Very Wet at Whanganui

The weekend rally with the caravan club was held at Whanganui River Top 10 Motor Camp.  With instructions not to arrive prior to 2.00pm, we met up with Owen and Helen on a lay by and spent some time enjoying our respective lunches  with them.    Then it was time to move on, arriving at the camp just after 2.00pm – surprise, surprise, there were plenty of early bird club members already there.  The instructions were to keep off the grass, which was sodden, and we maneuvered the vans onto concrete pads.  These are obviously made with camper vans in mind, as they were not very big at all.  There was a great turnout for the weekend, with 11 vans in total.

Whanganui Top 10

The facilities at this camp are excellent, and the following morning I took a little walk around to the wet grounds to see what I could see.  The Whanganui River is right on the edge of the camp, and the locals have a saying about it.  “I am the river, and the river is me”. 

Whanganui River

There was a playground for kids, and a bird aviary.  Those birds didn't want their photos taken, when I approached the netting, they quickly flew right over to the other side.  There was a well stocked herb garden and a multi armed sign post showing you where to go, or maybe, where you have come from.

Around the camp

On Saturday afternoon the rally families had us driving around and jumping in and out of cars.  Each car had a team of four, and we were sent on our way with a list of instructions to find various things around the town.  Plus we had to take a cell phone photo to prove we had been there.  Our instructions took us to the Drurie Hill elevator to confirm what year it had opened – way back in 1919 as it was a way of getting home owners from the new Drurie Hill subdivision down the hill to work and school.  Previously, they made their way up and down a very steep line of steps – imagine doing that with a pram and a couple of toddlers!

This way to the elevator

Then it was in the car and back up the hill to check out the Memorial Tower. Questions to be answered were – how many steps to the top of the tower, 176 it stated on the plaque so we didn't have to clamber up the top, counting as we went.  And 513 people from the Whanganui district died in WW1.

Memorial Tower

One attraction we had to find, which none of us knew about, was the Queen’s Park Carillion.  We were expecting to see a concrete tower, but it was not constructed like that at all.  The Carillion in Queen's Park was installed in 1981 to mark the opening of the Farm Equipment Company's new factory in Wanganui. The company was owned by Dutch firm P J Zweggers en Zonen, and as this was their first factory to be built outside Europe, they wished to provide a traditionally Dutch gift to the town.  The bells were constructed in the Netherlands by prestigious bell foundry Petit & Fritsen and installed in Queen's Park by Emmett Brothers. The Carillion is equipped with eighteen bells and can be controlled manually by a keyboard housed inside the plinth, while it uses a hole punched plastic tape to play programmed melodies. 

Very attractive Carillion with 18 bells

Our car trip ended with us all finding our way up past Virginia Lake to the Pukeko’s Nest Café for an ice-cream, or coffee.  It certainly was an afternoon with a difference, taking us out and about around Whanganui.

Time for refreshments

In the evening we all pooled cars again and drove to the Whanganui East Club for a meal.  Lots of nice choices, but sadly to Robin’s regret, the lamb shanks were no longer available.  We had roast pork instead, and very nice it was too.

Dinner time

It rained incessantly on Saturday night and we awoke to news of flooding, trees down, and road closures.  This certainly made getting home a bit of a trial.  Robin was taking the caravan up to Ohaupo for a service and I was taking Gemma home in my little car.  Getting out of the city was a challenge in itself as I came across a road closed sign, was sent up the hill to the water tower and back down again hoping to get on my way, but no, this part of the road was closed too.  So I decided to back track and take the country road to Fordell, getting lost a couple of times along the way.  More detours, another road closed, driving through water flowing over the road, help, get me out of here.  I found out later that flooding and slips forced the closure of parts of State Highway 1 and State Highway 3 after torrential overnight rain, no wonder I had to travel so far along narrow roads to get back to the main road.  I was so thankful to get back home safely.  Robin just took things quietly on his trip north and arrived at his overnight stop safe and sound too. 

Anzac Parade State Highway 4 in Whanganui was closed due to a slip. Photo / Finn Williams

No wonder I had so much trouble getting out of town on Sunday.  I was concerned about Gemma being in her carry cage for much longer than anticipated, and must admit driving in those conditions was a worry for me.  But it all ended well, thank goodness.