EASTER RALLY - New Plymouth.

 EASTER  2013.

The Taranaki region is dominated by it's mountain , Egmont or Taranaki , whatever you call it , it is awesome !

The day we arrived the clouds cleared and this imposing lump of rock was presented in all it's summer glory.


 In the Event Centre the stage backdrop brought the splendour inside.

 The venue was the racecourse . It was a big area.


There were 797 motorhomes , some of them a long way from Event Centre.
The Parking Wardens parked just on 700 of them in under 2 hours.
An incredible effort.


We had booked a 'Special Needs" site in the 2nd row.


A lady from the Hospitality Team presented us with a "goody" bag with 14 items in it.

 From the all important lanyards and name tags to placemats, hotcross buns and yellow and black (Taranaki colours) jelly beans.


A total of 12,000 items presented in bags like a laptop computor is carried in , very nice.


The atmosphere was one of excitment but totally under control.

The 797 rigs created an impressive sight. We are in the lower, left of the  photo above , just the 2nd row in the more than 30 rows spread across the racecourse. 

Below , there is the First Response Team in the foreground with their bright blue container set up as an A&E clinic . It was well done.

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From the Grandstand , looking to the left , then to the right . Some people had a long walk there and back.

The main hall seated the 2000 plus people in comfortable chairs.
There was 4 nights of good entertainment , the AGM , the trouping of the Area Banners and the Opening and the Closing Ceremonies .

The mountain changed it's mood many times and even when it was completely obscured by cloud you could still sense it's presence.

Taranaki colours , gold and black were used with great effect.

Then there was Flick the Little Morris Minor Fire Engine who was ready for action.
The crew of Big Daddy knocked on our door one evening to check out the source of a gas smell - not us thank heavens.

All too soon it was over - the flags were lowered - the goodbyes and the many "see you next year" exchanges were in high gear before the motors were even started.

The Taranaki Hosts did a great job - thank you all very much , your time and your efforts are truely appreciated - Cheers.

NOT ON THE MAP.

Tucked up in our pleasant little spot we settled in to quietly watch some TV - Yeah Right.


The NZ Fire Service arrived , it was a training exercise.


The only building here was the football club and they were hell bent on saving it from burning down.

No hydrants here , so out with the portable pump, mind the hose.



The tide was out so there was some 50m of sand and stone to stumble over.
And stumble they did.

Sections of floating hose were connected together.


They were attached to a floating filtration device and carefully positioned in the deepest part of the estuary.





Then it was all hands to the pump , as the saying goes.


With a "cough , cough , go" the pump roared into life and the red "roll up" hose snaked its way towards the Fire Engine.

Then there was water everywhere , the hose had come off the storage tank.


Quickly reattached, the tank was filling fast.



The Fire Engine has a high pressure pump on board which boosts the pressure so the hoses become effective.




All this action does not happen by its self.


For every one actually doing something there was 2 or 3 "observers".


But it was a training exercise.

There had to be "the trainers" and guys with clip boards who seemed to "marking" the trainee's.


Then there was the Traffic Control guys.


After all there was 4 motorhomes in the action zone (all parked).


Then there was the Crowd Control guys who had to keep the onlookers (me) clear of the danger zone.

We had a good chat which lulled him into a false sense of security , so every time he looked away I would duck around the other side of the rig to take some more photos.


Kept him on his toes.

Finally it all kicked in and 2 hoses were operating.


The first hose had a nozzle which produced a fine conical shaped spray which was adjustable.
 The photo shows it at its maximum reach.
It could be wound back to make a circle of spray just in front of the firefighters.

Necessary if they have to enter burning buildings.

The other hose had a long reach flow of water.


Both hoses needed 2 people to control them , such was the force of the high pressure water.

Extra "assisted breathing" devices were on hand.


Happily they were not needed this time.

Apparently a third unit was supposed to be at this practice.


The clubrooms was a full two storey structure.


In a actual fire an "aerial unit" would be deployed.


That is one of those rigs with a long extendable ladder that takes a hose and a fireman up high enough to fight a fire in the roof.


Despite all the cellphone calls and conversations
the "aerial unit" that is based in New Plymouth was on duty at an actual fire.



Damn it - its attendance would have sparkled things up a bit.

Practice is over , everything is packed away.

A debriefing was held .
All the guys standing around the back of our ute.
Two of the big, burly ones relaxed a bit by resting onto the ute.
Bingo - the alarm was triggered.

Red faces and lots of laughter.

Where would we be without them?

A HAPPY FIND.

 It was a "Bingo" moment. We were south of New Plymouth and needed somewhere to park up for a few nights before the Easter Rally started.
We noticed on our map a little unnamed road which lead to the coastline.
Being us , we had to have a look , and "Bingo".

The road went to a sports ground.

A club house , grass to park on and a freshwater tap alongside the mouth of a little river.


There was Alec fishing for herrings and small kawhia for bait for his longline.


He has lived here for 60 odd years and very ernestly asked me "not to tell everybody about this place".


His dog brought a stick for me to throw.


