Holidaying in the Kiwi heartland
Is it possible to have a reasonably priced fun holiday in the less sought-after New Zealand holiday hotspots during Christmas and New Year? With the messy 2021 drifting to an end and feeling personally ready to shrug off the enveloping pandemic, it’s off to Whanganui, Rangit¯ıkei and Manawatu¯ for some Heartland NZ.
Avoiding the popular flow to sunsoaked, sparkling and pumping coastal scenes, I venture to some of the engine rooms of New Zealand.
Motivated by the Shakespeare saying ‘nothing can come of nothing’ in my reliably boring Japanese hatchback, I have a tent — tick, Everest sleeping bag — tick, ample underwear — tick, Chilly bag — tick.
My trusty, almost heirloom, Shell Road Atlas complete with photos of “poplar trees in sunset at rural Otaki, refer 13C, Pg 23” guides me.
The classic travel greeting “how was the traffic?” emerges on my safe arrival at Aramoho, Whanganui. Incidentally the traffic was bearable with drivers generally courteous.
Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball album accompanies me on the tortuous Parapara descent into Whanganui. Champion of the working class, I reflect on how Springsteen puts his heart into tracks such as We Take Care of Our Own, Death to my Hometown and Land of Hope and Dreams.
Thankfully the real wrecking ball did not come to Whanganui, which retains many beautiful heritage buildings. We need to take care and ownership of our own heritage, I think, as I visit some of the highlights.
Whanganui’s industrial history has many similarities with the US rust belt of steel and auto industry closures.
Whanganui has lost motor vehicle assembly and railway workshops as blue collar employers.
On Christmas Eve I take off up the river to Upokongaro for a tasty meal at the country pub. Major disappointment for a visitor from the busy holiday town of Whangamata¯ — “Closed, we reopen Jan 6”. Thankfully the homemade jalapen˜o nachos, beans, tomatoes and sour cream make a more than adequate meal.
It was then off to base camp number one; Feilding Motor camp. From here it’s a golfer’s dream choice of four golf courses within 25 minutes’ drive.
Certainly New Zealand has a true bounty of golf courses, again something to take care of. First up is Marton
Golf Course at Santoft where after a couple of phone calls I get to play alongside a local. Nice course, too tough for my scorecard. Course two is the Feilding on the banks of the Oroua River and good to play alongside locals with their local knowledge.
Personally a better scorecard but my professional golfing career is still on hold.
Rangit¯ıkei-bulls is my choice of courses with undulating sand dunes and hills making an interesting challenge. I play my best golf so far and win choc-coated almonds as a second place prize. It’s essential to play alongside locals to get the lie of the land and meet some characters as well. In our four, Dan was a real Kiwi bloke with a huge variety of jobs, shepherd, shearer, repossession agent, nightclub bouncer, fencer among others.
Unfortunately none of his four exwives could help him carry his clubs around the beautiful Rangit¯ıkei golf course.
Over the saddle into Bush territory and the Pahiatua Golf course situated at Mangatainoka between Woodville
and Pahiatua. Not one to look for excuses, but the unmown fairways did not help my distance off the tee and my scorecard.
Takeaways from this round of golf — the town’s name comes from the Ma¯ori words for resting place (pahi) and god (atua) The Manawatu¯ River’s total length is 180km, making it only the 12th-longest in the country, but at 102cu m per second it is one of New Zealand’s greatest rivers in terms of flow, and second only to the Waikato River among North Island rivers.
A resounding yes that a fun, reasonably priced holiday can be found in any place. He aha te mea nui o te ao. What is the most important thing in the world? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. It is the people, it is the people, it is the people. — Ma¯ ori proverb.
I had to giggle as the shower curtains in one of the Heartland motor camps were emblazoned with Venice, Madrid, Rome, Vienna, Moscow . . . comparisons are tedious.