Generator to the Rescue

Our caravan batteries decided enough was enough during our weekend away at Oroua Downs School and stopped working.  So Robin made an early morning trip back home to collect our Honda generator to charge them up again. With the generator chugging away for a couple of hours, it soon brought the battery charge back up.  The batteries haven’t misbehaved before, but we have had this caravan about five years so they could be due for replacement.

Generator to the rescue

There was a  strange colourful caravan parked up at the school.   It was the Tooth Booth, a caravan fitted out as a travelling dental clinic.  In my school days, most primary schools had a dental clinic building on site.  I certainly remember those foot operated dental drills which seem to take forever as we sat there in fear!  When one of our class mates was called over to the clinic, they came back clutching the name of the next pupil to go to the “Murder House”.  We all hoped it wasn’t our name on that piece of paper.  There was no escape, sooner or later you got your turn to visit the dental nurse.

The Tooth Booth

The weekend weather was nice and sunny, and we spent some time outside under the shade.   On Saturday evening Geoff and Eileen had booked a table for us at The Wines in Himitangi,  a fairly casual place which was doing a roaring trade.  Orders of steak, burgers and fish were delivered to our table, and Robin was the only one who opted for a plate of ribs.

Ribs for Robin

It was a nice warm evening and there were groups of people enjoying themselves outside.  The place was decorated with plenty of motor bike memorabilia, and there was quite a crowd of bikers outside.

As one was leaving we saw him lift a small dog up onto the bike.  Off I went with my camera for a closer look.  And there was four year old Millie, or maybe he said Minnie,  happily settled into her seat on the bike.  The owner had his helmet on and I couldn’t quite make out her name.   Now four years old, the little terrier has been riding around since she was a little pup of four months, the owner told me.

Biker dog

As the night wore on, the juke box was cranked up loud and we could hardly hear ourselves talk.  The final straw was the arrival of the Party Bus, full with noisy young women who could well have been just a little intoxicated!  Time for our group of OAPs getting back to our vans, we decided.

Juke Box

The temperatures were still very mild back at the school grounds so we spent a very pleasant hour or two sitting outside in the evening twilight putting the world to rights.  There is always plenty to chat about when we get together.  Many thanks to Barry and Diane who brought along some apples to share from their trees.  Most gratefully accepted and I’m sure there will be plenty of apple delights on the menu this week, and in the freezer too for later.