Castlepoint August 2016

It's been over three years since my last blog.  What happened?  Nothing really except I think I got caught up in the daily domestics of living and forgot that much of what we see in good old New Zealand is simply worth writing about.

So, I am starting our travelling blog again.

This week we went to Castlepoint in the Wairarapa.  A fantastic beach - sandy and rocky area with a lagoon, lighthouse and amazing rock formations.  At high tide you can't walk on the beach unless you want to get wet to the waist as the waves crash up against the rocks - put their to help stop erosion.

While walking along the beach - I had a revelation - well not really perhaps more of a reminder of what I already knew.  "I love being a tourist" whether it is in a different country or my own little southern Pacific Island, I find doing different things is energising and revitalising.

So here goes -

Tinui

We drove around a little village on the way to Castlepoint.  It's a place most people just drive past without giving it a thought.  But it is worth a stop.  It is here that the first ANZAC service was held in 1916 - one year after the landing of Gallipoli.  The locals have worked hard to restore a church, police village, cells, and little post office.  A little dog came to say hello and also a local knitting bright yellow daffodils (presumably as it is around cancer awareness day ie daffodil day). What a little treasure.   We are going back in November to wander up to the cross on the hill - it isn't open during winter and spring,

Castlepoint
We have been to Castlepoint numerous times, but we have never stayed at the little motor camp. What a little gem of a cottage high on the hills over the beach. If you are going there ask for Cabin Number 9.  Perched high on the hill you can see magnificent views from the bed - extra special when you are also bought a cup of tea in the mornings.  After a walk around the lagoon and up to the lighthouse we drove to the local pub for a meal and to watch the rugby - allblacks vs wallabies. What an experience. There was a big sign on the counter 'only lunch the takeaway menus served tonight'.  OK - so we sat down there weren't any other alternatives for dinner at that time of night, and anyway we wanted to watch the rugby.  We were asked to go to the counter to order - so we did, noting that the locals had table service. We ordered off the takeaway menu and noted that the locals had a different menu - steak, sausages, pasta and probably more.  Burgers and fish were pretty good - so we were more bemused rather than disappointed.  The pub owner - stood behind the counter all night, chips and burgers were brought to him, and the 3 young waitresses pulled beer, served food and his wife worked hard in the kitchen.  He didn't do a thing - I lie - he actually took our order for dessert into the kitchen (it was after all half time) and then returned to his place behind the counter.

Mataikona

A few k's north of Castlepoint is a really interesting beach - at low tide you can see a geological wonder caused by the many earthquakes this region has seen - not sure how many thousands of years ago, but just a few I imagine.  The little town is a beach bach place, and the locals have planted lavendar, agapanthas and lillies along the paths to the beach - which is where we had rather a scrummy lunch.

Rewanui Forest Park

Our last stop before heading back over the hill and to Jill and Graham's for dinner was the Rewanui Forest Park about half way between Masterton and Castlepoint. It was a two hour walk - challenging enough to hang on to fences and trees to pull us up the hills and balance us going down - and just for a couple of times - bottom sliding mud was the order of the day.

Noumea

We've had a busy few weeks.  I started my new job last Thursday and Harry has just accepted an offer.  We went for a walk to Catchpool with Phillipa and lots of other friends, and had our first bike ride in months along the Hutt River - very enjoyable.  Went to hear Sean Preston play with Marie and Ian (Italian first which was rather nice) and to the movies to see Haute Cuisine.  Did a bit of gardening (starting to get organised for barking), and now we are off the  Noumea for a week.

During our visit we became grandparents for the first time.  Little Connie Elizabeth was born one month early.  Michael called me 4 times, I had turned my phone off because I had forgotten to take my recharger and Harry's didn't roam in New Caledonia!!  When I switched it on in the evening, I found all these missed calls.  Thankfully Connie and Rebecca were fine, she had just decided it was time to enter the real world!! Photos in the next blog.

We had a great time in the sunshine - low 20's every day and lots of swimming in the sea.

 Our hotel was a bit out of the town which was fine by us, as there were plenty of eateries, although we were disappointed the swimming pool was closed for renovation.  We had a great walk into the centre of town one day, and lots of walks along the beaches to explore.

The beaches were lovely and warm with lots of little fish swimming around.  On the last day a storm seemed to create a whole lot of little bits of coral covered in algae or seaweedy stuff which we watched come and pile up on shore.  The locals were happy to swim in it, but it didn't appeal to us.

Lots of 4WDs - the roads are like a rally track - probably a result of holidaying just after the rainy season.  We drove around lots, but there wasn't heaps to see, but all good fun.  

We went to a little prisoner colony at that was intriguing and quite frightening - those poor people being transported from France - heat, insects, rain and every illness under the sun.  Idyllic it seems on a warm day, but not back then.  Dig the huge fig tree!!

Its expensive -we decided probably cos of the subsidies from France and the number of visitors from Europe (the queue at customs on the flight from Auckland was 6 in the 'other passport holders queue' and the rest of the plane was in 'EU passport holders' queue').  We saved our pennies for treats, by heating up frozen food from the supermarket - CASINO is a great brand - grilled veges (zucchs, capsicums, eggplant), and lots of little quiches and potato meals.  Bread from the bakery and fruit meant we could live quite cheaply.  We actually enjoyed sitting in our hotel room, eating our dinner!!We enjoyed wandering around in the evening - watching the locals play petanque, the local eccentrics and listening to music and the locals dancing.  We queued to get tickets to sail to the Pines, but the ticket office closed at 3.00 - literally, someone was just handing over their money and down went the electric door nearly getting their fingers! So, we decided to rent a car and go somewhere else. We went to the local markets but didn't buy much, and had  a wander around the little church and the shops (bought Harry a new pair of sandals as his broke on the way down to the beach).

Also had a trip to the local botanical garden and zoo, where we saw some birds not seen before, and enjoyed wandering around with umbrellas (a tad cold that day).  It was quite an adventure getting to the gardens, signposts left a little to be desired and we went up and down a hill and around suburbs - we could see the fence line and look down onto the gardens but couldn't find the entrance. 

Also stopped by a little museum out in the country which I was quite keen to look in, but it wasn't open.  There were a lot of volunteers helping mow the lawn and weed, and they looked at us suspiciously as we did a circuit round the little building.

And the cemetery to the fallen NZ soldiers.  It is nice to know that locals care for kiwis who fell on their land.

 Had a great trip to Amadee Island.  Snorkelled with the fish and the turtles, went on a glass bottom boat and out to the reef to see the sharks, had an amazing local lunch (which suited vege tastes as well), climbed the lighthouse and went for a slow walk around the island (forgot coral is quite sharp to walk on and we'd left our shoes behind).