Author: Mrs A
Location: Tongariro National Park and Pipiriki
Thursday: After paying a visit to the local supermarket and cheese deli in Cambridge, we started to wind our way across country towards Ohakune, on the southern reaches of Tongariro National Park. It was a spectacular drive, travelling through New Zealand’s now familiar lush green farmland, with volcanic looking hills.
As we headed through Tongariro National Park the cloud descended and all hope of seeing the snow capped peaks disappeared with it. We arrived in Ohakune around 2.30pm, checking into a motel for the night. As we parked up we recognised the view from six years ago – we’ve stayed at the same place before!
We then drove up into Tongariro National Park, firstly doing a short walk to see a splendid waterfall where the Mangawhero plunges down into the valley.
From here we drove further down the mountain, and did a longer walk to Waitonga Falls. This hike took us through native mountain beech, climbing up high to an alpine bog. Unfortunately there was some wind up there, as on a calm day, there are some fabulous views of Mount Ruapehu reflected in the pools. We then climbed down steeply to the falls, a chance for a little water photography and a cup of tea before we headed back.
After all that activity we headed out to a local eatery for dinner. Strangely named The Blind Finch, the restaurant calls itself a ‘hamburgeria’ selling a variety of interesting burgers (Mark had the Vietnamese – a pork mince burger with crackling and Vietnamese slaw, I had a Japanese version with Teryiaki beef) plus locally brewed beers and New Zealand wines. A great meal, and a fabulous view of the setting sun reflecting on Ruapehu’s snow capped peak as we walked back to the motel.
Friday: We arose early to do one more hike before we checked out, heading back into the national park, and doing a short walk through the Mangawhero Forest. We’re loving the cool lushness of the undergrowth here, every tree dripping in mosses and orchids, the ever present flutter and tweet of birds accompanying the rushing of the Mangawhero River. The track crossed a large volcanic crater on our way through, changing the fauna as we went.
After showering and checking out of the motel, we were away again, heading just a short way down to Pipiriki, a tiny little village on the banks of the Whanganui River. We decided to head off for a walk along the riverside. River ‘side’ in this case, is a relative term, as the cliffs alongside the river are 50-100 metres high, offering great views, but a terrifying death if the ground gives way! We did about 7km return trip, before returning for a late lunch.
We had a relaxing afternoon – there was no phone or internet access, so Mark read while I practiced a little drawing on my new iPad. I love how I can pretty much duplicate what I do on paper – still learning to use it and getting used to a smaller medium, but had fun.
We had some neighbours join us for dinner in the evening, given we were camped beside the picnic table. Mother and son from The Netherlands, Claudia and Fabian joined us for a lot of laughter and a glass of wine, and medical student Igor from Berlin, Germany shared our dinner, having earned it with a 40km cycle today after completing the Tongariro Crossing (an 8 hour mountain hike) yesterday.
We were just heading to bed, when the campground owner came over to tell us there was a medical emergency, and a helicopter was on its way to rush another guest to Palmerston North hospital with a suspected heart attack. We moved the car and packed away the tent, and waited in anticipation.
After about 90 minutes of waiting, the helicopter landed in the carpark alongside us, a challenging night landing, and the patient loaded up. We chatted to the pilot, who told us he had night vision goggles to help navigate and as ex-Air Force was used to challenging situations.
Soon the excitement was all over and we put up our tent and went to sleep.
Saturday: Another fine day dawned, with early fog drifting down the river valley clearing to blue skies. Mr A rustled up a fine breakfast while I prepared some lunch to take with us – a river adventure was ahead. By 10.30am we were whizzing up the Whanganui River on a jet boat, along with our Dutch friends and a German couple, two large Canadian canoes and two small white water kayaks loaded on the back.
It took us about three and a half hours to paddle back down the river, with about six sets of rapids, including two ‘fifty-fifties’. These are so named because one in two paddlers comes down upside down! Fortunately neither of us tipped out – possibly because we had lower centres of gravity being the only people in whitewater kayaks! Nevertheless, we felt pretty proud of ourselves as we climbed out after 15.5km and headed off for showers.
Our Dutch friends, Claudia and Fabian were less fortunate, tipping out on at least two occasions on their journey, and we watched several other groups having unplanned dips on their trips back too.
Once clean, Mark and I set off down the 79km Whanganui River Road towards Whanganui. The road wound alongside the river south of Pipiriki, through interesting Maori villages, each with a meeting house – we often heard singing as we travelled through.
Beautiful scenery accompanied us the whole way, culminating in a fabulous lookout from which we could see all the way to the snow capped peaks of Mt Ruapeau.
We finally arrived at Whanganui feeling tired at about 5pm, and drove down to the windswept coast in the hope of setting up camp. The wind was incredibly strong, and we could imagine the tent canvas flapping all night long. It took us moments to change our minds and decide on alternative accomodation for the night. A quick Google and we ended up at the Riverview Motel – just fabulous. For NZ$100 we had a one bedroom apartment, with fully equipped kitchen, lounge (with lazy boy chairs – how much did we appreciate those?!) and dining area. Just perfect.
