In New Zealand's Middle Earth

Matamata is famous in New Zealand as the town closest to Hobbiton but it also celebrates it's horse racing.

We walked around Cambridge admiring its many trees, lots starting to lose their leaves.

A view of the info centre in Matamata.

Next stop, Morrinsville, where they celebrate cows. There are at least 0. See the link below.

https://herdofcowsmorrinsville.co.nz/
 

The Hauraki Rail Trail

We took our bikes to the Firth Tower just outside Matamata and cycled the Hauraki Trail back to Te Aroha. This is the only part of the trail we haven't cycled before. It is mostly flat and goes through farmland.

The Firth Tower complex has overnight parking for motorhomes so when we got back to Te Aroha we drove the bus back and spent the night there.

We were glad of our e-bikes as it was windy and the wind was against us.

We passed some pretty buildings in the little settlements and had lunch at a roadside cafe.

 

Thames and Te Aroha

First stop today (after coffee) was the Thames School of Mines. This museum tells the story of the school, set up by the government after the gold rush days. It is in the original old buildings and was well worth the visit.

The pink and white rock was from the pink and white terraces, pre eruption.

Next stop was Te Aroha, where we are stopped for the night. After lunch we headed to the hot pools for a soak. Te Aroha was developed as a spa town in the Victorian/Edwardian era and the domain is full of heritage buildings.

Lemon and Te Aroha soda is being made again. It was the first fizzy drink made in the area - before the more famous L&P made in neighbouring Paeroa.

Quirkiness in Te Aroha... and a relaxing soak.

 

The Firth of Thames

 Another beautiful, sunny day. We left Ardmore (and our friends Sue and Jeff) and drove around the coast. Our first stop was Kawakawa Bay, where we had coffee and enjoyed the view.

Then on, through beautiful scenery, to a freedom camping area called Ray’s Rest on the Firth of Thames, near Miranda. We relaxed in the afternoon, wandered along the beach, listened to music on the new sound system and drank more wine.

The tide goes out a long way!

Amazing sunset

A tiki tour to Auckland

 

The sun came back for a trip into Auckland. The NZMCA Park at Ardmore is convenient for the Papakura railway station but there were no trains running over Easter!! There were replacement busses, so we hopped on one and had a long trip into the city. After coffee at the viaduct area on Auckland’s waterfront we felt happier. 

We needed that coffee

Strange people...

Ferries were running, so we took one across to Davenport for lunch, before retracing our steps.

Heading for the ferry

Leaving Auckland for Devonport

At Devonport...

Auckland Botanical Gardens

 

The weather wasn’t so good today. We spent the morning visiting Auckland Botanical Gardens, where the plants provided colour on a dull day. We went into Manakau and bought a new radio/cd player then spent the afternoon and evening with Sue and Jeff, playing cards and drinking wine.

Away in Wanderer

After weeks of work by Malcolm (with some help from me) we finally left home in our ‘new’ bus, Wanderer. We tow a Suzuki and have electric bikes so have travel options. We hope to explore by car and bike as well as travelling in the bus.

Our first overnight stop was just down the harbour at Parua Bay, where we had a relaxing afternoon and evening.

The next day we drove to Ardmore aerodrome, south of Auckland, stopping at Waipu for coffee at Goody Goody. We had lunch at the cafe at Ardmore then headed into a nearby shopping area for a couple of things – still sorting things out in the bus as we go.  We spent three nights at Ardmore, spending time with our friends Jeff and Sue who travel in their bus, Buster.