Warning: this is a post about a road trip. Look away now if it’s not your thing.
If you’ve been reading my posts you’ll know that I have a predilection for old things – especially second-hand furniture. I also have a predilection for buying things online. One of the risks that comes with that is the item you covet / purchase can be in a town far, far away. I’ve limited myself to the North Island for my searches but there can still be dragons.
My new two-seater recliner couch was one such item, being a resident of one of Auckland’s eastern beach suburbs. Dimensions in hand I loaded them into an online freight calculator to discover that it would cost me as much to freight it to Ohakune as it did to purchase it. Don’t people know I’m on a budget?
The seller reassured me that it could be dismantled so I figured that I should be able to fit it in the back of my trusty red Mazda6 liftback. I’d also bought a 2.5 x 3.4m Flokati rug residing in one of Auckland’s western suburbs so I now had two reasons to make the trip to Auckland. Said rug is the feature image for this post. It will keep my toes toasty on chilly mornings.
An early finish at work on Friday meant that I could take in my niece’s final school prize-giving followed by a family dinner. I contemplated a coffee injection prior to getting on the road at 8pm, but figured that I had enough energy and focus for the 3+ hour trip to Turangi, including the Desert Road. There wasn’t much traffic on the road for the most part, and a little bit of drizzle kept me on my toes. I made it to Turangi shortly after 11pm and headed straight to bed.
Coffee count for the day = 1. People’s Coffee, Don Wilfredo blend, plunger. Above average.
I was up early, breakfasted, sheets changed, dishes done, and on the road by 8am. I’m not a ‘needs coffee first thing in the morning’ kind of person so thought I’d wait until I got to Tirau for my first coffee for the day. My sister and brother-in-law do a lot of motorbike riding so she’d introduced me to her favourite cafe there a few years ago. I think it’s changed hands since the last time I was there as my flat white was very watery, and my friand came with the dairy products I asked to be excluded. Not the service we usually get there!
Back on the road to Auckland with an ETA of midday. Then I caught up with the traffic heading to the car races at Pukekohe. Traffic slowed down to a crawl meant that I wasn’t going to make my first pick-up on time. Sigh. Fortunately the sellers had left the rug in an accessible location so I loaded it into my car and headed to Titirangi for lunch. After an average lunch and acceptable coffee I was ready to head east to collect the sofa.
Unfortunately my pick-up was delayed so I headed to Hillsborough Cemetery to try and find the grave of someone connected to my maternal family history. Geneology websites are very good at giving you plot numbers etc for specific graves – cemetery operators not so much! After stomping around the cemetery for a while I gave up and headed for my next destination.
Of course I was early and the seller not at home yet so I parked up for a nap. The seller’s son arrived at the appointed time and we tried to figure out how to dismantle the sofa. We figured it out but didn’t have the tools to make it happen. The seller arrived, pulled out his trusty tools and we were able to get the back rests off. The next challenge was to get it out of the building via a long narrow corridor, down a U-shaped ramp, and into the back of my car.
Whilst I’d worked out that it should fit into my car, I hadn’t taken into account that the reclining mechanism would make the couch heavy. As in very heavy. As in almost too heavy for three people to carry / lift. We finally managed to get it into the car, and the seller took a photo to prove to his sister that it could be done! I had no idea how I was going to get it out of my car and into the church on my own. I figured the universe would provide the answer!
Then it was off down the motorway to Hamilton where I’d arranged to stay with my cousin and his wife. It was great catching up with them, seeing how tall their four boys had grown, and recharging for the final day of my road trip. I’d arranged to meet the Session Clerk of the Taihape-Waimarino Presbyterian Parish in Taihape at midday, so it was going to be another early start for me the following day.
Coffee count for the day = 2. (1) Unknown roaster and blend, flat white. Almost undrinkable. (2) Allpress Espresso, unknown blend, flat white. Acceptable.
It’s been a while since I’d driven to Ohakune via State Highway 3. Being on a mission to get the car unloaded meant that I didn’t stop for a coffee en-route. It was surprisingly easy to get the couch out of the car and into the church. I was able to reverse up to the front doors so that there was about 70cm between my car and the entry.
The steps up to the front door meant that the floor and boot were almost level. A bit of huffing and puffing saw me wriggle the couch out of the car, into the church, and position it in front of the nave windows. Low cloud meant that I couldn’t check out the views, but I did have enough time to check on the wood oils I’d applied last time to see which one I preferred. I also tested the paint chips in the vestry’s natural light to see which ones worked best.
I decided that I had enough time to grab a coffee from one of the carts in Ohakune before I was due in Taihape. I hadn’t tried the brand before even though it was a Wellington roaster. Oh well, cross that one off my list! It kept me going long enough to spend a couple of hours going through the old records for my church which I’ll use to add to the history section of this website over time.
After a late lunch at the reliable Brown Sugar cafe, it was back on the road for the last leg to Wellington. I promised myself a decent coffee at Bulls but it was not to be! Coffee yes, decent no. What was usually a very reliable coffee stop wasn’t on this occasion.
The rest of the trip was uneventful until I got to Paraparaumu. A crash at Paekakariki had caused significant delays so I made a detour to my mother’s to say hello. I managed to cap my weekend off by leaving my mobile at her place. Needless to say I was too tired to drive back to retrieve it that day!
Coffee count for the day = 2. (1) Lucky Espresso, unknown blend, flat white. Below average. (2) Revive Espresso, unknown blend, flat white. Disappointingly very average.
Next time: Why I write
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