We had a relaxing evening, spaghetti bolognaise, a glass of red wine and the new series of Travellers on Netflix. Perfect. What an incredible day.
The weather didn’t stop us, and we enjoyed the hike with the rain and wind at our backs, with the shower stopping in time for our return route.
We enjoyed a great evening with Barb and Omar, a delicious chicken hotpot and some fine wine of course, before retiring to our bed up on the hill, lulled to sleep by a chorus of croaking frogs. Very relaxing indeed!
We had a delicious breakfast in Berry with Barb, Omar and another friend, Joanne who happened to be in town, before taking our kayak down to Broughton Creek and launching it for a paddle. After all our hard work the past few weeks, this was finally us reaping our reward, and the morning was perfect for it.
Spring has truly sprung here, and the riverside was lined with young calves, staring in shock at this 7+ metre giant boat cruising past. There was not a breath of wind, providing us with some amazing mirror-like reflections.
We paddled just over 9km, before returning for hot showers and a relaxing afternoon. It’s been a while since we’ve been allowed such luxury!
It was time to try out those wave runners (jet skis). It went a lot less well for me then I had expected! I just could not get comfortable with the balance and steering, so quickly gave it up and returned dispirited to watch the nimble Mrs A roar off with Carol.
Tom and I headed out on kayaks. I confess to taking inordinate pleasure from regularly waiting for him to catch up with me after my dismal performance with an engine underneath me.
The bird life on the lake was prolific, and clearly had plenty of fish to keep them well fed. A bald eagle soared over head (sorry no photographic evidence), and the lakes edge was home to many Great Egrets.
After all this activity it was time for another lunch down on the water’s edge in their bar-come-pergola named “Margariterville” – yes they are Jimmy Buffet fans. We had a fabulous Chardonnay (Cakebread Cellars) with all the lovely dips and roasted garlic Carol had made.
To end this fine day, our last with these guys for a while, we headed off on their boat to potter around the lake and watch the sunset, clutching Manhattan cocktails Carol had prepared for us “to go”. 
Dinner at the local waterfront grill was a fun affair, with Carol and Tom’s neighbours from across the lake joining us.
What a wonderful community this is, with the lake drawing people together and giving them common ground to chat about and build relationships.
We went to bed a little sad knowing this was the last time we would see these guys for a while, but happy with so many great memories from this perfect weekend in Cicero.
It turns out the ‘biscuits’ are savoury dough circles baked in the oven, while on the stove top a mixture of sausage meat, flour and milk are cooked up. This is served with hot-pepper sauce and is surprisingly delicious!
After all this endless decadence, we decided we should go for a paddle on the lake (Morse Reservoir) and up to one of two water sources.
Tom’s boat was much longer and sleeker than ours and he was soon but a speck in the distance as Mark and I explored the shoreline. We spotted a bald eagle circling above, a red squirrel scurrying along the branches and cute little chipmunks hunting for snacks.
We eventually caught up with him and continued our exploration up the shallower areas, where Little Cicero Creek enters the lake, home to herons and turtles among other creatures.
Eight kilometres under paddle later, we returned to warm up in the garden jacuzzi, with our second cocktail for the day. This time Carol whipped us up lemon, lime and ginger beer with vodka – A Moscow Mule – delicious and served in ice cold metal mugs which fit perfectly in the drink holders!
A delicious dinner of marinated pork loin, pumpkin risotto and fresh salad, served with some very tasty wines followed, and the evening finished with much laughter over darts and a board game. Awesome fun!
After the area was mined for zinc, silver and lead, the property was purchased by a French botanist who worked for the government. He spent his life planting an incredible botanical garden, irrigating his prize plants from the river, and recording the flora and fauna around the property in meticulous notes, only to have the whole lot burn down from a fire that escaped from a local mine. He no doubt cried “Merde” and promptly laid down in a deep depression and passed away.
I would definitely recommend not listening to the advice they give you to “come out here early”. By lunchtime we were on our own, and what a fantastic place this is. One of the most beautiful locations we have ever paddled in with absolutely prolific birdlife echoing across the gorge. Apparently there are freshwater crocodiles in here – we didn’t spot any but did hear at least one suspect splash as we travelled silently along.
There’s one short portage, no problem for us in lightweight boats, then the second part of the paddle was even more spectacular. The archer fish were out in shoals, spitting water up at me (did I look like a fly?). Fly catchers darted around above the water doing a much better job of catching their prey.
On the way back to the car we stopped at the information boards and read about the significant aboriginal history of the area. The gorge and surrounding area has been lived in for 35,000 years, according to the latest radiocarbon dating of artefacts found here. Not for the 200 years as you would think just reading the information back at Adels Grove. Just think on that for a moment. A continuous, sustainable, culture in this area stretching back 32,000 years before the Pyramids were being built. Nowhere else in the world has anything like that.
A beautiful view south towards Hinchinbrook Island was our reward on reaching the top, which we enjoyed along with a pair of sea eagles which glided before us. We’re just loving the richness of this tropical environment.