Thats two "Yeah Rights" in a row.


The river met the tide with a never ending surge of current and foam.

This tide had washed in a new driftwood log to add to the 100's already ashore.


The foreshore had an amazing collection of small driftwood.


Literally 1000's of pieces sized from 200mm to 1200mm.


Then there were the large stumps and logs or "feature" pieces as we call them.


They would look great in the courtyard of one of the Mansions.


The beach is quite a few km's long.

In the south is the flat topped headland where the wreck of the 'Garlock" lies.

At our feet is a more modern wreck of a good size Crayfish.


Who or what ate the rest of it we will never know.


To the north can be seen "Nga Motu"or the Sugar Loaf Islands , a Sanctuary and Conservation Park.

These islands lead into New Plymouth harbour.


The day ended in a golden glow thanks to mother Nature.


We were very happy chappies and settled down for a quiet evening.


Look at the next blog to see that episode.





The next morning the tide was out.


The eastury  was now a rocky river with long deep pools , ideal for a quiet swim out of the surf.


A lady "rock hound" went by looking for a local rarity , pink pebbles and the semi precious quartz and agate.


The river mouth now cut through a sandbank on its way to the sea.


The photo is a bit dark but the bank on the right is thick with the little driftwood I spoke about earlier.



The tide seems to go out a long way compared to up north.


With still 2hours of outgoing tide to go, rocky banks were appearing , with the some large boulders and the odd enormous one appearing.



The stump in the fore ground was the hightide line.


Shoals of rock can be seen about halfway out.


The first of the big rocks surprised us with the large black patches we could see.


On closer inspection we found they were black mussells.

Thousands of them , 10 to 15mm long and they seemed to be healthy.


Further out the rocks were totally covered in them and low down they were 60 to 70mm long.
They were served for dinner that night along with the mushrooms picked fresh from the playing fields that morning.

 Cheers.

WAIHI and OHAWE BEACH.

Hawera has 2 local beaches.

Just 3km and 6km from town.


We went to Ohawe which is where the early settlers made the first discovery of Moa bones.


It also has a cemetery for soldiers who died during the Maori wars.

Alas we did find any Moa bones and the Soldiers Cemetery site was sign posted  but was now just a cow paddock.


However the beach was great.

Typical of this coastline, with high cliffs formed from the constant pounding of the Tasman Sea.

Sandy stretches of beach with rocky outcrops that provide good fishing.

At low tide the locals harvest Kina , Paua and crayfish.


Quad bikes are used up and down the beach to launch longlines of various sorts.

 The local river has a low flow at the moment but was still bubbling over the rocks.


It would be an impressive sight in mid winter.

 From Ohawe there is a beach walk, south to Waihi Beach.


It is classed as "Moderate" and takes some 2 to 3 hours , one way.


In another life perhaps.

The erosion along this coastline has created some incredible formations.


There is a lot of sandstone and siltstone overlaid with ash layers from the massive Taupo eruptions and the more local Mt Egmont or Mt Taranaki.
 


Waihi Beach features this interesting scalloped ridge line.

All this is scenery is dominated by Mt Egmont.

Just as the lower coastline is dominated by Kapiti Island  this area from Hawera in the south to Waitara in the north is said to be in the shadow of Mt Egmont.

The locals say "if you cannot see the Mount it is raining" and "if you can see the Mount it is going to rain".

But not today.

HAWERA - South Taranaki.

Hawera  - an example of a good quality town that was set up in the late 1800's.


We stayed at the South Taranaki Club in a section of their carpark , set up with a Dump Station , fresh water tap and a rubbish bin, specifically for motorhomers.

 Thursday night is the busy night of the week , Members Draw and raffles. We ate at home.

Friday night we went in at 5.30pm for  a drink and Dinner at 6.00.
There was a fair sized crowd there and the 2 bar staff  were kept busy.
The dining room sat 100 people and right on 6.00 over 30 of the bar patrons filed in and placed their orders.
At 6.15 we placed our orders.

By now there were 5 barstaff and 7 in the kitchen - and this was a quiet night.

At 7.00 we enjoyed a quality meal which we could not finish and went home with a Doggy Bag.

The old water tower is still in use.

The town has many fine old buildings.
(now considered as earthquake high risk)


Structural brickwork , plastered and painted to accentuate the features.


This Bank of NZ building was built for the bank and has been in constant use by them ever since.

 Their War Memorial is a fine example of a Arch of Rememberance.


The RSA is to the left of the photo.

The Court House was built in 1889.

The Jail is on the left with a high metal fence with looped barbwire along the top which encloses an exercise yard.

Another bank building.

This one was built for the Bank of New South Wales but is no longer in use.

The RSA , built in the 1950's but in the old style.

The building above was built in 1882.



This little cutey was built in 1881 !!!!!!

132 years old - no cracks - no obvious deteriation - not even around the back.

The pioneers built these quality buildings on wide streets and planted many of them so now we have tree lined avenues.

 Then we discovered the water tower is lit up at night !!!

It looked better in reality but you can get the idea.






 A town to be enjoyed.