Another trip to Viv's Kitchen

 Our weekend weather was a mixed bag at Mt Lees Reserve.  Mainly sunny, but the wind was rather cold, making sitting outside a challenge.  The park was busy, with many day visitors bringing their dogs and family groups enjoying the walk through the native bush.  We saw and heard many beautiful native birds, tuis, kereru, and fantails, this really is such a beautiful place.

Parked up at Mt Lees Reserve

Gemma enjoyed some time outside, although we did need to keep a wary eye out on the dogs walking by, luckily there were no issues.

Gemma up on the picnic table

But she wasn't the only cat in camp, Dot had brought Honey along too.  The pair of the met outside a few times on their leads, after a quiet hiss, they touched noses and looked at each other.  

Two Birmans on a camping adventure

Since we were in the area, a visit to Viv's Kitchen on Saturday for lunch was a must.  This is always such a popular place, so it was just as well that we had a table for 12 booked.   Murray and Sue, recently returned from their South Island trip, joined us for lunch too.

There is always so many wonderful choices at Viv's.  Cream horns, of course, although I prefer the chocolate eclairs.  Some ordered a Big Breakfast, pies, savouries, whatever took their fancy.

Jenny, Murray, Robin, and Owen

Dot, Maureen, Sue, Russell, Geoff, Eileen, and Helen

Then we all went back to camp, sitting outside in the Autumn sunshine.  Sue and Murray told us tales of their 3 month trip traveling around the South Island.

Robin, Sue and Murray

There was quite a bit of excitement in the evening.  We could see flames burning in the dark, seemingly in the bush adjacent to where we were camping.  Owen bravely set off to investigate, and Geoff rang the Fire Service to report the fire.  Although the fire looked like it was close by and the native bush was all set to burst into flames, it was actually burning in another farm property - we were viewing the flames through the trees.  Eventually a fire engine arrived, and the excitement was over.

Sunday morning was an absolute stunner of a day - this is often the case after a weekend away, the weather on the last is perfect.  After morning tea, we packed up, said our goodbyes and headed off to our respective homes.  It was a very enjoyable rally.

Scotts Ferry and the Bess Memorial

 After our lunch at Mint, we took a little Tiki Tour.  Starting off at Scott's Ferry, which transported horses, cattle, sheep, produce and people across the Rangitikei River from 1850 to 1908.  The ferry (barge) was then purchased and  worked on the Whanganui River from 1908 to 1975, and after laying derelict for some years, was salvaged, restored and returned to the area where it first started operating all those years ago, to honour all the early pioneers.   In the early  days the coastline and rivers were the roads of the day.  

Scott's Ferry  transported goods across the river

Scott's Ferry Weather Station raised a smile

From here we went in search of the Bess Memorial.  Thousands of horses were purchased and sent overseas in WW1.  Bess was bred in the Wairarapa and was selected by Col Charles Guy Powles, an officer in the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade.  Bess served in Egypt, Sinai, Palestine, France and Germany, before heading to England and finally returning home in 1920.  She was one of only four horses who returned home after war service.

Bess enjoyed 14 peaceful years on the farm, and she was buried where she collapsed and died in 1934.  Col Powles had a memorial constructed in white marble to honour the life of his special horse.  This spot was one of the many Anzac Services held around the region on Anzac Day.

The Bess Memorial

Along the fenceline are two special young trees, Gallipoli Pines grown from seeds brought back as pine cones after WW1.  The trees were felled and used for reinforcing the trenches.  There are two pines, either side of the gate to the Bess Memorial.

Gallipoli Pines

First couple of days at Mt Lees.

 With Anzac Day falling on Thursday, we decided to start our caravan club rally on Wednesday afternoon.  Why not, we must make the most of these breaks away.  This time we were staying at Mt Lees Scenic Reserve.  They have a nice new sign since we were last here.

We were the second of our group to arrive, set ourselves up, and during the afternoon several more trickled in.  4zees was enjoyed sitting outside around one of the large picnic tables dotted around.

Ready for the weekend

In the evening we all squeezed into Helen and Owen's van.  Russell and Maureen told us stories of their recent South Island trip, relating where they had stayed.  This brought back memories for those who had also travelled down south on recent trips.  So much to see and do down there, and such wonderful dramatic scenery.  

The following morning, Anzac Day, four of us traveled down to Sanson to the Anzac Day Service.  Then we did a little exploring.  Owen was keen to stop at Waireka Honey, where we bought a couple of goodies, plus a very large fruit ice-cream each.  Mine was so big I couldn't manage it all!

Waireka Honey on SH1

 Then we traveled down to Tangimoana Beach, just because.  This is a rough and wild beach, covered in driftwood, with several hardy fishermen trying their luck.  Our trip back to camp took us around the back of Ohakea Air Force Base, this was a road not traveled before.

