Day Out in the Hutt Valley

During the week we met up with out Super Leisure Group friends for our monthly outing.  We live the furthest away so had to start our trip bright and early, to allow for the many road works we encountered along the way.  It was stop and start as we drove over the Haywards Hill, which seems to be a never ending project.  Parts of this road are dug up and repaired, widened here and there, and when that bit is done the workmen start on another area.  We followed a truck up the hill, which drove into an off road area with a large pile of shingle.  The truck driver jumped out of his vehicle, climbed into the front end  loader which was parked up, and proceeded to load up his truck with shingle.  Back in the truck again, he then slowly edged into the line of traffic. Who says men can’t multi-task!

At the top of Haywards Hill

We met at Yvonne’s home for morning tea and to do the draw, where we each selected a folded piece of paper telling us the month we have to arrange an outing for.  Then it was down to my old home town Lower Hutt for lunch.  This was a new to us place, a café inside the new Events Centre.  This building replaced the old Lower Hutt Town Hall which held fond memories for us both, as we used to attend Saturday night dances back in the day.

Lower Hutt Events Centre

There was the eternal question, what to order for lunch?  I chose salmon fillet, and Robin along with several others decided on fish and chips, all very tasty.  As usual, there was plenty to chat about during our time together, and the obliging staff member took some photos for us.

Lunch time

After lingering over the table for a while, and noticing that most of the other diners had departed, we said our goodbyes and headed for home.  Work was busy as usual at the Transmission Gully Road site.  Over budget and running late, we wonder when this road will be finished. 

Working on the Transmission Gully Road

We drove slowly past a huge machine looking rather like a mechanical dragon, as it noisily belched steam.  It was mixing hot asphalt, and pouring loads into the waiting trucks, to be poured onto the road surface.  This was certainly a sight to see.

Mixing asphalt

The trip up Kapiti Coast is often a little slow, depending on the time of day and the amount of traffic.  Kapiti Island as looking wonderful, as usual.

Kapiti Island

The truck ahead of us was loaded with squashed cars – wonder where they were headed to?  There was sure to be someone’s former much loved pride and joy amongst these flattened vehicles.

It was an enjoyable day, always good to catch up with our SLG friends.   Gemma was happy to welcome us back after being home alone all day.  We just needed something light for tea after our delicious and filling cooked lunch.