in 1889 so historic for NZ. We found it very cold at first but the heat pump worked really well and we didn't even need it on at night. I loved the garden which was full of flowers and even some ripe peaches. 

Tea in the cottage garden

The railway station was only about a 4 minute walk away and town, along the river pathway only 20 minutes or so.

Although we didn't need to use it much my sister-in-laws niece, Emma, had very kindly lent us her car which turned out handy for doing such things as emptying our motorhome black waste and moving our clothes, food etc from Heidi to the B&B. Altogether we spent 2 weeks in Masterton so we got to know it pretty well! Things that we did included:

Taking the free bus to Carterton, trying out all the exercise equipment around the park - about 26 stations in all with a couple of things to do at each one. (Both our 'abs" were a little sore the next couple of days.) Enjoying lunch at the popular Auntie Ginger's Kitchen. 

Feel the burn.

Honing the muscles

Exploring Greytown in the free bus with a snack & coffee at Cahoots.

Wellington on Saturday on the free train - only one train going in to Wellington at 7.45am and one train home at 6.55pm which was perfect for us as it gave us time to visit the rather different "Breathe" exhibition at Te Papa, take some sushi up to my grandson's Oli for lunch, see his new flat spacious flat with great views and meet his girl-friend, Mika, get the bus up to my school friend, Janet's, as we had been getting post sent onto her - such things as Len's new driver's license, bank-card and a new toilet cassette to replace our slightly broken one. After hydrating us with a beer Janet kindly dropped us back to the station armed with our cassette in her lovely Tesla with all the bells and whistles. We had our first McDonalds for about 7 years for dinner as it was just over the road from the station and we did enjoy it especially reminiscing with a naughty caramel sundae for dessert!

Hi tech effects at "Breathe"

L,T,O & M

3 movies, in Masterton, for me at the very nice, comfortable Screening Room theatre. We both went to the Elvis film which we enjoyed, I went to the movie about the Tenor, Pati, which I absolutely loved and also saw the NZ film Holy Days, written by Joy Cowley, which would have been better if I'd had some young grandchildren with me!

Wandered the shops and visited all the libraries and Op Shops in the town we went to looking for my new book club book to no avail.

Loved the coffee and special baked treats at the very busy, big Cafe - 10 o'clock Cookie.

Walking along the river and riding our bikes around the excellent cycle/walking tracks to Henley Lake and  Queen Elizabeth Park.

Queen Elizabeth Park

Henley Lake

Nice curry from Spices of India.

Also supported the local repertory theatre group by going to the opening night of their play "Gone to Seed", the theatre only being a short 4 minute walk from Motorworks and it did give us a bit of a laugh.

Liked my haircut by Michelle at Michelles.

Enjoyed a lovely evening and dinner with Anne (sister-in-law's sister) and Emma with lots of good conversation.

Not so impressed with the Masterton Museum - in fact there isn't one even though it is described as such. It's really a gallery and had one artist's still life paintings, half a dozen dresses from the Golden Shears and a few other paintings. They also now have a Maori canoe on display which is newly built and was transported from Levin, BUT it has a fibreglass base! I still can't imagine what they were thinking of. So that was all a bit of a downer.

The only thing we regret not doing is going to the Masterton Pool which we would have done if we had thought to pack our togs when we went to the B&B. Apparently it's very good so at least we have left something for next time!

Because of Heidi's repairs we had to re-book our Sunday ferry crossing to 2.00am on Thursday morning and with the Interislander ferries doing less crossings due to faulty ships, we were lucky to get that time. I'm not great with windy heights so found the Remutakas, which I hadn't been over since school days, rather daunting but managed to just hold on and not make too many expletives. Heidi coped really well, her new transmission working perfectly. We decided to park on the Esplanade at Petone to fill in time before we sailed only to get a message that the ferry had been delayed by 3 hours or so but they said we could go there any time after 7.00pm which was great as with the aid of a sleeping tablet cut into quarters I managed to get 2 different periods of sleep before we embarked and Len and I could share the other 2 quarters on the ship as, for the first time ever, we had opted to book a cabin which was a great idea. Slept and showered. I'm not the best sleeper normally so I really felt I'd caught up with having more sleep than during the 2 previous nights put together!

