Coach House Museum, Feilding

Waiting for the rain to ease before hooking up the caravan to move on doesn’t always work, as we found out yesterday. Rain or not, it was time to go outside and do those chores.  Clad in a bright yellow rain jacket Robin sloshed around in the puddles with the rain falling steadily as he filled the fresh water tank, hooked up the caravan and then we were on our way.

 

And the rain kept falling

After a stop off at the dump station we took the country route through Halcombe to  Friendly Feilding as the welcome sign declares.  Making our way to the Coach House Museum, our stop for the next couple of nights,  we found Dot and Derek already in residence – just waiting for Geoff and Eileen to arrive from their trip down from Taupo now.  The rain kept falling for hours, and we kept a wary eye on the raging stream behind our vans.  Luckily it didn’t overflow, and by morning the rain was replaced by gusty winds.

On site at the Coach House Museum

The exhibition of “Metal Toys of Yesterday” appealed so we went to check it out.  The toys had been loaned by groups, such as the Manawatu Meccano Club, and the Manawatu Scale Model Club.’'  There was certainly plenty to pique our interest, toys of all kinds, and plenty which were very familiar indeed. As any follower of TV’s Antique Road Show knows, toys in their original box are worth so much more.

There were exclamations of “I used to have one of those” from Robin and Geoff as they checked out all the toys.

When does a man become a boy?  When the metal toys become metal models.

While the boys were drooling over their “boys toys” I climbed aboard a gig and went for a virtual ride around Feilding.  As I held onto the reins and pushed the big green button, the ride started.  The gig gently bounced around as the horse travelled along the streets around town, finally returning to the Coach House.  Such fun!

My virtual horse and gig ride.

The Coach House Museum is well worth a visit if you are in the area, and is a POP for NZMCA members.