Places We Have Lunch (14)

Taumarunui
The end of our stretch of SH 4

Place We Have Lunch (13)

Big Joe's Cafe
Mapiu S.H. 4

Places We Have Lunch (10)

Awakino River Bank
(wild mint in foreground)

The ACME Junior Lollypop Kit

A toy truck, loaded with cake and cookie crumb "dirt," is the perfect treat to unload at a preschooler's construction party..
2 baked 8- or 9-inch round cakes.
2 3-oz. pkgs. prepared chocolate pudding.
3 to 4 cups chocolate cookie crumbs.
Clean plastic toy dump truck and shovel
Step 1: Cut the cakes into 3-inch-long slices, then cut them in half.
Step 2: Layer the cake, pudding and crumbs in the clean dump truck and serve with the shovel

Place We Have Lunch (8)

The Summit Rest Area, Mt Messenger.

Rest Area 300m

Places We Have Lunch (7)

View From Layby, Mt. Messenger
There is an old piece of road we often pull off and have lunch. A bit of rain around. There are quite a few wild pigs in this area.
Rest Area 300m

Places We Have Lunch (7)

Mangaotaki River
This river is a popular one for kayaking. It is a beautiful stretch of water, running through limestone country.
( alas I think a bit of my lunch strayed onto the lens. )
Rest Area 300m

Places We Have Lunch (6)

Seaview, just north of Mokau.
A couple of the locals kite fishing. There have been a couple of 11kg snapper caught using kites off the beach this week. They have been having more success than the boaties as the Mokau bar has sanded up and is very shallow. Of course when it is as calm as this, that can be very frustrating.
Rest Area 300m

Places We Have Lunch (5)

Mokau River Mouth. The Flower Pot rock in foreground. (It used to look like one)
The little white cottage on the cliff is the old signal station, and would report the state of the bar to ships entering the river. These days it is the site of webcams. One looks at the bar, the other is directed back north showing the beach beyond the cottages on the right. Taken over the road from the Whitebait Inn, who do a fine Steak,Bacon & Cheese Pie.

Rest Area 300m

Places We Have Lunch (4)

"Truckies Corner," Awakino River. I must be a bit late for lunch, which is most unlike me. The sign truck is already parked up, and the crew have found a spot. There are quite a few trout, and often mullet in the river.
Rest Area 300m

Places We Have Lunch (3)

Mt. Egmont, Taranaki, from the Mt. Messenger rest area. It is a bit hazy, but this is the first real snowfall of the winter, and he is wearing his shiny new coat.
Rest Area 300m

I carry a small propane stove in my truck, so I don't have to use my trusty shovel. The trick is to sterilize the shovel by getting it red hot, being careful not to set the handle alight. Many a sausage was cooked like this in the railways. Bloody good too.
I once ended up in the Coromandel on a very impromptu holiday, with a fine bunch of ladies. I was able to appear very manly, by steaming some mussels I foraged in the hubcaps of my car, using a pair of vicegrips as a handle.

Places We Have Lunch (2)

Mahoenui Hill.
Home of the giant weta,on a crisp Autumn morning. On a clear day Ruapehu and the central north island mountains are visible. Not a good spot on a windy day.
Rest Area 300m

Places We Have Lunch

(1)
Urenui on a gray calm day. River mouth from local park. Excellent pies from local shop. This is getting pretty down town for us, usually we would be out in the sticks.
Rest Area 300m