UHU - I forgot to add - while in Wanganui and dodging the rain in  |
| Pohutakawa flowering in Mid winter |
like it was in flower almost year round - it had blossoms that obviously had flowered several weeks back and new buds at various stages! No doubt it will show its full colour during spring! 
Woke at 7 am and had leisurely breakfast. Paid and went first to the Winter gardens with Virgina lake. Lots of glass house flowers – even saw our Brazilian cactus in flower – lovely! Outside in some trees lots of Tui’s (one of New Zealands rare and special birds) – lots of singing – and great to hear them back in the town and serenading!! Stopped at the local Museum for a nosey tour – very informative! Then the sun sort of came out – so we did drive back to the Tower we'd been to yesterday and got blown - or should that be washed away– and parked the car at the top and slogged all 175 steps to the top. Still VERY windy! But had good views of city / beach / river etc. Then saw the next cloud rolling in so decided to get petrol and head north. 
While getting petrol there are these three super sized pencils in the ground so took a quick pic – then petrol. Asked the local attendant who knew little about it – but amazingly the guy next to us tanking up knew – he also happened to be a sales rep on a sales trip!! Seems a local maori artist used same pencils for all his life and this was his “thank you’ art creation. He won a price and some German HB pencil sales team saw it also!! The guy then decided having seen us taking a pic we were worth it for some freebees. Then on to the high way.
Stopped at Bulls for Lunch – town itself has a humor!! It is named after a change of deed for one of the locals who had done much for the town. Mr Bull has owned a sawmill and was a renowned woodworker!! Bought a expensive badge – but worth it. The word “bull” features liberally. Lunch at the ‘mothered goose’ with garlic bread and some nice mushroom dish for yours truly!! Had a senior moment when I went to the local loo – doors labelled Goose and Gander and I found out what the ladies amenties look like!! They have LARGE mirrors!! One wonders why!?!? ?
Anyhow after the filling lunch we went for a stroll round town and saw some good shops. Dropped into a history display store (sort of) and chatted with the local lady! Took a pic of the original Bull structure that put the town on the map and then looked at the clouds and decided to head back to car before we got a 3rd rinse cycle!! From there pretty much straight into Palmy where we found the Local I-site and asked some questions. Strolled once around the “Square” checked out the outdoor ice skating place and bought a couple of badges and then got a surprise hail-storm. Had 4 season in less then one hour!! 
Tanked up car on way back to the Airport and took a quick pic of the windmills at the ranges , then checked in the car and now just waiting for the plane – which has been just announced to be late by 19 minutes!! Looking at the clouds and the speed they travel this could yet again be a bumpy flight!! Another short holiday trip concluded and more to look forward to! There is a trip up the Wanganui river waiting !
Up late and a quick breakfast – packed and went on our way.
Eventually stopped at Yarrows bakery at Manaia and ate what we bought next to a field just out of town while being buffeted by rain and wind!! (they also have a sign on road – not often known but it is two bread buns!!) Bought 10 litres of petrol at Waverly to get us to Wanganui and then eventually found Wanganui!! Roads to find where Motel is located was very easy – (queen) Victoria (which is the main shopping drag – as it turns out) and from there a left turn into Somme dr. Easy. Dropped bags at Motel and headed back to I-Site. Picked up a map and some clues as to places to visit!!
On top – very, very windy!! Climbed half of the stairs and decided that lighting not great – so may go there in the morning when the sun is in the east and (hopefully less windy). Back down the elevator and into town! Turns out the tunnel / elevator was build to develop a subdivison on the hill and make access easy.
Same old story, once the road was open and cars got better less and less people use the public transport (elevator) and it is now "converting" or better sidelining itself as a tourist attraction. It is one of ONLY two Earthbound elevator's - the other - I think and don't qoute me on that - is in Mount blanc ?!?! Walked all the length of Victoria street – saw many shops and stopped at a tourist Souvenir shop where we did FIND a badge for Wanganui!! Wohooo.
Ate that at the Motel – along with cheese and the obligatory bottle of white / red medicinal drink for us!! I ended up with a cheeky litle red!! ---> See ----->
After breakfast and having listened to a lot of rain from 3 am onwards hitting the roof, we hit the road, having decided give the native bushwalk a miss and to travel to New Plymouth via Waiouru / Tangiwai / Oakune / Rarimu spiral / Tauramanui. Hoping that we would have better wetter, but given the forcast and the fact that this is still New Zealands Westcoast (just up further north) - it did not look promising.
