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We started the day with a nice shower (finally got to wash my hair!) and a walk around Waipawa. There was an abandoned go-kart track on the other side of the levee bank from the van park. (Riverside is no longer an apt description, the levee bank meant that the river was nowhere to be seen). We left a little earlier today and our first stop was Dannevirke where we found a fantastic butcher and bought some hogget chops and some beef sausages. There were some beautiful buildings in the middle of town, and a retro police car outside the "International Police Museum".
A little later we were passing through another small town. Brett spied a crawler tractor on a stick, and wanted to turn back. We then saw a beautiful old brick tower building with "Tui Brewing Company" written across the top. A sign for a brewery cafe was the next thing we saw, so of course we turned in. We signed up for a brewery tour which came with 3 beers and a glass each. We traded 3 of the beers for a takeaway quart bottle of their East India Pale Ale (which was absolutely delicious, but not really a pale ale). A highlight of the tour for us was the collection of old trucks which had been used for advertisements, and the site fire truck. The old tower was no longer used as it had been condemned in the 1960s, but was kept for its historic value.
We went back to check out the crawler tractor but unfortunately the place was closed, so we just took pictures from the road.
Much of the going was a lot easier today - until we crossed the range. It was another steep, narrow, twisting climb and descent, with nothing but timber sticks attached to wires to save vehicles from plunging to their deaths. Another case of scared straight?
The next thing that we went to was Kaihoke Regional Park. We followed the signs to Rivendell but parked the van a bit away from it so we had a lovely walk through some New Zealand bush, complete with local birdsong from unseen birds. It was amazing. We reached Rivendell, and there was a tour guide at the entrance with a group of tourists hanging on his every word. We brushed past and went into the grassy open area. Brett went ahead and then realised to his horror what Rivendell actually was "You have taken me to another Lord of the Rings location! You didn't tell me this was Lord of the Rings! I could have stayed in the van." I must say I was a bit stunned. How did he not know what Rivendell meant?
After Rivendell, it was an easy run down to Wellington, more spectacular scenery, yada yada. Added bonus of passing a speedway track which had a meeting tonight so got to see many of the competitors cars on trailers. Polly greeted us when we got to the Wellington Waterfront Motorhome Park. We parked up and had a cup of coffee, then went for a walk around the waterfront.
This is a fantastic location, we have a 5 lane road outside our back window, and boats in front of us. We can see and hear the ferries that go to the South Island, their wharf is right there. What a great idea for a city to use some of its dockside locations for motorhomes to park up in. We are looking forward to our next day in New Zealand.
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