Last Days at the National Rally

Kelvin the Magician kept us entertained on Sunday evening with his droll humour and sleight of hand tricks.  Just how does it work when he ties a knot in a rope, cuts it in two, gives a shake, and it all comes out in a complete length?  He was rather nifty with the card tricks too.  Kelvin called one of the campers up on stage, to give a demonstration on the power of projecting thoughts.  The hapless victim had to hold the handle of an egg-beater to his forehead, turn the handle like crazy, and the energy created supposedly projected the number of the card he had earlier selected to us in the audience. 

The volunteer and the egg-beater

Another trick involved a $20 note, a hard boiled egg, an onion, a pumpkin and a candle.  Another volunteer bravely offered his $20 to Kelvin, who wrote down the numbers printed on the note, put it away in an envelope and absent mindedly burnt it over the candle.  Oh dear!  Never mind, said Kelvin.  After Kelvin had consumed the egg and the onion, and the volunteer had chopped up the pumpkin looking for the note, the magician remembered where it might be.  He  then cut the candle in two, and drew out a note with the same serial number from the inside.  It was all very enjoyable and a load of laughs.

  Oh dear, I didn’t mean to burn your money

The closing ceremony of the National rally took place on Monday morning.  Speeches were made, and the organising committee were thanked for all their hard work in running such a successful rally.  Our  resident piper Jo.looked resplendent in his kilt as he piped the flag bearers out of the hall.

Six of us decided to celebrate our last evening in camp with a meal out.  We dined at the local RSA restaurant which was close by. It seems to be a tradition to have some sort of arms on display outside the RSA buildings around the country. 

RSA building in Mt Maunganui

Even though the temperatures were still hot, I couldn’t go past the roast beef which was featured on the menu.  Everyone else enjoyed their choices.  Although the menu was not vast, there was something to suit everyone, and the surroundings were excellent.  Robin did the honours again with the photo, setting his camera up on an adjacent table,  then rushing back to sit down in the nick of time.

After our meal in the RSA

The National Rally was over and it was time to pack up.  Robin helped with a bit of man-power as our neighbours wanted their caravan pushed out of the way, to be collected later.  With a huff, and a puff, they soon had it rolling to the new position.

  Many hands make light work

We were soon packed up too, and ready to continue with the next part of our holiday, staying for a few days at the Awakeri Hot Springs Motor Camp.  There is nothing like a nice soothing soak in the hot pool after a hard day’s holiday!