Xmas, New Year and van tripping Part 1

Not sure whether I will have the stamina to put all the happenings of the last couple of weeks down but as I enjoy looking back on these entries I will give it a shot.

Moana Roa reserve, Lake Karapiro

After a succession of little Christmas parties, I set off  south on the evening of 22nd December and made it to Lake Karapiro without traffic holdups. The next day I carried on without being in a hurry and popped in to look at a few places I often sail past, like Orakei Korako, the thermal area. I remember seeing old slides of Peters from when the canoe Club rafted down the rapids here before the Waikato River was dammed.

It is now a very efficient tourist operation - I didnt get to stroll around the thermal area as it was on the other side of the river and $36 for the ferry across  seemed only a reasonable price if I took a couple of hours to walk the whole area, but it was very attractive looking. Then I looked in on Reids Farm at Taupo where we often used to camp when I took school groups canoeing. Lots and lots of campers there as it is probably the only free camping spot close to Lake Taupo and the weather was glorious.

Orakei Korako Thermal area

After a brief call in for lunch at my favourite Five Mile Bay spot I carried on down the Desert Rd and into the hills past Taihape where there is a public camping area beside the Rangitikei river, called Vinegar hill ( named after a spillage in the early days of a truck load of Vinegar!). This is a very popular area much favoured by families as the river swimming is safe ( except when the river is in flood), you are allowed to light camp fires and there are well maintained toilets and showers. It was filling up fast and some families had marked out space for other vehicles arriving later- all for $7 per person per night. Would be a great spot to return to one day with the children I think.

The Rangitikei river.

Vinegar Hill Camp ground on the Rangitikei river.

Then I happily went the scenic route to Palmerston North  via Cheltenham and Feilding- the photo does not do the steepness of the hills justice - the river valley in the distance is flat but the hills are so steep Peter always used to crack the joke that the sheep had legs on one side longer than the other so that they could walk around the hills.

continued in Part 2