Innholdsfortegnelse for September - October 2021 i RV Travel Lifestyle

Well, it has been another merry-go-round on the Covid-19 ride these last few weeks. A snap level-4 lockdown was not expected on August 17, but we complied immediately, all fearing an outbreak such as Australia is experiencing. The Rock and I have both had our two vaccinations, and I must say that though we know we can still get Covid, get a bit sick, and maybe pass it on, there is a real feeling of being protected from the potential of getting really ill and fighting for every breath to the point of being in an ICU with machines breathing for us or worse, dying from complications – I am sure you know what I mean. Maybe we will be proved to be idiots by the anti-vaxxers in our social/family…

REWI ALLEY MEMORIAL Pre-Covid we’d been talking about ‘over-tourism’ and the impact that overseas visitors seemed to have on the domestic tourists’ ability to enjoy their own country. Even so, on entering Springfield, just 65km west of Christchurch, it was a surprise to see a Waka Kotahi NZTA sign written in Chinese. All was not as it seemed though, as the sign directed Chinese visitors to the small attractive memorial to Rewi Alley, who past Prime Minister David Lange once referred to as New Zealand’s greatest son. Rewi Alley was a lecturer, writer, political activist and social reformer who did a great deal to foster relationships between New Zealand and China, where he spent most of his time. His peaceful memorial includes a stone carving, trees and panels depicting his…

Aman called String Ballantyne exemplifies the spirit of what makes Stewart Island a different kind of place from the rest of New Zealand. He was a larger-than-life figure, a legend in the Bluff, Foveaux Strait and Stewart Island area, a fisherman who was a pioneer in the crayfishing industry, and who built the southernmost house in New Zealand on a promontory on the south side of Stewart Island. Phillip Ballantyne acquired the moniker ‘String’ from his Dad’s habit of tying up crates with string rather than wire as other fishermen did. String died in a car crash in 2015 after a big night out at Zookeeper’s Café in Invercargill, with a good feed of oysters inside him. His generosity and tales of his derring-do are still recalled. Today the history…

The anti-JAFA brigade would have you believe that the best view of Auckland is in the rear-vision mirror. Be that as it may, looking from the Āwhitu Peninsula, the city, seen distantly across the Manukau Harbour, makes an exceptional backdrop to a foreground of birds on beaches, or scenes of steep hills surrounding lush green flats. Bounded by the Tasman Sea on the west, the peninsula juts into the Manukau Harbour, and its pastoral terrain presents a totally different world from Auckland, just a shortish drive away. At the head of the harbour, the replica Manukau lighthouse, constructed to replace the original that was built in 1874, stands on a promontory overlooking both the harbour and the notorious Manukau entrance. Rapid tidal flows and a constantly changing bar make the…

My life has been dominated by motor vehicles. At first it was the dream of being able to go where I wanted and when I wanted that triggered the initial interest, and later in adult life I was able to scrape up a living writing about cars. This meant a lot of driving, and in half a century or so I have no real idea of how many millions of kilometres I have covered, nor the number of cars I have driven. But it’s lots. And lots! Most of it has been incident free, save for a serious crash when I was 20 years of age that was a life lesson for me. There have been scrapes and dents, but nothing serious. Two years ago, I spent a month tearing…

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As the name might suggest Lyttelton is a small town, but it has a disproportionately large amount on offer. From spectacular waterside walks to over a dozen eateries, from swimming bays to historical sites, if you can take the time to immerse yourself, there is so much here to discover. Lyttelton Harbour was believed to be a home for Māori for about 700 years, evidenced by moa bones in Purau Bay on the other side of the water from Lyttelton. With the many sheltered bays around the harbour, the abundance of seafood, and forested hillsides plentiful with birdlife, it’s easy to see why this was an ideal place to settle. It was first sighted by Europeans in 1770, during James Cook’s first voyage to New Zealand and was settled by…

Leaving the Waipoua Forest, heading north, you drop down to typical Far North farmland, through the village of Waimamaku, then climb again before the splendour of the Hokianga Harbour spreads before you – it is breathtaking. Pause at the top above Ōmāpere, and drink in the magnificent sight of one of Aotearoa’s most historic regions. And it’s fair to use ‘Aotearoa’ here because the history of this place far eclipses the arrival of Europeans and the New Zealandisation that followed. You can’t miss the fact that the northern shore of the harbour entrance is not your typical headland; it is a giant, golden sandhill, and you might wonder what lies beyond this sandhill, which is so special to the local tangata whenua. You should be curious because the ferry from…

