Moving on to Stratford

The Opunake-Stratford Road was a new one for us to travel.  It was certainly a little narrow in places, and those pesky wind gusts were a challenge at times.  This road took us up close and personal alongside by Mt Taranaki, also known as Mt Egmont to those of us with long memories.  No snow cap at this time of the year, this is a symmetrical brooding bare volcanic mountain looking down on us, majestic and strong.

Mt Taranaki

Our group met at the Shakee Pear café for lunch, luckily the management had been pre-warned that about 30 people would be descending on this establishment, so they were well prepared with extra cabinet food for the influx.  Plenty of variety, and everyone seemed pleased with their choices.  Then it was next door to visit the Pioneer Village.

Most of us are big kids when it comes to train rides, and we personally are no exception.  Climbing aboard the dinky little train we squeezed into those rather hard seats, and were taken twice around the circuit.  This gave us a good overview of the village, all 10 acres of it.

All aboard

There was so much to see, so many relocated buildings lining the streets.  Cottages, a forge, printing works, library, post office, dentist, doctor, and maybe even a candle-maker was tucked in there somewhere.  Various shops of all kinds and a church. It certainly was interesting seeing how people lived in earlier years.  I loved looking through the cute little cottages, seeing the old linens, the rag rugs, the kitchen utensils, and how they tackled the laundry.  It is great that so many of these old buildings have been preserved.

Just a few of the buildings on site

Our stay here in Stratford is at the Wharehuia Community Centre, formerly the Stanley Street School, about 8km from Stratford, and in rural surroundings.  There are magnificent trees in the grounds, native rimu and totara, as well as exotics such as oak and magnolia.  We have the use of the buildings to meet in during the evenings, or as required, if the days turn wet and cold.

It is rather like a game of two halves here.  Some of us are parked up by the old school buildings, while the remainder are down behind the tennis courts amongst those glorious trees.  The wind is still blowing a gale, but not quite as strong as on previous days.