Who set the Alarm off?

We arrived at Raumati Beach School for the caravan club rally to find the early arrivals enjoying afternoon tea outside in the blustery sunshine.  Once the caravan was positioned just so, the legs wound down, and the TV aerial found that “dot in the sky”, we were all set to relax and join them.  It was voted that 4zees would be better in the hall, as that pesky wind was getting stronger.  A little mouse put in an appearance and scuttled around the hall, jumping up and down along the skirting board, in and out of the bottom edge of the curtains, and generally playing hide and seek.  Kath in particular was very worried about the little rodent coming too close to her, and was visibly relieved when it finally found an open door and scurried outside.  After 4zees the hall was securely locked, and we retired to our vans for our evening meals.

Parked at Raumati Beach School for the weekend

Selwyn unlocked the hall in the early evening, and set the alarm off – how on earth did that happen, he wondered, as the hall alarm had been isolated so we could safely use it.  So he quickly phoned the monitoring company, and the school care-taker.  The security guard drove up – of dear, are we in trouble now?  Or maybe responsible for the call out fee?  The mystery was soon solved, as cleaners had been working in other school buildings, and must have reset the whole alarm system when they left.  Our Friday evening get-together followed the usual pattern of catching up with everyone, and reading out some of those jokes which arrive in the in-boxes of our computers with regular monotony. 

By the time we pulled the caravan curtains back on Saturday morning we could hear a  large machine labouring away.  There was a big yellow digger working on the bank behind the caravans digging and tearing up tree roots, it seemed.  There is going to be a large art centre built in this area, we were told.

Hard at work on Saturday morning

The last of our happy band of campers arrived in time for morning tea.  Not so many attending this rally, just four caravans and two motor-homes for the weekend.  But whatever the numbers, we still have fun.

View from the hill

Just for a change, a group of keen caravanners decided to travel in to Wellington by train in the early evening to the Westpac Stadium.  The Hurricanes and the Chiefs were playing and those with an interest in the game of rugby decided it was too good an opportunity to miss.  So three ladies and four blokes set off to the station for the start of their journey.  With everyone being in possession of a Gold Card, the train ride was free, which was a bonus. They joined over 22,000 other rugby fans for an evening of noisy entertaining rugby.  The final score was Chiefs 28, and the home team Hurricanes 27.

Inside the Westpac Stadium, affectionately known as the “Cake Tin”

Meanwhile, those of us left behind enjoyed an evening of humour and laughter.  We watched a video of “The Two Ronnies” and laughed at the antics of these two wonderful comedians as they churned out one skit after another.  Piggy Malone and Charlie Farley were bumbling around as inept detectives, and we loved the musical skits which were performed at the end of each episode.  The two Ronnies were a pair of very talented comedians indeed, as were their writers who came up with such marvelous ideas week after week.  Our intrepid sports people finally arrive back at the school at 11.30pm, having had a great night out too.