History, dining and summer served

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 458, 20 October 1992, Page 7

History, dining and summer served

ADVERTORIAL There will be no excuse for holidaymakers to write off Ohakune this summer thanks to all the activities the Sunbeam Lodge has planned. Dave and Steve Peach reckon there are more things to do here in the summer than in winter but people hate to organise things themselves. So the Sunbeam management have done something about it. Steve, who will take over running the Lodge from Dave for the summer, is about to start a tour of North Island primary schools showing a video promoting a package deal incorporating the Sunbeam and tours of the Waimarino area. "The groups will stay at the Lodge for two or three days, go for bush walks, do projects, visit the Waiouru Army Museum, the baths, and look around the camp," Steve said. The Lodge' s mountain biking tours sound like pretty vigorous ventures. Groups will be taken from the Lodge out to the Desert Road

summit where they bike to Turangi, go white water rafting and spend that night at River Rats in Turangi. Next day they bike over to National Park and stay at Howard s Lodge where those who have any energy to spare can walk over the Tongariro Pass. Day four is the last leg of the journey biking back to Ohakune. They've also got bikes for daily hire for those people who haven't got quite enough stamina to handle four days solid biking. "We take people out to Rangataua to bike the tracks in the bush, and we're looking at taking groups up the Mountain Road summit, to have a look at the skifield then coast down to the bottom," Steve said. Group camping excursions are their third summer project. "The idea is for groups or families to hire all their gear from us and get a taste of camping without going to the expense of buying all the gear themselves."

Learning while you eat The Sunbeam lodge can accommodate over 100 guests and they've probably got the only educational restaurant in Ohakune. Their restaurant was renamed Blyth's this year after Thomas 'Joey' Blyth, a school teacher who pioneered the track up the mountain from Ohakune early this century. Dave has managed to

get hold of a number of photographs of Blyth, the construction of the mountain road in 1947, logging and sawmilling in the area, the original buildings at the Junction and the township, etc. He has displayed them so you can't help but be curious. The Sunbeam held a competition at Ruapehu College for students to write a short biography about Blyth and the best 10 Turn to page 12

Blyth's

From page 7 were selected and transferred onto place settings. "While people are waiting for their meals they read the stories about Blyth and swap them around to read all the versions, then after dinner they wander around the restaurant looking at all the photos, it's great and we've had a lot of good feedback/' Dave said. Blyth's is licensed and boasts two excellent Scottish chefs, one of whom specialises in pastry and whips up some amazing desserts for the Saturday night buffet. The $25 a head smorgasbord carvery is a challenge even to the greediest of appetites. The menu is a-la-carte for the rest of the week except Monday when the restaurant is closed.