2025 September - Nelson to Waihi

 September has arrived already and after a second night in the Murchison NZMCA Park, again being woken by the rooster to a drizzly day, we headed to the Redstone Golf Park which is also the home of Armageddon Paintball only to find that it is closed on Mondays. It's a course we haven't played before so we decided to return the next day and instead played and stayed at the Totaradale Course which we have done in the past. 

Totaradale Tee No.1

I'd forgotten how it rises, deceptively initially, to the back of the course and after a lot of puffing for me you find that the tee in the back corner is quite high up. It started to spit again on the last hole but we managed to finish and get everything packed away without getting too drenched. Not a great sleep that night as the nearby road was very busy, especially with logging trucks removing the multitude of storm damaged trees from the July floods around the Nelson area.

We had to move on smartly in the morning as all the "vets" were arriving for their competition day and just about hemmed us in with probably trying to park in their normal spot so we arrived back at Armageddon & the Redstone Golf Park in good time. 

Redstone Golf Tee No.1

It's in a lovely setting with gardens lining the driveway and many mature trees. It was good to chat to the very friendly owners, an ex school-teacher, Bo and ex engineer, Norm, who bought it around Covid time and have had 3 bad floods since, the one 6 weeks previously affecting them really badly so they are having to do a lot of mitigation work. We loved the course even though it had creeks running across several fairways which gave my ball frequent washes and with it starting to rain on the 7th we ended up rather wet as well. Bo joined us for a coffee in the comfortable clubhouse afterwards. We would have liked to stay the night, as allowed, but we were meeting up with my nephew, Mark & Tracey, for dinner at Sprig & Herb which was really good as we had lots to catch up on. 

Prime spot!

Ventured, but nothing gained!

We stayed at the Mapua Leisure Park having arrived there in the afternoon in time for Len to do some spinning in what looked like a great spot in the estuary right by where we were parked. Unfortunately, instead of us having fish to swallow, the sea swallowed both Len's lures so that was the end of that. It was perfect to be able to walk from the camp across the causeway into Mapua for dinner that night.

The next day Motueka was calling and after having a look at the Freedom Camping spot in the Motueka Beach Reserve and deciding that it was definitely not for us, being more suited for the homeless and young travellers with their "sliders", we parked at the very familiar, to us, RSA, where we were the only van there and the Club is closed on Wednesdays. That afternoon as we started to walk into town so I could get a much needed haircut after 10 weeks without one, we spotted a flag advertising a hairdresser, Hair Force,  directly over the road. I had some trepidation as I was the only one there and the sole "hairdresser" turned out to have a dreadful cough which she said was just a residual one from the end of her infection. Also when another lady came in to book for a colour she wasn't able to do it until the day another hairdresser was present. So I felt she wasn't fully qualified and you could tell when she started cutting that she hadn't had much experience, but somehow it all turned out OK and was a very cheap cut at $25 with the bonus of a voucher for a pottle of chips from next door! And I didn't catch her cough!

We both had walks around the town whilst we were there and Len visited the Motueka Museum which he thought was good particularly for the geological information. Thursday was partly cloudy as we did a big circle walk past the golf course and along the Great Taste Trail to the Spit and then back along the road to the RSA - about 1.5 hours and over 1000 steps. We planned to have dinner in the RSA that night but they don't cook on Thursdays so it was just a lonely drink instead with a handful of people coming in to play darts just as we were leaving.  It rained again in the night and the forecast wasn't great so golf was off the agenda. Instead we moved on to the NZMCA park on the other side of town, a nice little spot and only a 2 minute walk to the movie theatre which encouraged us to see Mr Burton, a very good film about Richard Burton's life. 

Inlet loop track views

Boardwalk

..... and rest spot

There was early rain again in the morning but the sun soon came out and we did a brisk enjoyable, picturesque walk around the Inlet Loop Track which starts right by the camp and took us about an hour. We then returned to the Mapua Leisure Camp having decided a day or two previously not to go on up to Kaiteriteri because of the rain and we enjoyed our stay in Mapua where we could park right by the water again even though we were rocked back and forth by the wind.

I decided to make use of the camp kitchen and do some baking etc, thinking that their oven might be better than mine, as well as saving some gas, starting with roasting some pumpkin for the Pumpkin & Chickpea Curry for our dinner that night. The pumpkin roasted well and so once I had made the mixture for a new date and walnut slice recipe I returned to the kitchen to pop that into their oven only to find that they had locked it! In winter camps, being quieter,  often keep quite a few of their facilities locked to save on cleaning and I guess this was part of that process. Anyway I had to retreat to Heidi and use our own oven, the slice turning out fine. Later we watched the ABs win against the Springboks 24-17 although the viewing was a bit interrupted by poor cell phone reception. 

