KING COUNTRY CLASSICS
Boating people may start to get a little nervous travelling south on SH3. As Te Kuiti fades from the rear-view mirrors, land closes in – low, rolling hills freckled with grazing sheep and the odd derelict farmhouse.
The nearest seawater is about 35km away on the wild and deserted North Island west coast. The road trundles into Piopio (‘thrush’ in te reo) – a café, RD1, RSA, Op Shop, service station and dairy, with a scattering of houses backing into the hills. But dominating the CBD, a sign: Laver Marine.
It’s like coming across a yacht club in the Gobi Desert.
Max Laver, the thickset man who opens the door, has a welcoming smile and, like a magician pulling a rabbit from a top hat, ushers us into what must be one of
