Over the Hill to Carterton

There is no straight through trip from Levin to the Wairarapa, there are mountain ranges in the way!  Although we do have a choice of routes.  We can head north and cross the Tararua Ranges, or travel south and cross the Rimutaka Ranges, and both have similar mileages to get to our destination.  On Friday, we took the southern route for a change.  Driving down towards Kapiti we raced along SH1 with a freight train on the adjacent rails trying to outrun us.

The train is winning this race

Driving down SH58 to SH2 the construction of Haywards Interchange was a hive of activity.  The project was originally scheduled to be completed in mid-June, but due to recent severe weather events, will now be completed about a month later than expected.  Construction work is still being carried out on cycle ways and underpasses, lighting, pedestrian bridge ramps and the Park and Ride car parks.  And the planting of approximately 120,000 plants will soon begin. 

There were signs on the Rimutaka Hill warning motorists to be prepared to stop for road works.  And stop we did, for about 20 minutes, waiting patiently behind the man on the road side holding on to his “Stop” sign as workmen got on with the job of laying new asphalt road surfacing.  The row of cars and trucks who had the “Go” sign slowly drove towards us, and then were were finally free to continue on our journey.  Climbing higher and higher, we were soon enveloped in mist and could hardly see in front of our noses.

Nearing the top

Once at the top and down the other side we passed through the small towns of Featherston and Greytown, arriving at our destination of Carterton.  And what’s this we found?  New signs since we were last visited.

Welcome to Carterton

We came over to have a caravan club rally at the Carterton Holiday Park, one of our favourite camps.  There was a casual get-together on Friday night to catch up, and we took part in a quiz about TV commercials of all things.  Some of us did better than others, seems it proved which of us spent more time sitting in front of the TV at home.  Saturday morning turned out showery and windy, so once again we used the camp dining room to gather in.  Many thanks to Geoff and Eileen who provided morning tea.  It was a double celebration, not only were we celebrating Geoff’s birthday, with a BIG Birthday due next year, but also Geoff and Eileen’s wedding anniversary.  We wish you many more!

Many thanks for morning tea

The rest of the day was free.  Some visited Masterton for the fair, others drove to the mushroom growers for some of these delicacies, while others lazed about or did what they wanted.  Barry and Dianne are our rally family  wonder what they have in store for us for the rest of the weekend?  We will just have to wait and see.