We arrived in Picton some time after 9.00am on 26th March and drove straight to the Koromiko NZMCA Park, about 10 minutes away - a very handy spot to stay and room for about 80 vans. It's always busy with travellers coming off, or filling in time before the ferry crossings.  It was raining lightly at the park but the weather up North was much worse being very wet and windy.

The next 3 weeks were mainly filled with playing golf and us moving a bit faster than usual in our attempt to play all the Southland and Otago courses before we return to the North. After leaving the busy NZMCA camp, passing a very large solar farm ( yay! - wish there were more)  and stopping at the rest/free camping area by Lake Elterwater, passing through the brown barren hills and then the occasional green vineyards we arrived at the NZMCA Park at South Bay, Kaikoura. Wind was predominant and it was rather daunting to walk up the South Bay track amongst the tall trees in the wood, with the wind howling and the trees cracking, to Tom's Track and into town. I definitely put my speed legs on to get through to the top. About an hour long walk in total.

A blustery view from the end of Tom's Track

Mid-excursion water hole

We walked through town to the Strawberry Tree pub and enjoyed a Guinness on tap and a wine, whilst chatting to a lovely American couple who had just cycled the whole length of NZ on their 'muscle" bikes. After quite a good dinner of Deep Sea Cod and chips at Coopers Catch we walked back to camp, which was on the sheltered side, via the footpaths this time to keep safe, the return walk only taking 35 minutes. By now there were about 15 vans parked on site.

Beautiful autumn colours made for great scenery the next day as we drove out to the 9 Hole Amuri Golf Course but with the fairly narrow road there was no safe place to stop to take photos at the right time. We did pull over for about 30 motorbikes to pass though.  

Autumnal Amuri Plain

The temperature had risen to about 28° and we found it very hot. The golf course was very nice to play being flat with well-kept greens and no other souls to be seen.

The Manor from its garden

The grounds of Amuri Manor, out of Culverden, alongside a couple of other vans which arrived later than us, was our stay for the night. Amuri Manor was a 1922 historic hospital which has been restored, after being on the market for 5 years, into a B&B. With large grounds and fruit trees. We were able to help ourselves to some of the many fallen pears as we wandered around. They do tours of the manor but with quite a few in-house guests staying, tours were off the menu while we were there. Just $15 to stay in Heidi with the use of a toilet - an extra $5 each if you wanted a shower which we didn't need. We were parked very close to the road which seemed quite busy but it did quieten down in the night.

Next, Harewood golf club in Christchurch where we could play and stay ( a couple of other vans there too).

Plenty of space here.

Certainly an interesting course - both undulating and "bumpy" with a multitude of bunkers, about 6 on the first hole, and a day that was rather foggy and cold. I thought the 18th hole was in an odd place, a bit away from the clubhouse with rough surrounds - you couldn't imagine any spectators bothering to be there to see a nail-biting finish to a round! Len was lucky enough to get a shower but the ladies one was out of action although I did toy with the idea of hopping into his until I realised men using the urinal would have to pass me. Although we were parked fairly close to the airport we weren't disturbed by the planes through the night.

With foggy drizzle the next day it was great to catch up with Helen & Bill and Jane who was also in our Physio class, at Aikman's Merivale Restaurant for lunch then buying some delicious sweet treats - brownies and citrus squares  from the Bohemian Bakery to take to our friend, Sandy, who is doing quite well in her retirement unit. I'd definitely use that bakery again and it's so good to catch up with friends.

Papanui Club was again an awesome place to stay the night and we were the only van there as not many people know that NZMCA members are welcome with it not being listed on our app. We already had our dinner organised but enjoyed a drink in the club while watching some rugby on the big TV.

Tuesday was a busy day with lots achieved - a visit to Papanui Library to get my driver's license certified by a JP for my ongoing Life Insurance Payout claim - it's been ongoing for nearly 6 months now and I''m at my wit's end - baking of Date & Walnut slice, laundromat, New World & Thai takeaway at Rolleston, with Golf in between times at Russley - a good course even though it had lots of bunkers and rough with long, 'sticky' green grass which I found hard to get out of. Once a group of 4 allowed us to pass it was quick flowing with no one else in front of us. There were some easy Par 4's to start with. No shower available afterwards as the Cafe and amenities were all locked up by 4.30pm. After the full-on day we found ourselves, once again, at the Weedon's NZMCA Park.

Winding up the core at Russley.