Another Busy Week

Its been another very busy pre-Christmas week.  Everything happens this time of year with Christmas break-ups from various clubs and groups we are involved with.  First was our Super Leisure Group final get-together of the year.  Each month we meet up with our SLG friends, with each of us taking a turn to organise a day out for us all.  Trish was in charge of planning something for December, but sadly she had a health emergency and  was not well enough to attend.  Four of us decided to go to Trish’s choice of café and we drove down to the Hutt Valley, along the Transmission Gully Road. Oh look, there’s the Rainbow Bridge, it’s always nice to catch a glimpse of this as we drive along the motorway..

The Rainbow Bridge, at the side of Transmission Gully motorway

We were meeting at Boulcott Golf Club Cafe in Lower Hutt.  The large car park was very full indeed, and we drove slowly around looking for an empty car park.  As well as people coming out for lunch, there were obviously plenty of golfers out enjoying their time on the golf course.

Boulcott Golf Club

Calvin and Helen arrived soon after us, and we pursued the menu and checked out the cabinet food.  There were several large tables full of other pre Christmas diners too, so the service was a little slow as the staff worked hard to serve the meals.  What to have – I chose Bubble and Squeak (don’t often see that on a menu) with a side of sliced salmon, and Robin had fish and chips.  With so many people dining, I decided not to ask the busy staff to take a photo, so we did it ourselves instead.

Helen and Calvin, and us two

As always, there was plenty to chat about, our plans for Christmas, family, and our absent friend Trish. Through the window I noticed  club members out on the greens having a hit around the course. After a long two hour lunch, and a coffee, we said our goodbyes, and headed home.

Boulcott Golf Club

The golf club is off Military Road and there is a large stone memorial on the corner of the road marking the site of Boulcott’s Farm Stockade.  This tells the story of the attack on the stockade during the Maori Wars.  On 16th May 1846 over 200 Maori warriors from Wanganui attacked the stockade and were fought off by a garrison of 50 men of the 58th Regiment.  The bodies of six Imperial soldiers who fell were buried nearby.

Memorial stone

We took the alternate  drive home around Pauatahanui and along the coast road, a much more scenic route.  The Pauatahanui Inlet is always a pretty place to stop and admire the scenery, looks like the tide was out when we were there.  Free camping in self contained vans is permitted here so it would be a nice peaceful place to stay for a night or two.

At the Inlet

And what would a drive along the coast road be without a photo stop of Kapiti Island?  We stopped at the lookout on Pukerua Bay Hill to get this rather hazy view.

Kapiti Island

There was one more stop before we made it home, we decided to call in at RJ’s for some licorice.  It’s been ages since we had called in here to make a purchase.

On entering the shop we were rather alarmed to see a whole bunch of police inside, and wondered what the emergency was.  Seems the only emergency was that they had ran out of licorice, and often call into the shop to replenish their supplies.  The police personnel left with their arms full of goodies, and we looked around to see what we wanted to buy and take home.

RJ’s Licorice

The next day we had our final Christmas occasion for the year, a BBQ lunch put on by Age Concern for the members.  There was quite a turn out with 110 people attending.  We sat ourselves down at the long tables, chatted away while the volunteers were busy cooking up the BBQ sausages and meat patties.  This was served with buttered bread and butter to wrap around our sausages, cole slaw, potato and pasta salads.  All washed down with soft drinks to quench the thirst.

Age Concern BBQ lunch

Large platters of Christmas cake were served to the crowd, then Father Christmas made an appearance with a sack full of gifts – everyone had bought along a $5 gift to put in the sack.  It was a fun time indeed.

Next week, the final week before Christmas, will be much quieter with no more social commitments.  That will make a nice change of pace.