Our trip to Auckland was to attend the Leisureline Owners Club get-together. But first we had to face the perils (to me, anyway) of travelling along the various Auckland motorways. To say I’m a scaredy-cat in Auckland traffic would not be an understatement, although Robin, as driver, takes it all in his stride. The Sat Nav served us well, as it took us along this motorway, onto another, and finally through the new 2.4km Waterview Tunnel. These twin tunnels connect Auckland's northwestern and southwestern motorways.
Waterview Tunnel
Once off the motorway we finally arrived at the small hamlet of Riverhead, ready to join other Leisureline owners for a caravan weekend. Flags were fluttering at the entrance of the property to let us know we had arrived.
One by one the vans started arriving and soon found a spot to settle down for the weekend. Holly, the Rottweiler, was kept busy approaching everyone and trying to lick them into submission. We joined in the “Gourmet Happy Hour” at 5.00pm, with platters of all sorts of interesting nibbles arriving to be placed on the large centre table for all to enjoy. It was great to meet up again with caravan owners from the previous Leisureline Rally held at Bowentown, and make the acquaintance of others for the first time.
Some of the vans on site for the weekend
After morning tea on Saturday, several owners took advantage of getting their vans weighed up the road on a weigh bridge in a local business. People were asked to guess how much they thought their vans weighed, and it was interesting to see how much estimates varied from the actual weight. There was a fair bit of maneuvering to get the vans into the property, then one by one, backed onto the weighbridge.
All waiting their turn
Then it was our turn, and Robin carefully backed into the weighing platform. The coupling was undone to take pressure off the draw bar and I was charged with taking photographic evidence of the weight. And our caravan weighs 2740kg.
At the weighing station
All the ladies excelled themselves with their contributions to the Pot Luck Dinner on Saturday night. All sorts of tasty delights graced the table it was fine dining indeed.
The table was groaning with delicious dishes
There was a competition for “Best Caravan made from paper supplied. Most cut and pasted a picture, but the 3D paper Leisureline won top prize. And our travelling companions Geoff and Eileen won the food contribution raffle.
The afternoon rain cleared by evening and the Guy Fawkes night went ahead. We gathered around the blazing bon-fire and fireworks whistled, banged, and flashed in the darkness, while the full moon peeped through the clouds above.
Night time entertainment
Sunday morning dawned hot and sunny – and it’s our Anniversary, number 34 to be precise. Happy Anniversary to us. The Leisureline Owners Club get-together concluded with a Devonshire Tea. Our hostess Louise had been busy whipping up several batches of scones to feed us all. Such a lovely finish to a great weekend.
Louise – our Riverhead hostess
Thanks were given by one and all to the hosts, and Robin let the members know of the next Leisureline Owners Club get-together to be held in Levin next April. We certainly hope to see everyone there.
1 comment:
What a great rally. No one had any excuse about going home hungry. We are going away next week and have been thinking of getting our rig weighed before we leave. There has been quite a lot of talk over here re overweight rigs. It should be an interesting exercise.
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