Tangimoana Beach

Friday saw some of our group go out to meet up with family and friends.  So the remaining five of us decided to meet up at the Rusty Radiata Cafe in Halcombe for lunch.  That was a big fail, the cafe was closed and locked up tight.  Plan B was to drive to Bulls to find an alternative lunch venue.  We settled on the Mint Cafe, a first for us all.  Our delicious meals soon arrived, hot cakes with bacon and banana, French Toast, and Calamari Salad.  

That's a tasty lunch

The town of Bulls has statues of black bulls dotted around, so we couldn't miss a photo opportunity, could we.  First was a photo of us two.

Then Owen accosted a young lady in the car park and asked her to take a group photo of us all.

Dot, Robin, Jenny, Helen, and Owen

4zeez was outside again, all rugged up with coats, hats and gloves to protect us from the very cold wind.  We gathered in the vans again after our evening meal, another pleasant evening spent with chit chat, and putting the world to rights.

My delicious lunch

Anzac Day 2024

 Our Caravan Club club is attending our Anzac Weekend Rally at Mt Lees Reserve.  Four of us went to take part in the Anzac Day Civic Service Service held at Sanson School.  The band assembled and marched towards the War Memorial.

The Ode was spoken, and then an elderly gentleman played the Last Post.  Wreaths were laid at the foot of the War Memorial.  It was all very moving, as we sat outside in the cold wind.

The second part of the service was held indoors, in the school hall, we were pleased to get away from the fierce wind. We all stood and sung along to God Defend New Zealand, several more speeches were made, including an interesting recollection of a recent trip to Gallipoli. There was a wonderful painting by local artist David Mawson hanging on the wall, representing various "eras in aviation" that would have flown from Ohakea Airforce Base.

Mural by David Mawson

 Lest We Forget

Cars Inc

It was an outing with a difference with our Super Leisure Group friends last week, organised by Helen.  We were a little late leaving home, and with plenty of orange road cones to navigate, which always slows the journey down, we were running a little late.  The morning started off with M/Tea at Helen and Calvin's home, and a good catch up with everyone.  Then it was just a short drive to a "new to us" venue, Cars Inc, newly opened in Upper Hutt.

We had lunch in the cafe, plenty of choices with  both cabinet and menu food.  The cafe was quite busy with other patrons, just as well we had place our orders before 20 or so people from an adjacent table had settled.

Robin, Trish, Jenny, Calvin, and Helen

After our lunch, Robin, Calvin and I paid our entry fee into the car museum, while Trish and Helen sat chatting.  What a place, a real petrol head heaven.  There certainly was plenty to see, and admire.  

There were many cases of model cars, a collector's dream.  Posters and signs adorned the walls, petrol bowsers were dotted about, and the cars on show were gleaming.  Here are a few which caught my attention.

There was quite a range on display

I left Robin and Calvin to their deliberations, slowly walking around and inspecting each vehicle, and no doubt wishing they each could choose one to take home with them.  It certainly was an interesting place to visit.  We said our thanks to Helen for taking us to this new  museum, said our goodbyes, and headed on our way home.  

And what better way to drive home than along the old coast road, so much quieter now that the newish Transmission Gully takes most of the traffic.  And of course, Kapiti Island was calling me, so we needed a photo stop.  

Kapiti Island off the coast

It was a very enjoyable time out, catching up with our SLG friends, lunch out and a visit to the car museum.  And thanks to Trish for sharing some of her home grown apples with us, much appreciated.  It's my turn to plan our SLG outing for next month, wonder what idea I can come with?

Keeping Close to Home

Our two week  Covid lockdown has come to an end.   We've stayed home, riding out the symptoms, preparing easy meals and taking things easy.  During the first week we were both very tired, took ourselves off to bed at 8.00pm, we were so weary.  And with all my coughing, I felt like my ribs had been broken, or at least, battered and bruised.  You know you are not well when the highlight of the day is your after lunch nap!  The symptoms slowly eased in week two, and after several RAT tests, we finally achieved a negative test.  Thank goodness for that.  

Robin takes part in the weekly Crown Research Institute Flu Tracking report, so we are officially reported as having contacted Covid.  This is our first time getting Covid, after all this time, and we cannot have a Covid vaccination for another 6 months.  Hopefully that means that we now have natural protection for a while.

But according to Healthline, having had Covid does not restrict you from getting the annual flu vaccination.  So we fronted up on Saturday morning with a whole bunch of others, standing in a queue for an hour, before finally reaching the front of the line and getting ushered into the cubicle.  A few questions, a quick jab, and we were on our way.  We appreciate this free service, but feel the process could have been handled better for the clients.  If two staff members were on duty, one could have been taking details, and perhaps handing out numbers, while the other was delivering the vaccinations.  With the queue made of of elderly people, standing for that length of time was very difficult.

