Day 19 – Diesel and dust

This morning started with the rumble of a diesel engine, only our campervan runs on petrol.  A big truck had pulled onto an adjacent street and then they began loading a tree harvesting machine.  Well, this wouldn’t do and we started our petrol engine and drove off in search of the sign for the longest place name in the world.  Following our GPS we gently rolled down a dirt road and then past a house, a farmer and his dogs and then into a courtyard that had no connecting road so we had to backtrack to the farmer.  I excused myself for driving through his property and told him we were on the hunt for the longest place name.  He told me that the hill is located at the back of his property, but that there was now a sign erected near the place we had left this morning.  So, backtracking again, we went to see the sign and learn the story of the Mauri chief.

Our next destination yielded some wonderful photos in the early morning fog and light.  Tegan didn’t feel like walking around, so I got more time to explore with my camera.  When I returned, I got her something to eat and by the time we got to the next beach she was back to herself and eager to explore.  Unfortunately, getting to the next beach wasn’t as easy as we would have liked.  Our trusty GPS let us down once again, leading down what eventually turned into a logging road of sorts.  We crossed a knee deep stream with the van on the way up and realized this was not looking like a road we wanted to travel so we turned around at the first opportunity and crossed the stream yet again.  Only this time it dislodged a plastic inner fender on the driver’s wheel and I had to get out and pry it out of wheel well with my tripod.  We decided to skip the current beach destination and opt for the one further on.  

Akitio was then next location and we had a brief stop here, snapped some photos and started on a road towards Castlepoint that quickly turned into a dirt road.  Then we came to an intersection and had a choice to make, along the beach or back towards the main road.  I likely made the wrong choice of heading back towards the main road, but we will never know.  Traveling down the windy dirt roads ate up heaps of time, so I really think we should have tried the road along the ocean.  

Once on the main road, the GPS told us it was about 200 kms to Castlepoint, yet it is only about 30-40 kms direct on the map.  As we were making our way I then saw a sign that said 70kms to Castlepoint when we had 120kms to go with our current route so we took the shorter route.  The road was dirt and the turns were windy; I felt like we were in a rally car race and could imagine this being one of the stages of the New Zealand Rally.  Eventually the road turned into pavement and we were nearing the famous Castlepoint.  

The weather and view didn't let us down one bit!  This was a stunning destination.  It was low tide and we were able to voyage out and around the sandy beach.  The walk to the lighthouse was a nice easy path and after taking in some of the vistas we descended to the rocks below and watched the waves crash into the walls of the cliffs and congregate into a  narrow passage then blow out in a large and loud spray of salt water.

We stayed on the beach for over an hour surveying the surroundings, until we decided to go back and have a snack before supper.  We decided on another batch of guacamole and grabbed some chips from the store for dipping.  There was a cute little jack russell terrier that became our companion at the campground.  Everywhere we went, Holly went too.  Tegan liked having her as a buddy, since there was no kids at this park.

Supper was being served at 6pm at the local tavern; Tegan had butter chicken and I had bangers and mash, a couple of beers for me and a L&P for Tegan and away we went back to the campsite.  Tegan played at the park for a little bit and then we went to sleep, eager to have an early day for our trip to Martinborough for our 3 night stay there.