Dream it. Wish it. Do It: We love Waipawa

Our journey seems a little different from others I am following .... we are travelling slowly, seeking out the country back roads to get to know the small rural towns in the regions. We like to stay there for about 2 weeks and love exploring the quaint shops, cafes and places of interest, chatting to the locals and getting to know the community. The most amazing and friendly people are often found in these little towns. That‘s what I enjoy the most about our travels.

And one of these towns is Waipawa in the Central Hawkes Bay, a small, friendly town where life seems cruisy and relaxed.

Apparently, it is one of New Zealand's oldest inland towns and has gone through times of great economic boom and bad times of depression. It has also been referred to as one of the towns that almost died. Luckily it survived for it is a gem of a little town and well worth spending some time in.

Small towns have a sleepy, lazy reputation but these towns can have their own vitality and buzz. That is what we loved about Waipawa. We were totally swept up in the charm of the town and friendliness of the folk that live there that we stayed there for 3 happy weeks.

We loved the little country campground we set up home in. The facilities were clean and quite adequate for our needs and the folks that we met there were a happy friendly bunch. Paddy the owner was so welcoming - what an awesome host.

We easily fell in love with the town and region, so much so that we even looked to see if any sections of land were available. Had there been we just might have bought one to be our future off-the-road home.

We reluctantly packed up after 3 weeks to move onto Masterton. It was time to carry on our journey and attempt to get to see as much of the bottom end of North Island before winter.

Here are some photos of our stay here. Enjoy and maybe you too will get a glimpse of the great lifestyle these small towns of New Zealand have to offer.

Riversedge Holiday Park: