Success is getting what you want; happiness is liking what you get

Monday 15 August 2016

Paekakariki Holiday Park

Our caravan club rally spent at Paekakariki can best be described as rather damp underfoot.  We spent most of Saturday skirting large puddles, and carefully placing our feet in the least muddy places as we made our way to and fro.  Our intended afternoon walk along the adjacent beach never happened due to the persistent rain and after a quiet afternoon reading, snoozing,or catching up with fellow club members, it soon rolled around to 4zees time.  Thanks go to Selwyn for bringing his heater along to the kitchen to take the chill off the air.

We had arranged for our group to partake of an evening meal at Finn’s Restaurant, situated in the Paekakariki Village.  Cars were pooled, rides offered to the motor-homers and we set off for a good night out.  “Mine Host” happily welcomed our group of 16 happy campers into our establishment.  Robin went up to the bar to purchase a glass of red for himself and a small bottle of bubbly for me.  “Try this one”, he was advised when enquiring about the bubbles, “it’s French” – and yes, it certainly was delicious.

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The bar at Finn’s

Our group was soon settled at two adjoining  tables and then came the hard decision – what to order?  There was plenty of choice, from burgers, to fish, steak, chicken, beef  and pork, plus vegetarian options.  Then there was the dessert menu to peruse as well.

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Waiting patiently for our dinner

The meals started to arrive, and it was interesting to see what everyone had ordered.  Robin certainly enjoyed his big serving of sticky ribs, and was grateful for the finger bowl which came with his order.  And Glennis was soon tucking in to her pan fried fish.

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Yum, yum, dinner’s arrived

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Our two tables enjoying their night out

The tables went quiet as we all got down to the business of eating!  As any wife knows, a night off from kitchen duties is a bonus indeed, and we were all set to make the most of it.  There were no complaints about the meals, and most managed to get through the large portions, although I did notice one doggy bag being taken back to the camp.  A few desserts made it to the other table, but our table of eight declared they really couldn’t do them justice, and declined. 
 
Sunday morning dawned fine and sunny, and the large puddles had gradually soaked away overnight, leaving quite a  soggy mess all around the vans.  But it was warm enough to sit outside in the sunshine for morning tea, a first for the weekend.  The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the camp had that “just washed after rainfall” look.  We could forgive the muddy patches – it is winter after all – and this is indeed a lovely large camp with beautiful trees and colourful gardens.

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Garden by one of the amenity blocks

Robin brought our rally weekend to a close by thanking everyone for their participation – pity about the weather but that was out of our hands.  Goodbyes were said, and we fare-welled Val and Bill as they were joining friends for a week’s caravanning at Thames, lucky them.  The rest of us were heading home.

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More happy travels for Val and Bill
It was a nice relaxed weekend, meeting up with friends, a nice meal out, sharing jokes and tall tales, and catching up with everyone’s news. 

1 comment:

Janice said...

It's good to see that the rain didn't dampen your fun on the weekend. Those meals look delicious.