trip report - day one
Yesterday was the day of driving. We actually managed to start the engine about quarter to six, which was later than I had planned but still plenty early. By Bulls we stopped for a takeaway hot drink and pit stop, and ElderM solemnly informed me that she'd never ever buy a hot chocolate from Mickey D's again, it was awful. Go her.
We reached the Army Museum fairly shortly after they opened and had a good wander through. It was interesting, and, the girls declared, 'sad'. I have to say their cafe was fantastic, good food and very cheap! Looking out over the desert road it was sunny, frosty and just gorgeous.
So off we headed, aiming for Taupo at lunch. Plenty of frost, but sensible drivers so we achieved it easily, pulling up at the lakefront around noon, and then having lunch in our 'usual' place right on the corner. They're pretty child-friendly, and have decent food.
The girls spent a little while exploring the super-playground and we had a wander, before heading off again, confident that we'd done the worst bit of the trip.
We were wrong. In the 'excitement we can do without' file, we came around a corner near Tokoroa to find that there was a long line of traffic coming towards us, following a tractor, and one driver had decided he was not going to be sitting around anymore. So we come around the corner, and there's a car pulling a very large caravan coming towards us on our side of the road. Several cars screeching to a halt on the shoulder, horns going, heart beating, oh what fun.
That was the worst part of it though. We had a quick break in Cambridge, took the backroad to Taupiri, got back on the main road and we were on the home stretch. Which was about when we started meeting the holiday traffic exiting Auckland. By the time we got to Takanini there was complete standstill on the Southern Motorway. What a way to start a holiday. We managed to find our way to the place we were staying with no incidents, and here we are. Nickelodeon is on, we're waiting on Deltora Quest and then we're off to explore the city.
We reached the Army Museum fairly shortly after they opened and had a good wander through. It was interesting, and, the girls declared, 'sad'. I have to say their cafe was fantastic, good food and very cheap! Looking out over the desert road it was sunny, frosty and just gorgeous.
So off we headed, aiming for Taupo at lunch. Plenty of frost, but sensible drivers so we achieved it easily, pulling up at the lakefront around noon, and then having lunch in our 'usual' place right on the corner. They're pretty child-friendly, and have decent food.
The girls spent a little while exploring the super-playground and we had a wander, before heading off again, confident that we'd done the worst bit of the trip.
We were wrong. In the 'excitement we can do without' file, we came around a corner near Tokoroa to find that there was a long line of traffic coming towards us, following a tractor, and one driver had decided he was not going to be sitting around anymore. So we come around the corner, and there's a car pulling a very large caravan coming towards us on our side of the road. Several cars screeching to a halt on the shoulder, horns going, heart beating, oh what fun.
That was the worst part of it though. We had a quick break in Cambridge, took the backroad to Taupiri, got back on the main road and we were on the home stretch. Which was about when we started meeting the holiday traffic exiting Auckland. By the time we got to Takanini there was complete standstill on the Southern Motorway. What a way to start a holiday. We managed to find our way to the place we were staying with no incidents, and here we are. Nickelodeon is on, we're waiting on Deltora Quest and then we're off to explore the city.