Mushers on the Beach

It was a weekend with a double dose of cream horns.  First we enjoyed those made by one of our caravan club members, and then – morning tea at Viv’s Kitchen at Sanson, home of the famous cream horn!  Our rally captain rang through and made a booking, and 14 happy campers arrived to sample these delights.

This looks like the right place

You can just imagine a crowd of old age pensioners getting into a mess as they demolish their huge cream horns, whipped cream everywhere and scattering pastry crumbs far and wide. We had a wonderful time!

Bill and Val, and Derek, Dot, Jenny and Robin.  Look at the size of those cream horns!

Our tummies may have been filled with decadent cream horns, but that didn’t stop us from eating lunch a little later on.  Some of us bought a delicious meat pie from Viv’s Kitchen to enjoy for lunch, very tasty they were too.

Lunch in the wintry sunshine

We had to burn off some of those calories so took a walk down to Himitangi Beach after lunch.  Now that’s not a sign you see very often.

At the beach

Sled dog racing?  This is New Zealand, not Alaska.  But for keen sportsmen, there are ways and means around the problem of lack of snow cover.  The Ridge Runners Sled Dog Racing Club race on bikes, and it certainly looked a lot of fun.  Bikes, dogs, harnesses and keen owners were everywhere.  These club members generally race through forests, and today was an exhibition to show the general public what the club gets up to.  Some people run in front with the dog, while the dog pulls the bike along with a passenger on the back.  There are various options of racing, and bikes can be two or three wheeled.

Getting ready to ride

The dogs were having the time of their lives, and were excited to get the harnesses on and get going.  The owners racing along side their dogs were more puffed than the canines, who didn’t really want to stop.  Mind you, I didn’t hear anyone call out “Mush”.

Run, dogs, run

Caravan club member Bill was standing in the right place at the right time and was offered a ride.  Go – Bill!!  It looked a lot of fun, and he held on tight and managed not to fall off!

Bill having a go at dog sledding

It’s not just the husky breeds which can take part, any dog of a suitable size which is able to run is welcome to take part.  Such as these two German Short Haired Pointers, litter brothers I was told. These two dogs are still a little young to pull a sled/bike,  but come along for training, socialization, and more importantly, to meet the other dogs and have fun.

Sled dogs in training

That was a fun afternoon on the beach.  Then it was back to the camp for 4zees, and later in the evening we walked back to the Himitangi Cossie Club for an evening meal.  This was our second try at the restaurant – a power outage the previous night meant that the kitchen was out of action and we all had to return to the camp without being fed.  But it all went well on Sunday night, and a roast was on the menu.

Being Queen’s Birthday Weekend, it was a three day weekend away for us.  The camp managers called around to see us on Monday morning, bring a plate of home baked cookies to thank our group for staying at their camp  – what a lovely gesture.  Most of us stayed on for an early lunch, then packed up and headed home, trying to beat the traffic.  The roads can get very busy on a long holiday weekend.  After the necessary visit to the dump station we made it home in good time.   The caravan was unpacked, and put away in it’s parking space, all ready for next time.

All ready for the next trip away