Tonight’s destination – Rangiwahia

After a reasonable restful night we took the dogs for a walk along the lake’s boardwalk behind the local golf course. Although the weather was a game of two halves – sometimes the sun shone and at other times it was wet and blustery we were dressed for the conditions. An hour’s walk and a stressful phone-call to Acacia (intermittent fault with solar system) followed by a second stressful call to another RV company in Taupo – we left Maraeti and headed south.

Rod deals with the technical aspects on Dogonit – I am the ‘2IC’ but even I was pissed off at the Taupo dealer explaining that the reason why they don’t explain technical equipment to clients is because they are old and wouldn’t understand – it is simpler to hide the wonderful abilities this Dethleff’s RV has. I felt insulted on behalf of the oldies who are financial enough to purchase but not understand what they have ‘under the hood’.

Anyway rant over………..we ambled our way towards Taurangi  via a little bay called Pukawa nestled into the shores of Lake Taupo. Gorgeous location, somewhere we would certainly consider returning to.

In Taurangi where we had lunch and the dogs took another stroll around the dog park. We cruised along the desert road looking for a side road which we thought was once known as Access 13 (we are talking about a memory 40+ years old) so took the turning and travelled along a road less travelled. The road was obviously not ‘well-maintained’ if at all and we had to play dodge the potholes. When we reached our programmed destination it was obvious that we would not be staying here for the night so Capt. Bosson handed his ‘2IC’ the reigns with the goal of selecting our night’s destination.

After due consideration we decided to stop at Rangiwahia and programmed the destination……..we were now off the ‘beaten track’ . The road was windy and narrow but the view was spectacular!! Deep ravines and high cliffs made the backdrop for our trip memorable!! In fact we could compare it favourably with the Manawatu Gorge.

We reached our destination – a tiny little village – no dairy, no garage, a volunteer fire station. The overnight stop is in the back of the local community hall with powered sites, toilets and a dump station. PERFECT!!!! We are the only ‘guests’ and it is sooo quiet……what more could one ask for!!!

Enjoying a quiet pre-dinner drink and just down-stressing……….good night all!!