Other than a purple fingernail, and a few minor bruises (including a black and blue ego) there was no bad outcome from this one, and he was soon back in his boat continuing the trip.
We were dropped off at the caravan park, and we hurried off for hot showers to warm up.
It was haircut time for me and with some trepidation I walked into the “Hair Dinkum” salon where “no appointments needed”. For the bargain price of $22’s I was shorn and sent on my way 10 minutes later. Catherine didn’t laugh too hard when she saw me so I took that as a good sign.
We parked on his manicured lawn with a view right across the Burnett river. We had power and water if we needed it. There is access to toilets and showers in their guest house. Colin and his wife have created this resort style facility where they host weddings, as well as offering holiday accommodation in a villa.
We were up as the dawn broke to head off in a double kayak that is put at the disposal of campers – no extra charge. We pushed off into the Burnett river and headed down a small tributary where Colin said we might see platypus. 
Well we didn’t see them but we did a multitude of water dragons, looking pretty silly as they do bobbing along on their stumpy legs, then a bright blue azure kingfisher darted in front of us and landed on a branch with one eye on his next breakfast morsel and one eye on us. An Eastern Great Egret stood regally admiring his kingdom, what a majestic bird.
As for the platypus, well we saw plenty of bubbles that we imagined was them rooting around in the mud, as they do, but not a glimpse for us. We were happy with the other wildlife on display in this beautiful river.
Even our Burmese princess gave the place a big paws up.
We diverted off the highway to check out Boolboonda Tunnell, all 192 metres of it – and its claim to fame twofold. Its the longest unsupported tunnel in Australia, and its home to a massive bat colony. Wandering through it was pretty smelly, and those bats were going crazy flying around our heads.
We stopped for lunch at a rest area and Tas just couldn’t wait to get out and start bounding around again. What a little energiser cat she is turning into! By late afternoon we found another rest area to camp at just as we turned onto the Barnett Highway, good old WikiCamps. Again Tas was straight out the car and exploring,
The tide goes out a long way, leaving mirror-like reflections across the sand, and a surreal feeling you are walking amongst the clouds. We walked barefoot, splashing through the warm waters at the edge. For the most part, there was not another person on the beach.
There were many little blue swimmer crabs, most of which ran in their dozens for cover when they spotted us coming, burying themselves in the soft sand. And birds, huge flocks of cormorants, terns and gulls, resting on the sandbanks. In the distance we could see four whistling kites, two of which were constantly fighting and swooping – probably juveniles, jostling for top spot.
We reached the mouth of Theodolite Creek, wishing we had our Packrafts to allow us to cross, but instead enjoyed the peaceful ambience a while, before ambling back to camp, into a headwind this time, a little harder going.
Mr A got talking to a local resident, an elderly man who had purchased his dream retirement home on an estate here. Our exploration of Woodgate had revealed there are no shops – just the pub where we are staying and a cafe and takeaway near the caravan park.
We paddled upstream, feeling like we were on a treadmill, constantly battling the outgoing tide. Once we had reached a particularly shallow area full of stingrays speeding along just under the water’s surface, we decided to just roll with it, and put our feet up and let the current take us back. There’s not much more relaxing than that – an extremely meditative experience of just watching shapes in the clouds, drifting with the stream.
We were soon sampling a plate of Tibetan dumplings, I had an Argentinian empanada which was simply delicious, also some dairy free donuts packed to go. We then spotted the Japanese pancake stall, we had not seen these since Sydney. Wow…a taste sensation.
Suitably sated we picked up a small bowl from a pottery stall we could use a mortar, plenty of peanuts and chillies to grind up for our Pad Thai creation for instance.
We all then started to prepare the camp for tonight’s visitors from Zone RV. They had kindly offered to give up their Saturday afternoon and evening and have a bit of a chat with us about our experiences with their products and service.
It was great to hear Dave Biggar, one of the directors, talk about some of the initiatives they are taking to mature their build processes and strive to offer even an more consistent quality experience to their new customers. He was joined by key members of the Zone team in customer support, systems improvement and marketing. There were 14 customers there, and all of us really appreciated the effort the team made to come and meet us and openly discuss where they were at as a business and seek input from us on their initiatives.
One of the customers, Phil Clem, had a surprise for everyone as darkness drew in. He had brought along an enormous hollow tree trunk to burn on the campfire, and had taken the trouble to carve out ‘Zone RV’ into the side with a chainsaw, so when the fire really got going the letters shone out. What a star.
It seemed a fun and educative night was had by all, and we were very grateful for the effort they made to come out and visit. Their journey to being a leader in the industry has not been an easy one. They have pushed the boundaries on design with materials and finish. That doesn’t come easily, and clearly there have been some significant hurdles along the way. But these guys have pushed through and are now at the stage where they just need to bed down this innovation with robust processes allowing on time, on spec builds at the lowest cost to them and their customers. We think they will do it, and are proud to have been a small part of their journey.