On the road: Week seven round up
Distance travelled: 826km (11 hours) as we are heading to the South Island for a couple months to catch the best of summer there.
Audiobook on deck: Mistborn: Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson for the both of us and Kath is listening to The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler in her car.
Currently watching: Fullmetal Alchemist and campaign two of Critical Role. We have been without signal for a few nights, so haven’t got as far as planned!
We were grateful for: The ability to swim in various bodies of cool/cold water as we made our way through the hottest part of the country in the midst of a heatwave! Highs of 38 and overnight lows of 28 aren’t fun!
We missed: Having power from our inverter, which allows us to plug in and power appliances (such as the essential coffee bean grinder for Kath’s morning brew) when we aren’t hooked up to a power point. In what is hopefully the third of three things going wrong (loo, fridge, now this), it just stopped working for no apparent reason and has refused to restart.
We learned: That Kath’s article about Kiwi Fuelcards was apparently really needed as over 3000 people read it and it got accepted for publication in the Motorhomes, Caravans and Destinations magazine!
Funniest moment: Kath being shamed into jumping off the rocks into the swimming hole in the Ngaruroro River at Crownthorpe by Kratos leaping off with zero fear as she stood there working up courage!!
Best save: Seeing a dude walking across the road at Wairoa with a triple scoop ice-cream and realising that this was the thing we both needed if were to avoid heat-induced stabbings in the van.
Best campsite: The $5 per night Crownthorpe CAP in the Hawkes Bay. An absolute gem of a place, parked under a copse of trees planted by the owner, Tony, and his dad 35 years earlier. Also right next to the best swimming hole we have found so far on our travels.
Most interesting fact we learned: That the Ngaruroro River supplies drinking water and irrigation (all filtered through 50m of river stone) for the farms around the place we stayed. And probably more, to be honest.
We recommend: Swimming your older dog in a gentle current in a river - it’s free hydrotherapy and builds up their fitness really fast and without stress to their joints. Kratos is becoming a machine and can now outswim Dan!!
Number of wrecked cars on the roadside: Two - one so recent looking that Kath called *555.
Progress made towards our 20 in 2020: Loads of swims in the Otara, Wairoa and Ngaruroro rivers. We also ticked off sleeping under the stars at Welcome Bay and our friend Alan has booked the Urewera Hike (including the DOC huts) for all of us to do it at the beginning of April! It’s happening!
