We woke up to a grey day, not what we had been expecting or planning for! Today I decided to trust the weather forecast so continued to make our picnic lunch and pack our togs along with the raincoats just in case!
We were heading off to Nagaruawahia to explore the Hakarimata Scenic Reserve. We chose the scenic route the GPS offered and still enjoyed the passing countryside in the grey and drizzle and headed toward to the blue skies that had been promised!
The Hakarimata Reserve served up the blue sky and sunshine and was a lot busier (in New Zealand terms!) than we had expected. There is good parking and plenty of off street parking available along with a clean toilet.
After applying the sun cream we headed up the hill. It is a great walk with wonderful bush, great views and lots to feast your eyes on as you make your way up and up and up! We decided to break the steps down into blocks of 120 with a minute or so rest (and a wine gum at certain stops!) in between. It was hard work in the heat but well worth it, great views at the top and would have been even better had not been for a haze that covered the horizon. It took us the 1 1/2 hours that the sign suggested and we were not rushing. We stopped to look at the dam and sat down when we came across a seat!
The walk down was a lot faster and we took great delight at smiling at all the walkers still trudging up the hill!
Time for lunch after that trek! We found a lovely spot by the river next to the Ngaruawahia Band Rotunda and sat and ate our sandwiches, oranges and few treats! We had the company of a family of very cute ducklings and enjoyed watching a very long freight train pass over the river on the railway bridge. Next was our search for ice cream! Ngaruawahia was VERY quiet on this particular Sunday (maybe it is always like this?) but we did manage to locate a dairy and purchase 3 ice creams, no scoop ice cream unfortunately, Magnums and Cookie Crumbles had to do!
Next up for the day was a visit to Huntly Aquatic Centre for a swim to cool off. This is a relatively new pool and was in great condition, very clean and tidy and very quiet, we had 4 lanes to ourselves so entertained ourselves with swim races and the like. No exciting slides here and no spa pool (which I had my fingers crossed for) but was a nice relaxing and refreshing dip.
Now we decided to play the "Getting Lost Game" this a directional card game that our youngest daughter got from Santa for Christmas, we have often played our own version of this game but this is an official one! You have a box of cards and a compass and you follow the instructions e.g. the first card may say "Head East" then the next one "Follow the next Blue Car you see", "Find a playground and swing on the swing"...it is great fun and you could go for hours...we tried to direct the game in the direction of home!
So the game took us through some new countryside and places and we stopped in Te Kauwhata, a lovely sleepy place with a nice playground and a van selling Thai Food! Well you can't say no to a Pad Thai so we shared a very very yummy Prawn Pad Thai..I would happily go back to Te Kauwhata just to eat that Pad Thai again! Then we were off to Harrisville (the card said find a place beginning with the youngest passengers first name - H), then onto Tuakau to swing on a swing and by this time it was dinner time...so fish and chips in the park. We were close to home now so headed back to rest our heads after a fabulous day out, our heads buzzing with ideas for our next adventure.....
https://www.doc.govt.nz/hakarimata-summit
https://www.newzealand.com/us/ngaruawahia/
https://www.tourism.net.nz/region/waikato/waikato---te-kauwhata
https://www.gettinglost.co.nz/shop/
https://www.huntlyaquaticcentre.co.nz/
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