Then the sun came out

You just can’t escape the wind anywhere close to a west coast beach in New Zealand.  And so it was for our rally weekend camping at the Manawatu Caravan Club grounds at Foxton Beach.

The sun finally came out over the weekend, but the wind was so fierce and cold there was no way we could sit outside.  Unfortunately, the hall was not available for us to use this time, so we fell back on Plan B, and had morning teas in smaller groups in the vans.

All lined up in a row

Several of the residents in camp enquired about Muffy.  As we go to these grounds a couple of times a years, it seems that we are becoming recognised.  The residents all knew that Muffy was quite elderly, and were sad to hear that she was no longer with us.

As this was our club’s AGM rally, this important piece of business took place on Saturday morning.  Luckily we could use the local bowling club rooms to hold our meeting.  The AGM went well, and a new committee was elected for the current year.  There were two uninvited strangers in the hall, but they kept their views to themselves and we never heard a peep out of them.

Who were these people?

We continued with tradition and enjoyed an evening meal in the Bowling Club restaurant on Friday evening.  The restaurant is extremely popular with locals and those staying at the camp, and is always very crowded.  Then on the Saturday evening, we decided to dine out again, this time at the Foxton RSA. Some pooled cars for the drive, and six of us climbed into the courtesy van – very reasonable at $2 per person each way.

Foxton RSA and the courtesy van

It was difficult not having the hall for our group to gather together, and at least we would be all in one place in the restaurant.  The RSA was very busy, with a business award ceremony taking place in another area, and several large tables, like ours, in the dining room.  The large meals arrived with a flourish, chicken, fish, steak and scallops keeping everyone happy.  Some even had room for dessert – not us this time, we were full to bursting.

Barry, Jenny and Robin

Morning tea on Sunday was split between several vans, weekend rally fees and subs were paid, and most decided to head on home before lunch, to escape from that dratted wind!  At just 28km from home, it wasn’t a long trip back for us at all, with a necessary stop at the dump station.  We unpacked the caravan, put it back on site around the corner, put a load of washing in the machine, and settled down to a late lunch.  Another great weekend away, and it was great to catch up with everyone again.