Close To Home

We'd heard the new NZMCA park in Motueka was up and running and as we only live half an hour away, we decided to pop over and check it out.

Lucky for us we got a park beside a couple of trees. A welcome escape from the summer's heat.

Not long after parking up, we noticed our neighbour had a little Jack Russell and a laid-back cat. The next morning, Genny (the neighbour) invited us to join her for morning tea. She'd baked some yummy pikelets. As we sat down I noticed Genny was wearing a t-shirt with an emblem 'Motorhoming With Pets'. How cool was that! About two years ago I started a facebook group called 'Motorhoming With Pets in N.Z'. Genny is a member of the group, and had messaged us when we lost Paddy!  How lovely to put a face to the name.

Oakly was obsessed with Genny's fur-babies. He spent hours peering out the window, trembling in anticipation.

Oakly, taking 'curtain twitching' to the next level.

As you drive into the park, you'll see, Motueka's Community Gardens (to your left). The community must be proud of these gardens, they're crammed with all sorts of healthy looking vegetables. Everything was thriving! I think it's fair to say, Motueka's community obviously has green fingers and along with their climate they know how to grow veggies.

After admiring the gardens and the hard work that's been put in, we found the track that borders the estuary. The NZMCA Park, is on the boundary of the walkway  - so handy. 

It was an ideal time to walk, a gentle breeze had picked up and the sun was casting a golden glow over everything.

On the side of the track was a plum tree, dripping with ripe, juicy plums. Many had fallen onto the ground, forming a carpet of yellow-deliciousness.

It's an easy-going walk, popular with joggers and cyclists. Several bench seats are dotted along the walk, providing opportunities to sit and soak in the views.

The walkway continues alongside Wharf Road, which as the name suggests, leads to the wharf, also known as Port Motueka.

Port Motueka has a main wharf for commercial use and a further three marinas. There's talk of establishing an inter-island ferry service between Whanganui and Motueka. Initially, one ferry would be used for freight, and then all going well, five years later, another ferry for passengers would be introduced. If this proposal was to go ahead, Port Motueka would be in for some massive changes and the community would benefit from employment opportunities.

Talley's head office is based at Port Motueka. The privately owned, Talleys Group Ltd, also has an ice-cream factory based at the port, a shellfish processing factory, a fish meal plant and N.Z's first registered pack house.

Before the track veers away from Wharf Road, it crosses a boardwalk, then follows the eastern side of the estuary.

After almost 4kms the track links back to Old Wharf Road, which is the road the NZMCA Park is situated off.

We arrived back at the bus in the dark, and it was still really hot! Too warm to sleep. So we flicked Netflix on and watched 'Sons of Anarchy' until early hours of the morning.

The following morning, we tossed up whether to spend another night. There were more walks we wanted to do but it was so darn hot - we didn't want to walk the dogs in that heat. It took us until after lunch to finally make up our minds to head home, with the promise to return in autumn with our bikes.