Worth a visit

Oops - too late

It was still windy, but sunny, on Sunday when we left the park to have a wander around the shops on the Mapua Wharf where lots of people were enjoying their coffees with quite a good choice of venues. We especially liked The Forest Shop with all it's artwork and sculptures, particularly those that you could put in the garden.

We remembered it was Father's Day when we arrived at The Honest Lawyer Hotel where we can stay for the night in their car park for $20. You are given a $20 voucher which we used for an enjoyable dinner. It was very, very busy with families eating out for both lunch and dinner to celebrate their Dads. Our spot for the night was under a Palm Tree with a view out to the Estuary. As it was still very windy we were just hoping that no big fronds would come down on Heidi. We did about a half hour walk along the adjacent cycle trail with Len continuing on for another half hour in the other direction. I could tell there was a bit of pollen about which affects my breathing.

Early in the morning we were chuffed to watch the Black Ferns beat Ireland 40-0 before leaving the hotel park, bypassing Nelson and driving down the long, narrow winding road to Cable Bay to where the first cable was laid from Australia in 1876. 

Heidi with view of Pipen

We walked up the hill to the viewpoint with the information boards and the view out to sea and across to  Pepin Island which is connected by a causeway to the mainland. 

Tucked up at Pelorus DOC camp

We spent the night at the lovely bush-surrounded Pelorus Bridge DOC camp, settling down by the river with no-one else in sight.  There had been a lot of damage done with the recent floods and they were still repairing the ground damaged by a slip just beyond us. 

Pelorus River from suspension bridge

Bush track at Pelorus

After lunch we spent about 2 hours walking through the tracks in the bush - the Totara, Tora, the Circular Walk and the walk to the Suspension Bridge; crossing over the road afterwards to look at the DOC sites on the other side of the river which, unlike ours, are all gravel and have power for the same price as our un-powered site although they didn't seem to have showers or a kitchen like us, not that we have use for a kitchen normally. Our shower was only $1 and, from reading the reviews, I was expecting it to be lukewarm with no temperature adjustment, but it was perfectly fine.

It was back to the Riverlea Racecourse in Blenheim the next day, probably about our 4th visit, but it's a great spot being next to the golf course, an easy walk into town and access to the good cycle trails. On the way we stopped for a coffee at a Cafe in Havelock and then a lovely lunch at Kaiaka, a cafe close to Chemist Warehouse, which I had wanted to visit. 

T & H at Riverlea

It was very windy at the Racecourse and there were only 5 or 6 other vans there, which is quite unusual. It was sunny and warm the next morning and we joined John and Mary for lunch at their neighbourhood cafe, Revival. They are friends from the Rotary Club who had just moved into a Retirement Village in Blenheim 4 weeks previously. It decided to rain again in the afternoon so that deferred our game of golf to Friday and the day between was Men's Day. Thursday was sunny again and we walked into town, having a nice lunch at Herb & Olive before settling down in our outdoor chairs back at Heidi to soak up the sunshine whilst reading our books. 

Good follow through!

It was back to 1° overnight which meant that we had a nice day for playing golf before leaving for the Koromiko NZMCA Camp, just out of Picton, for a couple of nights before catching the ferry over to Wellington. It was very very windy but great for drying the washing which I had to triple-peg. On Saturday evening it was sad to watch the ABs being well-beaten by South Africa 43-10 but the Black Ferns made up for it the next day by winning 46-17, again against South Africa. 

We were pleased that by then the wind had died down quite a bit and our Ferry Crossing on the new boat, the Livia, was fine but not so the wet weather which kept us sitting inside for the whole trip. Len had already arranged with the Ohariu Valley Golf Club for us to stay the night there before playing the next day, it being a 9 Hole Course out of Johnsonville that we hadn't previously played. The narrow, winding road, in the half dark, out to it was a bit challenging for the passenger but not so much for Len and it didn't seem quite so scary coming back along it the next day in the daylight. 

Where will this one go?

The course was challenging also with big hills so I opted not to play foreseeing that pushing my trundler up them was going to be somewhat difficult but I did manage to walk the first 4 or 5 holes with him. Len enjoyed the course and would have had a good score if it wasn't for the sloping greens being near to impossible, he thought. He had a chat with the green-keeper who had been the course superintendent of Te Puke until recently. He learned that the course is on farmland and has been owned by 6 generations of the Bryant family.

Two nights at Plimmerton NZMCA Park, once again, made it easy for us to catch the train into Wellington the next day, using our gold cards - thank you Winston! Len needed some new shoes and found what he wanted before we met up with our grandson, Oli, for a pretty good lunch at Cafe Neo. We also found some exquisite French baking at La Cloche - totally delicious. Bad weather and strong winds are coming through and we want to be in Mount Mauanganui by the 23rd September for various appointments so we needed to move on, only going as far as the Foxton NZMCA Park as the wind was really buffeting Heidi as we travelled. On the way we stopped at Otaki where I was able to find, after looking for about 2 years, some new waterproof leggings for golf and I was very happy that they were only $64, reduced from about $250!! Now I'll have to play in wet weather! When we arrived in Foxton it was still blowing a hooley so we didn't venture anywhere until the next day when we did a big walk anticlockwise around the Racecourse, next door, into town where we visited, and had coffee at the new, spacious, very impressive Visitor, Library, History Complex - an amazing place for a small town.

Later that day we drove on to my old family farm to stay outside my sister-in-law, Judy's house for the night. We had a lovely time over dinner, being joined by my nephew, Chris, and we were able to catch up with Tess, one of  his daughters, the next day before we left for the fairly new Turangi NZMCA site - we seem to be staying at so many of those sites now but they are multiplying all the time and are very good value at $10 a night. After watching the Black Ferns be sadly defeated by Canada 19-34 in the World Cup semifinal we moved on to Taupo where we had an afternoon cuppa, which led on to a glass of wine, with my childhood friend, Ann, and Ross who have recently moved there from Waihau Bay where they ran a great B&B. A good catch-up before settling at the Taupo NZMCA Park which is now at the Racecourse, having moved from the airport. It's pretty hard to find a flat site with most people, including us, needing to use their chocks but it's a large space with quite a bit of daytime noise coming from the car racing next door. On Sunday we popped round to see my old Marsden friend Sally and Dave so I could provide some encouragement towards her organisation of the upcoming class reunion in Taupo in February. We have been having one every 10 years but now we could probably be called elderly - shikes! - and feel we need one after only a 3 year gap while there's still a good number of us about. We had a look at the Beech Tree Motel which seems perfect for the 3 days and it has duly been booked.

Hamurana Springs Golf Course at the top end of Rotorua was our next port of call as we have driven past it a few times but never stopped to play. It looks flat when you get there and has a nice outlook over the lake on the first few holes. But then you get to the 6th hole on top of a very tricky big hill - somehow I managed to get on top OK but Len's ball unfortunately decided to go back and forward from one side of the hill to the other several times before deciding to settle on the green. Next there was a Par 3 where you had to get over a deep ravine with a creek at the bottom. Here Len hit straight over to the green and I was pleased to only lose one ball in the middle of it. 

On the way to the 9th tee

The course was very pretty after this with the path running beside the stream for a little way. Walkers can follow this path too - we haven't yet done it but you can do a self guided walk at the Springs for $18 each adult or a guided walk for $25. Apparently it's a magical Riverside walk through 100 year old redwood trees giving you direct access to the deepest natural fresh water spring in the North Island with bubbling sands and crystal clear water. It started to rain lightly as we headed to the 8th hole so we had to speed up a little to finish, plus it was nearly closing time and they lock the gates. We managed to finish without getting too drenched and spent that night at the Rotorura NZMCA Park further down the road. It was very busy for this time of year with all the top sites already taken although we were happy just to get parked for the night.

We had booked 3 nights at the Mount Camp for my birthday treat, the 24th - 26th September and having a couple of nights to fill in before going there we returned again to Rona Murdochs POP at Pyes Pa where we have enjoyed staying before, enjoying their famous Happy Hours. They had an interim custodian this time and there was no happy hour, We didn't make any effort to start one but it's at these that you learn quite a lot from others on the road. There was quite a lot of rain the following day and night and we breathed a sigh of relief not to be stuck when we set off for the Mount the next day in another full day of rain. Over these 3 days it was really special to catch up with friends and family - dinner with Sue & Pete, Chris & Trish, Jenny & Derek at Dui's on Wednesday night, lunch at Ocean sports with Jan & Doug, Margaret & Tony and Milly on Thursday, my birthday, and dinner that night at Colins with the girls. I was very spoilt by everyone and really enjoyed my Thai Massage that afternoon - one of the presents from Len.

The "Gang" at Duis

It was great to be able to have David and Christine's boys for the last week of the school holidays again by having a "mate's rate" rental at Sue & Pete's very relaxing bach at Waihi Beach, just around the corner from the sea. So from Saturday 27th to Saturday 4th October we were able to be kids again ourselves. 

Nearest playground

Trish's happy place

Two girls join in the Crocs race

Best playground

Lots of walks down the beach and to the playgrounds, croc races down the streams running into the sea, a visit to The Gold Discovery Centre in Waihi, a walk around the edge of the Martha Mine, the scenic Windows Walk through the tunnels in the Karangahake Gorge followed by an after lunch snack at the Waikino Station, sushi, cafes, a 1000 piece jigsaw and lots and lots of games of Scrabble with some Rumicub, SkipBo and 5 crowns. And I have to mention the boys pastime of waving to all the cars that went by - so many hoots!

Above the gorge at end of Windows Tunnel walk

Fossiking for gold

Max, Flynn & a couple of old relics

Inside the dark tunnel

Dave picked them up on Saturday although he was full of flu. The boys had coughs all week but otherwise were pretty good. The house always seems quiet when they leave but it was a fun week.