Pahiatua Golf Club

We were all packed up and on our way, leaving Levin behind to travel north and then through the winding Manawatu Gorge, stopping at Woodville for a few necessary purchases.   As an avid book reader, I was quite amused to see this quote by Groucho Marx painted on the wall of the local bookshop.

Sign seen at Woodville

Just a few km heading south, we turned off SH2 into the beautifully manicured grounds of the Pahiatua Golf Club, our overnight stop on the way to the caravan club rally at Greytown.  The car park was full of golfers who had arrived to take part in the Thursday afternoon “Haggle”.  They were organised into teams and off they went, teeing off, and pulling their golf trolleys behind them.   

Our overnight stop

A couple of hours later they straggled back from the golf course, loaded up their bags of clubs back into their cars, and went into the club rooms to the bar.  One of the men knocked on our caravan door and invited us to join them in the bar, so we did.  The golfers were a bit taken aback when I walked into the bar with Robin.  One of the golfers was all set to tell a risqué joke, and was worried that as the lone female in a bar full of blokes, I might be offended.  “Go right ahead”, I said, “I belong to a caravan club and hear all sorts of jokes”, so out came the one about the bull-frog.  Not to be outdone, Robin raced back downstairs to retrieve a joke from the caravan, one he was planning to tell at our usual Friday night get-together, and proceeded to read it out to all the golfers.

Robin reading his joke to the golfers

It wasn’t till well after 5.00pm that the golfers finally finished their drinks and drove off home, leaving the car park clear so we could finally manoeuvre our caravan into place for the evening closer to the building. 

Parked overnight at Pahiatua Golf Club

We strolled through the lovely grounds the next morning.  The grounds around the club rooms were heavily planted with flowering shrubs and trees, I noticed some Camellias, Daphne and Ericas.  Young lambs were feeding close by, including an interesting looking piebald black and white lamb.

Unusual black and white lamb

Robin spotted a rabbit hiding in the grass

And down by the gate there was a rowing boat going absolutely nowhere with Sailor Ed at the helm.  In fact, that waterway looks rather uninviting, don’t you think?

Sailor Ed in his boat

Many Golf Clubs offer their grounds for campers to stay overnight.  These facilities usually offer power, water, showers and toilets, (although there was no power available at this particular club) and the prices for an overnight stay is very reasonable.  As well as bringing much needed extra funds into the club coffers, campers get to stay somewhere safe overnight in pleasant surroundings.  We also provide extra security, just by being there.  It is a win-win situation all around