The Great Carrot

Ohakune, New Zealand

The plan was to continue south today. I was disappointed, though, to find out that what I thought was a carrot museum in Ohakune, was actually just giant carrot roadside attraction. Nevertheless, we decided to head there. Anne really wanted to see a volcano and we would be driving past three -- Mt. Tongariro, Mt. Ngaruhoe, and Mt. Ruapehu. As luck would have it, there were low clouds the entire drive so we didn't see much. However, what looked to be heather was in bloom adding a nice highlight to the golden grass along the “Desert Highway”.

I spent most of the trip writing to the owner of the camper company we rented from. I was writing to let him know that once again, we had no lights, water or fridge. Actually, the fridge worked ok today, but only because we froze some water bottles and put them in. We’re essentially just using the fridge as an ice chest.

During my email, I thought to google the van owner, Michael Simmonds. Surprise, surprise, the first thing to come up was an article detailing a tourist’s recent New Zealand visit where he was “taken for a ride” and essentially swindled out of thousands of dollars renting a VW van. Next was a Trip Advisor with a similar story of Michael taking money and not delivering. By comparison, our case was mild, but I'd definitely like future renters to be forewarned.

When we at last saw the Great Carrot, we were very excited. Plus there was a nice playground and picnic benches for lunch.

Our final activity for the day was a nice hike along the Old Coach Road, built in the early 1900’s before the railroad came through. Although the kids predictably complained at the beginning of the hike, they all seemed to be in good spirits by the end.  

Without their van, the Pfyffer’s reserved a small cabin, while we selected a powered campsite. At this point, I'm not sure why, since the plug only powers the one AC outlet in the van.  Six pizzas and french fries were on the menu for tonight and a couple hours of tag.