Easter at Poroutawhao

Fifteen vans from Wellington, Wairarapa and Heretaunga clubs arrived at Poroutawhao School, just north of Levin, to attend the combined Easter rally, hosted by the Wellington Caravan Club.

Being a non power rally, it gave Robin a chance to try out his brand new Honda generator.  It was up to the challenge, and happily charged up both Geoff’s and Peter’s batteries, and our own. 

As with any new purchase, there was a group of men gathered around checking out the wattage, power and dimensions while they discussed the merits at length.  There is always a lot of “man talk” going on at these rallies.

The host club provided a pancake breakfast for everyone on Saturday morning.  They were busy cooking, flipping and serving pancakes while the hungry campers lined up with their plates.  We had the choice of maple syrup, golden syrup, or jam, with or without cream to add to our pancakes.  And the catering staff were quite happy to provide seconds or even thirds to those who wanted more.

The pancake makers

The nights were a little chilly and with no power-points available for our electric blankets, some dug out their trusty hotties to warm the bed.  It looked so funny the next morning when we came across these two which Rae and David  had hung out to drip dry the following morning.  Pink for her, and blue for him, we were told.

Hotties do grow on trees

There are always chores needed to be done and topping up the water is one of them.  As we were staying in school grounds, the nearest tap was way over by the school buildings.      So it was a matter of filling up a 12 litre jerry can and trudging back to the caravan with a heavy load of water.  Several trips were needed to replenish the water supply.

Refilling the water tanks the hard way

Robin hooked up the funnel with a bungy cord to keep it upright.  This bit of lateral thinking allowed him to pour the water into the tank single handedly without getting me to hold the funnel for him.

Look, no hands needed

We were lucky with the weather and had mostly nice days, sometimes a little cloudy.  Not too bad for Easter, as the weather can sometimes be rather wintry. There was plenty of time to socialise and catch up with everyone.  David’s “Super Dad” hat ensured he wasn’t  taking any chances with getting sun burn on his head while sitting outside.

Super Dad David

The school grounds were very roomy, and we had the use of the teachers staff room for evenings.  We could hear the traffic whizzing by out the gate on State Highway One and were very pleased to be safely camped on the school grounds for the long weekend.

 Plenty of room for the caravans