Off to The George

The phone rang on Saturday – Robin’s sister Kaye was in town.  Up from Nelson to visit their daughter, Kaye and Jan had also scored tickets to the All Blacks – Ireland Rugby Test.  How about a family lunch on Sunday, Kaye suggested?  That's a great idea, the other two brothers were contacted, and I made the booking.  My first choice couldn’t fit us in, so we were off to The George.   Roll on Sunday.

Eight of us settled down at the table, caught up on the news, and consoled the rugby enthusiasts amongst us on the All Blacks loss.  We take our rugby very seriously here in New Zealand, and a test loss is almost akin to a day of mourning.  What to order – the eternal question.  Choices made, we settled back to wait the arrival of our meals.  Which were very nice, I remember burgers, fish, steak sandwich, pasta, and an omelet being delivered.  Finishing up with coffee, I asked a young waitress to take a photo for us.  Oh no, a real camera, that was outside her experience and she really didn’t know what to do!  A little later an older staff member came over, well used to using a camera as opposed to youngsters only used to taking pics on a phone.

Family lunch

As everyone was still chatting away when it was time to leave, we invited everyone back to our home for another hot drink and to carry on the conversation.

Where did we park those cars?

Luckily I had done some baking the previous day so had something home made to offer the guests with their coffees.  Kaye (the youngest) wanted a photo with her three big brothers.

 

The Benton Family, Neil and Kaye at the back, Gary and Robin

It was nice to meet up with everyone again, then Kaye and Jan left to travel up to Taupo, and the other two brothers and spouses headed off home.  And with a family wedding being planned early next year, that means an even bigger family get-together to look forward to.

No Rally for us this Weekend

Our caravan club members are happily ensconced in in the Wairarapa this weekend.  Not us though, here we are at home.  You may remember that our caravan had a mild altercation with a car at Sanson in February, and we are only now getting repairs done.  Yes, it’s taken a while, first there was the new panel to order and get sent down from the factory.  And our preferred repairer is very busy indeed, especially when Covid swept through the work force, but finally there was a slot found for us.  Here is our caravan at Marty’s Panel and Paint with the lower panel removed – seems there may be a minor leak or two to check out.  We will find out more on Monday.

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Waiting for repairs

As we weren't going away for the weekend after all, I decided to treat the pair of us to a “Lunch and Movie Date”.  Off we went to the local Cinema for an early lunch.  Robin chose a pork belly and mushroom pizza and I had soup of the day, with a nice coffee each, of course.

And what did we see, you may be wondering?  It just had to be “Elvis”, didn't it.  The story was told in the words of Col Tom Parker, played by Tom Hanks.  What a schemer he turned out to be, and a serial gambler.  As it turned out, he wasn’t a colonel, he was using a fictitious name, in fact he was an illegal immigrant to the USA.  The young actor, Austin Butler playing Elvis, was superb, and must have spent a huge amount of time perfecting the voice, the actions, and those wiggles.  The theartre was packed full of grey haired patrons, and with so many strangers in close proximity we both decided to keep our masks on the entire time.  That didn’t matter, I could sigh over those wiggles behind my mask  to my heart’s content.   What a film, from the young Elvis growing up with black neighbours and being exposed to Gospel music, his first record with Sun, and the effect he had on the young girls when he first started appearing on stage.  “Forbidden fruit”, Col Parker supposedly said, and he wanted his share of the phenomenon.

Elvis, the movie

As it happens, I’m a real Elvis fan (Robin not so much) and can remember back in the 50s when he burst onto the scene.  My girlfriend had older brothers who purchased new records each week, so we listened to the songs too.  Once I heard “Love me Tender” I was smitten. I can certainly recommend this film for any other Elvis fans out there.

Going Exploring

The plan for Saturday at our rally weekend at Dannevirke was to pack a picnic lunch and have a bit of a mystery tour around the area.  First up was a drive into nearby Norsewood to visit Johanna’s World (gold coin donation) and local man Gundy brought the story to life.  Settled in 1872-75 by Scandinavians and others from Northern Europe, who on their 40 acre blocks, made a living by clearing the dense bush. Norsewood has retained its Scandinavian heritage, and streets carry the original names.    Johanna Christiansen arrived with her family from Norway in 1872 and there a replica of the log cabin where Johanna was born in the Norwegian woods all that time ago. 

Replica of Joanna’s cabin

We also saw a replica “Stave Church” on the grounds, the only  Stave Church (Stavkirke) in the Southern Hemisphere.  Sadly it was locked up tight so we couldn't go inside.

Stave Church

We couldn't visit Norsewood and not say hello (again) to the trolls.   There is Father, Mother and Baby troll, all doing a bit of photo bombing.   These strange Scandinavian creatures are dotted all over the small town, and are considered good luck by the locals.

Watch out, troll alert!

Although we had visited this small town several times, we had never been to the local museum – entry was a  gold coin donation, and Gundy was on hand here too telling us of the exhibits.  Stepping into the old house was like stepping back in time, rooms were furnished just the way they would have been years ago.  At the rear of the house there was an extensive area showing all sort of tools.  Sadly this had to be fenced off as some of the tools had been stolen.

Norsewood Museum

After some retail therapy at NZ Natural Clothing, formerly Norsewear, Robin took the group to visit Mathews Park, not too far away at Namoko Road.  This is a small camping spot, for self contained vans.  Not everyone was aware of this camp, a good one to keep in mind for an overnight stay in the area.

Next stop was at Ormondville Station  was built in 1880 and is one of a handful of early wooden rail buildings that have been preserved thanks to community efforts. Since the closure, in 2001, of the region’s last passenger service, the Bay Express, the station has offered ‘unique boutique accommodation’ for tourists.  There are several examples of old rolling stock in need of attention across from the station. Once again, this was a first time visit for some of our friends.

Historic Ormondville Station

Our last stop of the morning, another new experience for some of our members, was the Makotuku Domain.  Camping is available here for a small charge, and there are a couple of power sites available, as well as toilets and showers.  There is plenty of room in the domain to hold an off power summer rally for our caravan club, we will have to keep this in mind for next year.  The main claim to fame here is a cute little grandstand.  We had originally planned to eat our lunches in the grandstand, but then decided to make the most of the warm sunny weather instead.

Picnic lunch at Makotuku Domain

That was the end of our tiki tour around the area.  Many thanks to Pat for arranging the Norsewood part of our morning, and to Robin for taking us to several “new to some of us” places.