It’s said of the mighty Waikato River that there’s a rangatira, a chief, living at every bend. And in between a taniwha or two, as well. Mythic and other histories overlap closely here. This great sense of history’s presence is a strong feeling as you bike along the Riverside Trail in Hamilton city, which is part of a much longer (70km) Te Awa biking trail that follows the great river through the Waikato heartland. The whole length of the Te Awa Trail is not yet completely linked up, but when it is so, will run from opposite the start line of famous rowing races on Lake Karapiro, all the way to Ngāruawāhia, the papa kāinga of the Kingite movement, and of all the kings and queens of Māoridom since 1858.…

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SCAN QR TO WATCH THE VIDEO OR CLICK IN DIGITAL EDITION Youtube channel: NZTODAY RV Lifestyle https://youtu.be/ddVc8ASI5Zo Getting on the road and living the dream, that’s what people want from an RV, a tool to enable them to enjoy their style of life and living, when and where they want it. For some that means heading off-road and going bush, up and down mountains, or along long sweeping beaches to get to their ‘spot’. Four-wheel or All-wheel drive RV vehicles, built to drive in, on and around these types of terrain, are not for the main-stream RV owner. The price is not in the entry level market of under $150k, that is for sure, as the cab chassis base is the most expensive fixed cost of a motorhome and being…

The Milford Track is a bit like some grand parents: it has been around for quite a while, is well respected and is imbued with a wealth of heritage … but it is also as stubborn as they come. I’m a fan of flexible tramping. I prefer to plan trips just days before, based on the weather; sometimes completing tracks in reverse, back-tracking at times, skipping huts and occasionally approaching tracks from both ends to collect photos and GPS data for the Great Hikes App. This track offers none of these which makes trip planning refreshing simple and equally nerve-wracking. However, despite the track being so rigid, I am relaxed. You see, with Covid-19 blocking international tourists from our shores I assume that the most overbooked track in our country…

FOX GLACIER SOUTH SIDE WALKWAY/CYCLEWAY Journey up the Fox valley through ancient rainforest by foot or by bike. This spectacular track takes to you to several viewpoints where you can see Fox Glacier/Te Moeka o Tūawe. As you travel up the valley, you pass over the glacier’s history. The track crosses glacial moraines – mounds of debris left behind by the glacier as it has retreated over time. The different ages of the forest reflect the age of the moraines. The name Te Moeka o Tūawe speaks to the cultural importance of the glacier for local Māori. It is the final resting place (moeka) of their ancestor Tūawe. Fox Glacier/Te Moeka o Tūawe is one of the most accessible glaciers in the world. However, rising temperatures are taking their toll…

As we drive to the Far North in early January the roads are very busy out of Auckland. We are in the holiday traffic, and once we complete the section of motorway through the tunnel at Pūhoi the pace slows to a crawl. Patience wanes after a series of slow stop–starts through Warkworth and a long 50km section through Dome Valley. Parts of the highway are pretty rough, and having not travelled north for a number of years I am surprised how bad this section of road is. But there are plans underway for the construction of a motorway bypassing Warkworth, Dome Valley and Wellsford. Improvement is long overdue and will certainly help access to Northland. SCAN QR TO WATCH THE VIDEO OR CLICK IN DIGITAL EDITION Youtube channel: NZTODAY…

Riding along in my campervan, no one but me at the wheel, I sipped a coffee in my seat, excitement running wild. Cruising and playing the radio, definitely with places to go. With apologies to the late great Chuck Berry I was on a high about getting out on the road with a campervan for the first time in my life. (Thanks thl and Māui; I enjoyed every moment.) I was driving down SH2 from Auckland heading for Waihi Beach very aware that while my van didn’t have a lot in front of the driver’s seat, there were several metres of vehicle behind me. Despite feeling quite self-conscious about driving what seemed like a truck at times, no one else on the road seemed to pay the slightest attention to…

To enter email the book title as subject to: subs@rvmagazine.co.nz or post to: NZTRV Vol 12 Books, PO Box 220, Martinborough 5711 with your full details, and go in the draw to win. Closes 31 October 2021 Scan me to enter online Burn: Using Fire to Cool the Earth Albert Bates and Kathleen Draper RRP $24.95 Chelsea Green Publishing In order to rescue ourselves from climate catastrophe, we need to radically alter how humans live on Earth. We have to go from spending carbon to banking it. We have to put back the trees, wetlands, and corals. We have to regrow the soil and turn back the desert. We have to save whales, wombats, and wolves. We have to reverse the flow of greenhouse gases and send them in exactly…