Electricarna rounds off EV road trip

“Easter Road Trippers” arrive in New Plymouth in time to prepare for the big Electricana event there on Saturday April 22.

“Two attendees who contracted COVID last week get out of their isolation period on Friday and will be able to join us,” says Kathryn Trounson of the Better NZ Trust which organised the road trip and, along with the Taranaki EV Owners Group, Electricarna.

“The range of cars on show will be epic,” she says.

Electricarna earlier featured in EVs and Beyond but won’t have the bouncy castle, although it will have more than 40 EVs.

These include those mentioned previously, plus the Škoda Enyaq, LDV Mifa9, LDV D90, LDV D3, Mercedes EQB, and VW ID.4.

Polestar NZ is attending, along with WR Philips, Energy City Ford, MG Taranaki, Tesla-Wellington and Energy Motors Hyundai, says Electricarna co-organiser Sharmayne Smith.

Meanwhile, the “RoadTrip” could easily have been called a “gourmet” gambol instead with the food eaten, Kathryn adds.

“On leaving Auckland on Monday morning the trippers assembled at the Zealong Tea Estate to take High Tea on their verandah.

“Exquisite small mouthfuls of savoury and sweet treats set out on a three-level cake stand with a choice of Zealong teas to accompany them. The range of teas was impressive and all grown in the Waikato.”

Whilst some of the trippers live in Hamilton others found spare beds in either Hamilton or Cambridge.

“Tuesday afternoon we had organised a private tour at Hamilton Gardens, as none of us had ever visited previously,” says Kathryn.

“It was jaw-droppingly good – many differing garden styles laid out from a kitchen garden growing vast quantities of food, much of which is gifted to food banks, to a Tudor knot garden laid out in quadrants and a surreal garden with outsize tools and animatronic trees.”

Wednesday morning featured a visit to XtremeZeroWaste in Raglan. The initiative started 22 years ago, turning a dumping ground which leached toxic chemicals into the Raglan harbour into a recycling centre which the whole community is invested in.

“They have recently added a kerbside food scraps pick up in Raglan which is already reducing the amount of organic material in land fill and creating compost which is sold on,” Kathryn explains.

“Lunch on the Raglan wharf completed our morning, and some of the more adventurous of us visited the Bridal Fall on the road to Kawhia as we returned from Raglan heading to Waitomo for the night.”

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