New Plymouth to Mt Maunganui

 1 April – New Plymouth. Strong wind and rough seas with rain. Paul and I walked down to the boat harbour below us and around the shops and bars/restaurants. Heavy rain set in again in the evening.

2 April – Sunny this morning. We drove to Pukekura Park and walked past the cricket ground into the gardens, fountain, and waterfall thru to the Bowl of Brooklyn.

 Drove to Rotomana Lake and walked to the Te Rewa Rewa bridge. The mountain was covered with cloud and there is scaffold up as they are painting the bridge. We continued up Mt Taranaki and met Rodney, Judith, Noel and Rose, (friends from Inglewood) for lunch at the Volcanoview Restaurant. A good catch up with them. Down and on to the Stratford Show Grounds for the night.

3 April – Shopped, and watched the Stratford Glockenspiel Clock do its Romeo and Juliet thing before dumping and starting the Forgotten World Highway. Fascinating country. We stopped at Whangamomona camp for the night and walked down to the pub for a drink. The publican was closing up but served us drinks thru the window on the veranda. Walked the town (2 minutes max) and went into Dolly Grays shop (hand made stuff). It rained early evening.

4 April – Beautiful morning as we continued on the Forgotten World Highway, over saddles and even thru a tunnel. We headed up Mt Damper and walked a track to the Damper Falls.

We had checked with Dolly Gray who assured us that the road thru to Tongaporutu was ok, some gravel and a very steep decent. At Tongaporutu we found a spot with great views on the river mouth. After lunch, at low tide, we walked around to the Three Sisters, pinnacles of rock left behind when the cliffs had eroded. A great sunset.

5 April – A nice walk this morning along the river bank before setting off to Marakopa stopping off at Waikawau Beach where there is a tunnel thru to the beach dug by the farmers as access to the ships. As ships sank in the rough sea the whole thing was a waste of time! 

A long drive thru winding and sometimes gravel roads to Marokopa where we stayed on a farm with a lovely couple and their 4 kids.

6 April – Some drizzle as we drove up to the Marakopa Falls. A great sight, and then on to the Piri Piri Caves, worth a visit and finally to the Mangapohue Natural Bridge. We were held up for about 1/2 hour at road works before going thru Waitomo and on to Otorohanga. Suddenly there were people everywhere, a contrast to the last few days! We are camped at an NZMCA park.

7 April – Thru to Kawhia, a lovely harbour town, where we will stay for a couple of nights as it is Easter. We walked to the small town and wharf, watched the locals fishing and jumping off the wharf and had an ice-cream. After lunch we walked as far as we could ending up at the marae. Val felt crook in the evening.

8 April – Beautiful morning with Val back to full health. Breakfast outside. We walked back to the town as there was a market on. Turned out to be the Maori Women’s League in the hall. Nothing there! Back at our camp we took our chairs down to the waterfront for a read and lunch. BBQ sausages etc for dinner and a few extra drinks to celebrate our half trip.

9 April – A slow trip out of Kawhia stopping for views of the harbour and the Waikato river.

 Coffee at Te Awamutu and overnighting in a strange POP in Putaruru. All ok though. A walk around the closed town but sampled some cheese at the only place open.

10 April – Decided to detour thru Tirau and got caught up in the Easter Monday traffic returning to Auckland. There is a clock shop in this town which fascinated Paul. Over the Kaimai’s to Tauranga and our beach front camp site at Mount Maunganui. Gary Bodger picked us up and drove us to their new home in a retirement village, where we explored and then had drinks and a great dinner.

11 April – Lynne and Paul walked around the mount while Val and I climbed to the top. Great views. After lunch and a rest, we walked the length of the main beach. It started raining at 4:00pm and turned nasty with even hail before before settling down later in the night.

12 April – Raining off and on in the morning. We took Seddon’s camper to town to shop. Gary will pick us up again for dinner with Glen, Tania and their girls.