Over the Remutaka Hill

 Another rally weekend had rolled around, this time we were going to stay at Kahutara School in South Wairarapa.  Living where we do, it's always a bit of a mission to get to the Wairarapa.  We can travel either north or south, crossing over a mountain range to get there, and either trip takes us two hours.  This time we headed south, through Upper Hutt and Kaitoke and over the Remutaka Hill.  There was a traffic hold up in Kaitoke, and we were interested to see what was going on.  Obviously a large slip had happened a while ago and now the land had been sealed over.  We noticed men hanging off ropes on the steep slope - checking for something it seemed.

Land slip on Kaitoke Hill

Then it was up, up, up the Remutaka Hill, towing the caravan  behind us.  We stopped at the top so I could get a photo of the memorial at the top commemorating the Rimutaka Crossing.  Unveiled in September 2015, this art work was created to remember the thousands of infantry men who marched over the Rimutaka Hill prior to their departure to the Western Front in World War One.

Lest we Forget

The eagle eyed amongst you would have noticed the two different spellings I have written for this hill road, built in the 1870s.  Following a treaty settlement Rimutaka has been changed to Remutaka by the NZ Geographic Board.  The previous name Rimutaka had no meaning in te reo Marori, while Remutaka means "sitting down to rest".  So named by a chief as he sat down to rest while pursuing his run away wife across the ranges to Wairarapa.  And the Remutaka Hill Road has had it's named changed to Remutaka Pass, but that doesnt seem to be in common usage yet.

The rally venue wasn't available till 4.00pm so we arranged to meet Owen and Helen for lunch at Lake Domain Reserve.  The lake was calm, with black swans quietly feeding, so we picked a place to stop, got our chairs out, and sat admiring the peaceful surroundings.

First to arrive for lunch

Owen and Helen weren't too far behind us, parked up and we enjoyed a picnic lunch together.  There was quite a bit of honking from geese over the other side of the lake, and we wondered what kept disturbing them.  the noise would quiet down, then away the went again, honking loudly once again. This is a freedom camping area, and on a hot. sunny, wind free Wairarapa day, it was delightful.  So nice in fact, that we decided it should be put on the next rally schedule for a summer rally.

Then there were two

After lunch, Owen decided he wanted to explore, so we hopped in his shiny black car and set off to see what we could find.  Sadly, the road didn't go all around the lake, so it was quite a short drive indeed.   

  

We stood on the small foot bridge at the end of the road and watched as two dogs had the time of their lives retrieving sticks thrown into the stream for them.  Of course, they both wanted to grab the same one, and had to be encouraged to swim after the second stick being carried down the stream.  It was certainly good exercise for them.

Swans on the lake

By the time we arrived back to our vans, Helen and Stuart, the rally family for the weekend  had arrived.  So there was nothing for it but to sit under the shady awning again for afternoon tea and while away some time until we could get on our way.  We were due at Kahutara School from 4.00pm, giving the pupils and teachers time to finish for the day.