Farewell to Carterton

Romany Rambler: Travelled 19749Km; 337 Nights Away

Carterton spelt out in flowers

Christmas at Carterton Holiday Park was a great “laid back” holiday with a little sight-seeing thrown in the mix to keep the interest up.  Our cat Muffy had a most relaxing time, snoozing the hot sunny days away in the comfort of our caravan.  Occasionally she ventured outside, to see what was going on.  A trot around on the end of her lead, a sniff here and there to check what was happening in the great outdoors, and then she made a bolt for it and scampered in the caravan door and back onto the couch  for some more R&R. 

Muffy and Robin out for a walk

There was plenty happening in camp, with people coming and going, and stopping to chat.  Several people were staying in the adjacent motel units while they attended the model aircraft National championships at Clareville.  The model helicopter buzzing away was a real draw card and caused a lot of interest amongst  the campers.

Model helicopter

Our hosts Pete and Di at the Carterton Holiday Park were kept busy attending to the myriad of tasks that it takes to keep a motor camp in tip-top condition.  They came visiting our camp site on our last evening bringing a few bottles of beer for the men and wine for the ladies.  It was great to see them relaxing in the early evening as they are so busy working around the camp all day.

Pete and Di having a breather between chores

Except for a couple of rainy days, which seemed to cover the whole of the country, we enjoyed great weather.  Our gazebo was worth it’s weight in gold and we spent a many a happy hour or two under the shade, watching the world go by.  Everyone pitched in to help take it down, as it is rather unwieldy for just the two of us to manage.  The six legs were collapsed into themselves and it all folds together rather like an umbrella, with everyone walking their portion of it into the centre.  Then it gets zipped up neatly in the handy carry bag, till next time. 

Slide the legs up

All walk into the centre

Once the cars were hooked onto the caravans, we said our goodbyes and it was time to go our separate ways.  Don and Pamela were travelling north, while Derek and Dot and their motor home, and ourselves were travelling south, up and over the Rimutaka Hill Road.  It was extremely windy, and the signs warned motorists to be aware of wind gusts on the hill.  We had a tense time when the wind caught the car and caravan side on and gave it a good shake and a rattle.  It is easy to see how high sided vehicles can get blown off the road at times like this.  On reaching home we checked out the interior, and luckily none of the cupboards had opened up with the shake and spilled the contents out.   Now our Christmas holiday is over – when is the next break away?  Happy New Year to all our readers and fellow bloggers, may you all have a great 2012.