A day of driving.

Wednesday, after the caves we got in the van and started driving south. We knew we had to get to Masterson for the sheep shearing competition which was Friday. We got as far as Lake Taupo. It was raining a bunch, but as soon as we paid for our spot it started coming down a lot more. We were right on the side of the lake. The wind was blowing and the rain was beating down on the roof. Nick made dinner, we ate and then we slipped into bed. Let me say, all the driving really makes one exhausted.

Thursday morning we wake up, shower, have some grub and then hit the road again. We had to book it to Masterton because Nick booked us a spot for the night so we would be sure to have a place since the sheep shearing competition was on Friday. The landscape was amazing the whole day. It’s amazing what you can drive through in a day. We were in rolling hills green with grass and sheep or cows. Then out of nowhere, we were in the mountains with thick forests of pine trees. The forests were so thick; I’ve never seen anything like it. No sunlight could get through and it looked so dark and spooky, maybe that’s why Lord of the Rings was filmed here (yes, we passed the forest some of the film was filmed in, but we didn’t take any tours). We wouldn’t even realize we were on a mountain until we would come around the corner and you could see for miles below. One of the coolest memories we will both have is being at the top of a mountain, coming around the corner and there was a huge volcano! So let’s see, rolling hills, mountains, forests, a volcano and all around the volcano was desert. What an amazing terrain.

As we got closer to Masterton we noticed signs for a brewery called Tui. I was all for stopping for the hubster to try some beer. We were going to try and take the tour but we were an hour too late. It was three, tour was at two. Bummer deal. Nick decided he was still going to taste though. So he did. Three pints, and he got to keep the glass. But here’s the kick. We didn’t realize they were closing so soon so Nick had about three pints of beer in all of about 45 minutes….maybe less. So you can imagine, he was feeling pretty good by the time we left. Me on the other hand, I was a bit on the nervous side about driving. I hadn’t yet tried. All went well, though it was time for Nicholas to see just how nerve wracking being the passenger can be. With the van, you’re so high up you can see the road pretty well. And driving on the other side of the vehicle means you have to adjust to all the dimensions, only it’s a huge camper van and not a car. It’s very easy to veer to the left when you’re driving, haven’t quite figured out why that is, but we both did it. When you’re the passenger, and you can see the edge of the road….it’s intense. Especially because they don’t have those nice metal side rails here like they do in the States…you just drop right off!

Masterton was getting nearer and then Nick realized we’d have to go even farther than we thought. Our campsite was in Martinborough. We stopped in Carterton, a small town between Masterton and Martinborough to get some grub. Both of us were getting pretty hungry by this time. I had a Panini with chicken, bacon (it was supposed to have cranberry brie but I passed on the brie because you’re not supposed to have unpasteurized cheeses while brewing babies. Found out later, all cheese in NZ has to be pasteurized). Nick had a platter with mussels, sausages, salami, potatoes, beer battered fries, and a cream cheese stuffed pepper.

Martinborough was a quaint little place. Looking back on it, Nick and I both wished we’d spent more time there. We left in the morning to make I to the competition and didn’t go back down. It has been decided we wouldn’t be spending enough time here to see all the things we wanted to see while we were here. There were quite a few little wineries that would have been worth checking out in the area but the shearing contest was on our list of things we wanted to see and do so we had to miss out on other things.

We pulled into the campground and checked in. Nick hopped out of the van to get some soap from the front desk but they guy was already leaving. Nick said he was trying to get out in time to go to trivia night. He must have seen Nick walking towards the office because he got out of his car and walked over to Nick, who was on his way back to the van, and asked if he needed anything. When Nick told him what he needed, the man unlocked the office and got him the soap. I thought that was super nice. This was probably one of the nicest campgrounds we’d stayed at so far. The bathrooms were well kept which meant the showers were great too. We washed our clothes, put up some blogs, check the finances and went to bed.