BootsnAll Travel Network



tourists for a day

Earlier this month we went camping “up north”. It seemed a good time to try doing-the-tourist-thing, especially as we had never taken the children to this part of our country before. Some of them have sighted the Treaty of Waitangi in Wellington, but none had been to the first signing place. And they still haven’t – we ran out of time. But we did look across from the ferry to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.

The plan was to visit the Stone Store, New Zealand’s oldest surviving stone building in Kerikeri and Pompallier House, where there is a magnificent hands-on display of how some early French settlers printed books. In the back of our minds we had been thinking that when we travel it woudl be a good idea to not try to accomplish more than two things in a day. We now think this is an excellent piece of advice!

Upon arriving at the Stone Store we were offered a passport, which allowed us entry to *four* historic sites, including both the ones we wanted to see. Once you have the passport, of course you want to see all of them. And we did. But only just.
At the Stone Store we learnt not to believe the signs which point to toilets nearby….the toilets were actually located at the other side of the carpark where we had parked, across a bridge and in the pouring rain. Three different children decided at different times they needed to go so the adults spent half their Stone Store time ferrying children back and forth. Nonetheless, it was fascinating to wander about the store which has been arranged exactly as it used to be. The guide-in-authentic-dress gave a very informative chat about the locale and shared stories of historical interest. One day, when we return from our travelling adventure and embark on a becoming-self-sufficient adventure, we know where to buy large cast iron pots! Actually it was very interesting to note in all the places that the kitchen equipment was BIG. The pots, the serving dishes, the ladles – they would all serve our family well! In standard stores today we are hard-pressed to find items with great enough capacity.
The Stone Store, Kerikeri, NZ

Next door to the Stone Store is Kemp House, the house, which boasts the oldest wooden floorboards in all of Australasia.
oldest wooden floorboards!

Kerikeri’s main supermarket has a facade to look like the Stone Store, and there we stopped for provisions for lunch, which was eaten in a carpark at a chocolate-making factory. K9, our wannabe chef, had specifically requested a visit there and as it was en route to where we were going and there was free chocolate tasting to tempt the rest of us (which by the way was superb), it seemed unreasonable to say, “No”. We should, however, have moved on more quickly!

We wasted a bit more time missing the turnoff to Te Waimate. But was it really wasted? The countryside was gorgeous. Rolling hills, beautiful trees, sheep, farmhouses. The kind of thing people travel around the world to see!

Fifth stop of the day….Te Waimate Mission House, with church next door. If we’d realised that eventaully we would run out of time at Pompallier House, we might not have wandered around the graveyard reading tombstones…..
graveyard

The Mission House itself brought out the cook in me. There was a wonderful cellar, a huge grain mill, a gigantic oven, which would hold enough loaves of bread to last a week, a hearth with room for the most massive cast iron post we’d ever seen as well as other smaller pots and kettles, a beautiful kauri dresser and practical table for working at.
Te Waimate Mission House

The plan was then to drive to Paihia and catch a ferry to Russell. But wait, there’s a sign pointing to some waterfalls. Why not stop and have a look? Who knows when we’ll be here next?
After the short interlude, we continued on, driving past the Treaty Grounds, but not venturing in, understanding that we would be lucky to even make it to Pomapallier House that day.
Managing to get carparks together (Grandpa was travelling with us and we don’t all fit in our van), we made a dash for the ferry. To the adults, it was just a way of getting to our destination. To the children, it was part of the adventure.
skipper

Pomapllier House turned out to be all Grandpa had said. Unfortunately we did not have anywhere near time enough to appreciate it. Some of us caught the tail end of a guided tour – not today’s writer though; she was attached to the Youngest Member, who had quite simply had enough by this stage and was very vocal in her protest. We would have loved to have been there earlier and been able to make prints and soak leather and try our hand at book-binding. It would have been a much nicer place to stop for lunch – the vegetable garden and orchard with croquet lawn was most inviting.

Wandering back to the ferry, we discovered an old whaling boat, boosting the day’s itinerary to ten items thus far. Still to come was the return ferry trip, snacking on the side of the road because dinner was obviously going to be very late, the drive back to camp and cooking hamburgers to feed those hungry tummies. Noone noticed the hour – there were too many things to talk about, too many memories to relive, intense discussion to decide the *favourite of the day*

Lessons we want to remember:
1) all children use the toilet at the same time (this is a standard rule guideline for us – how did we fail to observe it that day?)
2) only try to do two things per day



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2 responses to “tourists for a day”

  1. jen says:

    I explored these places with my family when I was a child
    wonder places arent they 🙂

  2. Karen Hamer says:

    Frank and I took this trip when April was a baby. I loved the Stone Store and the Mission House gardens (don’t remember going inside). We also took the walk to the waterfalls, and visited the Chocolate Factory and went to Russell, though not to Pompallier House, which sounds wonderful. L

    Like you, I concur that “less is more” — more peaceful, restful, sustainable sight-seeing. And, yes, we also make them all go to the toilet at the same time (well, not EXACTLY the same time…). Frank’s rule: “Never miss an opportunity to use the bathroom. You never know when the next one will be…”

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