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

Sunday, 1 March 2009

Greytown in the rain

Greytown was named after Governor Sir George Grey, and was New Zealand’s first planned inland town, settled in 1854.  It was intended to be the main centre of the region but frequent flooding meant that the railway bypassed Greytown in the 1870s .  The area is home to many orchards and market gardens which thrive in the rich alluvial soil.  We called in to one of the orchards to buy a box of omega plums for Jenny to make some jam.  The main street still has many quaint Victorian shops.  This  shop has been in continual use as a butchery since 1873 – and we can vouch for the delicious sausages produced on the premises!

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Butchers shop since 1873 & still going strong

We  joined our caravan club friends to rally at the campground over the weekend at Soldiers Memorial Park, Greytown.   The handsome stone and wrought iron gates honour the fallen soldiers of WW1  from this region.

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The entrance to the Motor Camp

Although nice and sunny on Friday afternoon, the weather forecast was for rain, and more rain.  This started early on Saturday morning, and the rain kept falling for 24 hours.  As usual, on Sunday morning when it was time to pack up and go home, the sun came out again. 

Robin wondered how all the birds and insects keep dry in such a deluge.  We soon found out where one large spider went to escape the incessant rain.  He had crawled up our porch awning and was sheltering between the two layers of plastic and mesh that make up the window section.  What a monster – everyone came to check him out!!

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Yuk – who likes big black spiders?

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