It’s been a while since our last SLG get together – way back in December, and a lot has been happening. We have all celebrated Christmas in our own way, with our own family and friends. Some of us have been tripping around on holiday, and sadly our numbers have decreased by two. But we are still a happy bunch of old friends, and we travelled down to Mana to meet up with them for lunch on Sunday, which Ashley had organised.
Travelling down SH1 on Sunday we could see work still going on the new Expressway. On Saturday the new road was swarming when more than 5000 people turned out to see just how far construction of the Kapiti expressway has come after almost two years. Construction on the expressway's first stage – a $630m four-lane link between McKays Crossing and Peka Peka – began in December 2013 when then transport minister Gerry Brownlee got behind the controls of a digger to move the first sod. A lot has been achieved since then, including construction of a new bridge over Kapiti Rd, which the curious public got to walk across for the first time.
Photo by Monique Ford/Fairfax NZ
Driving along the coast road we could clearly see the mountain peaks on the South Island away in the distance. It all depends on the weather conditions if we can see them, sometimes it is just too hazy, or cloudy to make them out.
That’s the South Island away in the distance
Ashley had booked a table in the Sandbar Restaurant and we all made our way inside, and the noise level rose dramatically as we caught up with everyone’s news.
Sandbar Pub and Restaurant
The extensive menu had us all pondering for a while. Les ordered his all time favourite, lambs fry and bacon, while Robin was delighted to find pork ribs on the menu. The rest of us found dishes to our liking, including my fish with caper sauce – delicious.
Sticky pork ribs for him, and fish with caper sauce for her
I asked the friendly waitress to take a photo of our table, but was quite concerned when she climbed up on a chair to do this task. But she must have done this before, and didn’t fall off, thank goodness.
All ready for lunch
We said our goodbyes in the mid afternoon and all headed our separate ways. And look, there’s Kapiti Island again – I never tire if catching a glimpse as we drive homewards back along the coast road.
Kapiti Island
And look what we spotted even closer to home – there’s a dinosaur on the loose! Perhaps he won’t cause too much damage, he looks a bit bony and malnourished to me.
Dinosaur on the loose
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