Eketahuna via the Pahiatua Track

There were road works aplenty on our trip up to and over the Pahiatua Track yesterday.  Men with “Stop/Go” signs controlled the traffic flow, and it was slow going over the newly sealed road.  Trucks and workmen were busy over quite a long stretch and the orange “witches hat” road cones down the road centre made sure both the workers and the car drivers were kept safely separated.  We know we have reached the top of the track road when we come across the sign welcoming travellers to the Tararua Region.

Welcome to the region

Rolling farmland 

Then it was downhill and we drove through the gently rolling farmland of northern Wairarapa.  After travelling a total of 95kms we had reached our destination for the weekend rally, Eketahuna.

We’ve arrived at Eketahuna

We were the first of our group to arrive at this pretty little camp and soon had settled in, with the porch awning erected, and the satellite TV dish pointing in the right direction to get a signal.  Dot and Derek arrived an hour or so later and parked up next to us.

Two of us on site

As our fellow club members are arriving on different days over the weekend, the camp manager suggested we put a ‘reserved” sign up on the adjacent four plug power point box .  After all, the club had booked spaces for this rally some months earlier.  This job was no sooner done when two camper vans arrived with overseas tourists.  They really, really wanted to go on our reserved site despite the sign attached, and I think if we had not been present would have just plugged in.   We saw the tourists in earnest conversation with the manager with a lot of arm waving and pointing our way.  Hopefully the situation was explained (again) and the tourists finally pacified.  

Later in the afternoon the four of us did the historic Cliff Walk just up the hill from the camp.  The walk way was opened way back in 1911, to commemorate the Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary.  We have stayed at this camp several times recently, but had never ventured along this path before.

   The Cliff Walk

It was a nice easy walk, with good views of the river below.  We heard the shrieks of laughter as local children were having fun slashing about in the swimming hole. 

The river below

We stopped to watch as hay bales were being loaded onto a truck and trailer unit far below.  The tractor buzzed around the paddock, picking up the bales and deftly loading them into place.

Carrying two at once

Our walk finished not far from town, so we decided to reward ourselves with an ice-cream. This probably undone all the benefit we derived from our exercise, but it certainly tasted great!