Hauraki - Waikato Weekend
The plan for the weekend was to visit the Hauraki/Waikato towns of Paeroa, Te Aroha, Morrinsville, Mata Mata and Tirau then over the Kamais to Tauranga then Kati Kati and back home to Auckland. The reason to visit these towns was to explore the antique and second hand shops looking for whatever might take our fancy.
The first night, 19th, we stayed at the Paeroa RV centre that is well priced at $12 total including power.
Paeroa most probably took most of the day, 20th, as it is known as the antique town of New Zealand or so they would have us believe. Yes there a many shops and it was fun looking.
Nestled in the shadow of Mt Te Aroha is the township of Te Aroha.
Te Aroha is a bit out of the way as it is not on any real main route.
For the night of the 20th we ended up at Tirau and parked over in the car park of the hotel.
We weren’t the only ones, there were a couple of large truck and trailers and some others.
Tirau is an eye blink on the main road south with a couple of real interesting and well stocked antique shops.
Plus some interesting art. I wonder if there would be any life left in these two Fiat Bambina halves.
On the 21st after leaving Tirau the next stop was Mata Mata, the home to Hobbiton.
With discovery tours to where some of the Lord of The Rings trilogy was filmed.
We planned on being in Tauranga for that night, 21st, but first stopped off to view McLaren Falls
And the river that flows below the falls
and the park of that name.
The dam associated with the falls around which the park is formed is quite substantial and provide much in the way of recreational activities including walks, fishing and water sports.
We parked up that night at the NZMCA pop, Gargan Rd, on the way into Tauranga. Fortunately the ground was reasonably firm as it sure did rain that night, all night.
The 22nd and it was time to head home so after a lazy start we passed through Kati Kati bypassing Tauranga.
Having passed it so many time before we decided to stop for coffee and lunch at Waikino between Wahi and Paeroa where the old train station has been converted into a small museum and period café. Oh well home we go, it was a great weekend even if the weather was marginal to bad. Any weekend away is great.
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