Oakune – where we just had to take a picture and think of a certain 'giggles' (and was overrun by whole heap of young people who where obviously enjoying the winter sport on Mount Ruapehu). Further near the Carrot was this trunk - a nice Totara tree - seeded in 1300 AD and well some 700 years later, when the local sawmiller decided that this would make a good tree to log and mill- ONLY to find that it was too large to put through his sawmill - so he just left it lying round!! Crying shame!! Criminal even.
We got up and had leisurely brekkie and then got ready to go and catch a plane. We left Christchurch on time in a tiny turbo-prop and the plane was rocking and bumping along – and we had not even taken off the runway yet. We faced the nor-west runway (Mamabear saying it was her first ever take off in THAT direction) and we were away! Predictably the flight for the first few minutes was very bumpy! Kept wanting to say "buckle up – its gonna be a bumpy ride" quoting from Harry Potter. Anyhow – after we got to the flight ceiling it smoothed out and we had a pleasant flight. (oddly enough the journey back and using same plane took 15 minutes longer - turns out the flight path is more easterly coming down - thus using more km's)
Landed ok and collected the car and decided first order of business was lunch, so headed towards Palmerston North center and found the “Rumor has it” Café – very nice and had tv in corner that quoted corny sayings – like ‘Facebook-anonymous meeting on Facebook at 4 pm’. Car a Toyota Corolla wagon - nuthing flash and sadly an automatic - BUT - it had a USB port - and even better - it plays my 32 Gig pen-drive after two seconds loading the data!! My car takes about one minute plus, before it loads and plays - so yeah very nice going - I shall miss it when I have to give it back!
Then headed of via Feilding – showed Mamabear where we camped (in the big wet Scout Jamboree 2005) and then drove north-ish to Taihape! Very nice scenery – lots of rolling hills.
And we came across an international airport café in the middle of nowhere! Found a motel in Taihape ok and dumped suitcase and went for a stroll in town – looking at café’s and shops and info center. Sadly no cloth souvenir badge (will have to make one myself). Found the local Gumboot on other town entrance and snapped the obligatory picture – discovered a section of native bush with a 10 minute hill walk which we may do next day (assuming it will stop raining). A small section of New Zealand native bush left - complete with some young (300 years) Kauri and some Kakikatea which is New Zealand s tallest tree at 60 m's height – then stopped in New World for some vital supplies and back home, sorting out mamabear's e-reader and working out TV channels for Rugby later. 
May eat out and have to be back for 7 pm!! Dinner at the Gumboot manor, very nice rustic place with very young waitresses. Had decent food then back to Motel where we watched the All Blacks thrashing the Irish team by 60 - 0! A good night all round!!Yup - it was this time of the year again where we are taking a group of scouts over to the Westcoast of New Zealand - Barrytown to be exact - and do one of the many wonderful activity on offer. This time - same as last year - knife making with Steve and Robyn, although to be fair we took another troop across (Cust scouts)!!
We left bright and early on Friday and arrived shortly after 9pm, set up camp - munched on some pizza (even though the maths employed by Brush was a bit - urm - in-correct!!) and looked forward to the coming days activity!
There is always time for some play time and apart from the chucking of some axes and ninja stars on a solid wall of timber - there is always time to go for a wee walk and use the big swing - and it is BIG!! To get some height everyone has to pull (Team-work again) and then let go and you start swinging from about 4-6 meters of the ground. Funnily enough there is a little round pond in front of the swing - and the suggestion that this was NOT repeat NOT an invitation for some spectacular diving - worthy of Olympic status - was readily agreed too!!
come right up to the shore - leaving no room for any on beach activities! Next day - by mutual consent we stomped around Shantytown for a bit - did the gold digging and had a ride on the Steam train, and sent th eyouth on a treasur hunt, before we drove back up to Arthurs Pass and had a good lunch there - and then back home by 4.30pm-ish!! Yes - another successful trip to the West-coast completed!! A N D contrary to popular belief - this old gezzer did NOT repeat NOT cut himself on any of the knives or during the whole weekend.
