Howdy Partners

It was a Country and Western themed  Easter Weekend for us, at the 27th CCNZ National Rally at Masterton.  With no animals allowed at Solway College, we first dropped Gemma off at the local cattery for her second only visit to such a place.  Then it was up and over the Pahiatua Track, on our way to Masterton.

As entry to the college was not till 4.00pm, a group of four vans from our caravan club met at Henley Lake for lunch and to fill in an hour or two of waiting time.  If you love water birds, this is the place for you.  Ducks, geese and swans call Henley Lake home, paddling in the lake, grazing on the grass, and snoozing on the lake side.  Then we drove on to Solway College for our Easter Weekend Rally.

Henley Lake for lunch

With helpers guiding the vans into rows we were soon settled in.  Our row was Boothill, named for the place where gunslingers and outlaws were buried in Tombstone, Arizona who "died with their boots on."  The hall was decorated in a country and western theme, and the committee had done a great job. 

The Official Opening took place on Friday afternoon, and in came the banners holders marching to the swirl of pipes.  Although not staying on site, Bill and Val had paid their fees and  joined us for most of the weekend functions.

What a great bunch

On Friday evening a local historian came and regaled us about the history and settlement of the Wairarapa, and told some stories about the more colourful characters and their wheeling and dealings.  One such story was about a life insurance claim, and a spare  hand to add credence to the claim, with the supposed wedding ring – only the hand was female and the missing person was a male!  Whose body had the missing hand been removed from?

We had use of a new ablution block for the weekend, nice and close by, and a few power points were available to vans for medical reasons.  I carefully clambered up onto a balcony to get a good view of all the vans spread out on the school grounds.  It was nice to catch up with members of other clubs who we only tend to see every couple of years at these functions.

Bird’s eye view

Saturday was a busy day and 55 happy campers lined up tp board the big blue double decker bus for a mystery trip at 9.00am.  We had to take a packed lunch with us, and our folded camp chairs were whisked away to our lunch spot, wherever that would be, it was a mystery, after all.  First stop was to the local Farmers Market, where the only purchase I made was a nice hot coffee.  Back on the bus again, our next stop was a sculpture garden, developed by James Tyne.  This features a lot of Corten steel, which contains alloys which forms a protective rust coating which reduces the corrosion rate with time.  A rather expensive material, I was told.

Corten steel garden features and statues dotted about

The massive gate was interesting.  The owner was told that the designer had his own idea of what he wanted to  to make, and if the owner wasn't happy with the finished product he didn't have to buy it.  It opens by turning the very heavy wheel, so a couple of us took turns trying the mechanism for a photo op. 

Locked inside the garden

Lunch was at the farm belonging to Maureen and Mike Ashbee, who kindly offered their property. Our chairs were ready and waiting and we made use of their outdoor area,  not a sound was heard as we munched away at our picnic lunches. “Walk around and explore the gardens”, we were told.  This is a three generation family farm, now managed by Maureen and Mike’s daughter, and they are hoping to get away for trips in their motor home, now they are stepping back a bit from farm duties.

Lunch at the farm

Then for something completely different, we stopped at Ponataki Greek Church. This private church was the dream of George Pantelous who achieved his heart’s desire with the construction of this beautiful church.

The interior was beautifully painted by an 18 year old artist, Stephen Allwood, who took a year to finish his work, including the dome ceiling.  Such beautiful details, and many thanks to our guide who related the history of this building.  No church pews are inside, the faithful must remain standing for the 2 1/2 hour service.  

Greek Church

Our last stop was The Wee Red Barn, famous for their berries.  I was amused to see some goats clambering up high in their enclosure, looking down on our busload of happy campers.   We purchased fruit ice-cream, a large punnet of strawberries, and a jar of raspberry jam, all nice and tasty.  It was a long day out and about on the bus, especially climbing up and down those stairs to the top level.

Wee Red Barn

Our day wasn't over – after dinner we all met back in the hall for a Line Dancing demonstration.  The dancers all looked very smart indeed in their country style outfits as they “strutted their stuff” to the music.  I was pleasantly surprised that it was not all country music used, they danced to a little rock and roll, and other types of music  too.  After the demo, many of our group joined the dancers for some easy tuition and danced away too.

Line dancing demonstration

Sunday morning started bright and early with a cooked breakfast of French Toast, Bacon and Banana, with the BBQs going flat out.

Cooking our breakfasts

The food was served from the Baine Marie, there was Maple Syrup to add, and we settled down to enjoy our Sunday breakfast.  Oh my, it was delicious indeed.

Sunday breakfast

Included in our Goody Bag were two complimentary tickets for the Miniature Railway in nearby Queen Elizabeth Park.  It was a beautiful day, and the park was buzzing with family groups.  Toot, toot, here comes the train!  The passengers disgorged, and then we clambered in.  The track took us several times around the lake, through the tunnel, tooting as it went, such fun.

Trip on the miniature railway

The evening concluded with a catered dinner.  The caterers, Kiwi Kai Catering,  arrived towing their kitchen caravan all painted up advertising the Pink Floyd Experience.  The owner told me that they will be also going on the tour in June and will be feeding the band and crew.  Our meals were very tasty, chicken, pork, with a selection of salads and veggies, followed by individual  berry cheese cake.  We had taken along some bubbly for me and red wine for Robin to complete our meal, and were obviously having such a great evening that I forgot to take any photos!

The catering caravan

The official closing of the rally took place on  Monday morning, the final raffles prizes were drawn, and  thanks were made to the Wairarapa Caravan Club for putting on such a great National Rally.  Goodbyes were said and it was time to hook up the caravans, and we all went on our respective ways.  Such a fun weekend, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely, meeting up with old friends and chatting with new folks from other caravan clubs too.