We stopped here for a 3-night low-cost option - a dump station and water available. Right next-door to a reserve where dogs are allowed (hooray!) and also a nice mini-town just 5 minutes walk away - including a beach!
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| beach at Plimmerton |
Plimmerton is an interesting place because it's one of those rare NZ towns with a rail service into the city. I was surprised this wasn't made more use of though - the tation car-park was not full at 8.30am when I would expect it to be. Especially when everyone knows how hideous the Welly traffic can be...
Whilst here, we met various friends and acquaintances and enjoyed coffees, dinners and lunches at various places in and around the area. Welly is always a delightful culture-full place to visit - and for our stay no wind at all! Highly unusual! Highlights have already been added to Tripadvisor but the Polish restaurant - Topor was a new experience for us. So special to be able to introduce Kiwi friends to authentic European food - and excellent it was too! Service was slow - but who cares in this environment? A small bistro serving delicious sausage and potato and green veggies - beautifully presented. One of our guests also treated themselves to a cocktail!
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| Tomatoes & spicy pork stuffed cabbage leaves - a dish as Topor. |
The foodie European-theme continued at lunch at the wonderful German 'Munich' - which serves a large selection of proper cold beers on the quayside in Welly central (the pavement tables always great for people-watching). It was interesting to see the students all busy at the back of the restaurant taking advantage of the wifi on offer. Last time we were here, this would have been me - but we are now armed with the NZMCA Wireless Nation connection at the caravan - expensive, but well worthwhile to keep on top of the writing...
The beach at Plimmerton was a lovely place for Dizzy to run around freely. And I was surprised to see the interesting artwork that was dedicated to Christchurch and victims of the earthquake:
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| Some Shakespearean text - one of many pieces of artwork along the Plimmerton beach houses.. |
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| Murial on a wall at the Plimmerton rail underpass. It illustrated the binary aspect of the 'us and them' language that DoC emphasises without evidence or logic. |
As if connected to this pathetic message - it was disappointing to see that the reserve and park nextdoor to the campsite had recently been sprayed with chemicals - a sign warning against blackberry-picking was on the entrance.
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| Sign at the entrance to the dog park and recreational area at Plimmerton. |
Such a shame as I really miss this aspect of my English Autumnal routine - making blackberry jam used to be essential. But in New Zealand it seems almost impossible to be able to guarantee that any blackberry bush is poison-free. This particular herbicide is a lethal mixture of Picloram and Aminopyralids (amongst other toxins). Not a sensible choice considering it is toxic to aquatic life and that colder temperatures make these types of hormone-affecting chemicals bio-accumulate:this area is a wetland (ducks in abundance over the grassland ditches).
Ho hum. Just another example of the poisons ever-present in this land and water...
Before long, it was time to board the ferry and head over to South Island again. By this time, the weather had closed in and the clouds surrounded us - making it impossible to see the otherwise glorious view of the Cook Strait to Picton...
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