Rally at Foxton Racecourse

It was just a short 25km trip up SH1 to get to our weekend destination at Foxton Racecourse for our caravan club rally.  This was a “new to us” venue, off power, but with toilet facilities and a meeting room available underneath the grand stand, which served our purposes very well.  Being a Combined Rally, we were pleased to welcome four caravans from the Wairarapa Club who joined us for the weekend.

Staying at Foxton Racecourse

Friday night is sometimes fish nd chip night, especially when we are away.  This necessitated a trip down to Foxton Beach to visit Mr Grumpy’s Fish and Chip shop, world famous in this area.  In the height of summer, queues of keen customers have been known to stretch out of the door and along the footpath.  No generic battered fish here in the fryer, you get to choose which species you would like for your meal.  We ordered two fillets of blue cod, chips to go with it of course, and for something different, a side of battered cauliflower served with cheese dipping sauce.  Our delicious meal was taken back to the caravan and eaten with gusto.

Mr Grumpy’s

The sound of galloping horses woke us on Saturday morning.  And there they go, around the race track, while others were patiently waiting their turn.

Horses at the racetrack

Later in the morning I climbed up the steps on the grandstand to see what I could see, looking down at several of our vans parked at this side of the grandstand.  And that’s a lovely view over the racecourse.

View from the top

Robin was busy in the afternoon doing an exercise when he measured  the total overall length of each van.  This included the draw bar, and any bike racks and spare wheels attached to the back of the van.  All necessary information to know when making a booking on the Inter Islander ferry.  As well he measured the tow ball weights using his tow ball scales.  The results were a surprise to some owners, it seemed.  Caravan lengths varied from 7.1m to 8.84m.  There was a huge variance in the tow ball weights, which ranged from 90kg to a whopping 370kg.

The weather was warm enough to enjoy 4zees (Happy Hour) outside.  Then we had use of the meeting room later when we all gathered to eat our dinner together, followed by a game of Card Housie.

4zees time

Then later in the evening the weather turned to custard, as predicted.  Bad weather traveled up from the South Island,  bringing torrential rain and gale force winds.  A couple of our more prudent friends decided to head for home after dinner, just in case.  Luckily the rest of us saw the evening out without any mishaps, but we all packed up and got on our way on Sunday morning straight after morning tea.  The rain had eased by then, but as any caravanner knows, towing in strong winds can be a bit of a worry.  We made it home safely, and hopefully all our caravan club buddies did as well.

It was a great weekend away, always so nice to meet up with everyone again, and welcome our Wairarapa friends to our rally.