I'm pleased we are recovered now, and can get back to our weekly routines.  We have a very busy week full of appointments, a lunch out, and an exciting day trip riding the rails in Sunday.  It would have been such a shame  to have missed that.

Final Days in Napier

 The Easter weather in Napier was a mixed bag, reasonably fine but with cold winds, making sitting outside a rather chilly experience.  Luckily it had warmed up on Sunday morning and we took ourselves off to the Hastings Market.  Geoff and Eileen had been experiencing battery troubles so decided to head home a day early.  We waved them goodbye with a few Easter Eggs from the Easter Bunny.

What a crowd there was, families with kids, people with dogs and plenty of golden oldies like us.  My aim was to purchase some fresh seasons apples, found them easily enough.  Then we did some cheese tasting, and three lots of cheese jumped into our bag.  A couple of nice fresh bread rolls for our lunch, and some beef from the meat stall, and that was our lot.  We came away feeling quite pleased with our purchases.

After lunch back at the van we took a trip with Owen and Helen out to Esk Valley to see how the Hawkes Bay Caravan and Camping Club was faring after the disastrous Esk Valley floods.

As we had been told, the club had lost their small apple orchard in front of the camp.  The club rooms had been gutted and the club members were waiting to be told what could be done.  Obviously, there had been a lot of work done clearing silt and debris from the grounds, but now everything is at a standstill.  Power and sewerage will need to be reconnected.  So sad to see.

HB Clubrooms will need a lot of work

To cheer ourselves up we stopped for a fruit ice-cream on the way home.  And I just needed to purchase a pumpkin, it will be soup time before I know it.

Helen, Owen and Robin enjoying their ice-creams in the sun shine

We enjoyed  4zees  back in camp with some Easter Eggs the Easter Bunny had dropped off for us to enjoy.

 Oh yummy, Easter Eggs

John and Flo departed the next morning, so then we were down to two vans.    Our anticipated  family lunch didn't go ahead as my niece was not well, so we took ourselves off to check out the delights of Napier.  The Six Sisters row of houses were worth a photo shoot.  Apparently they were built by an architect who wanted a two storey house for each of his daughters.  They are among the few survivors of the massive 1931 Napier earthquake.  Some of the  houses are now owned by commercial businesses, with a few  reverting back into family homes.

The Six Sisters

We then drove around the port to check out Perfume Point freedom camping area.  There was plenty to see, ships and tugs off the coast, families playing on the beach, even a couple of brave people taking a dip.

Whose is this we spotted?  It was Doug and Desma, our friends from the ICA group, who had also arrived for a breath of salty sea air.  We joined them at the picnic table and had a nice long chat.  We couldn't make it to the previous ICA rally so it was great to catch up with them again.

Desma and Doug from ICA group

Back in camp again I started to feel unwell so decided to drive back home in one day, instead of stopping somewhere overnight as we had planned.  Up and over the Saddle Road we went, dropping down into Manawatu, and we were nearly home.  Thank goodness, I was feeling quite peaky.

Wind turbines on top of Saddle Road

My Covid test came back positive - oh dear.  After several years of feeling smug because I had never contacted Covid, my time has arrived.  Guess I wont be going anywhere for the next week or so.

THings to Do, Places to see

 The Archer's and  Benton's went out and about sight seeing on Easter Saturday, starting at Silky Oak Chocolate Cafe for lunch, always a favourite of ours.

Lunch was very tasty, a nice big bowl of Fish Chowder for me, Robin and Owen had a BLT each, and Helen enjoyed avocado on toast.

Fish Chowder for me

An added bonus was catching up with my daughter's friend Heather, who was bussing a group of people from a cruise ship to see some of Napier's attractions.

From here we drove to the Hawkes Bay Golf Club to show our friends the caravan power sites available at this facility.  Good to know about in the cooler winter weather coming and the sites are quite reasonably priced too.

Our next visit was the  Arataki Visitors Centre, a place which neither Owen and Helen had visited before.  We were after some comb honey, and there was honey tasting to do, glass fronted hives to check and and see if we could spot the Queen Bee.  Plus plenty of honey to buy and a great selection of gift ware.  

Arataki Visitors Centre

Another "new to them place" was  Birdwoods.  We had told them about the cutest little lolly shop around.  Oh no, they said, we are not buying any lollies! And guess who walked out the door with a bag full, firmly clutched in his hands?

They couldn't resist the lolly shop

We were in need of a coffee after all this excitement, so went into the rather posh Birdwoods cafe.  We were escorted to our table, and a friendly young waitress came and took our order.  We noticed a group of ladies partaking in High Tea with the gorgeous tiered tray full of delectable morsels.  But when we inquired the cost per person, we gulped and decided no, it would have to be a really special occasion to warrant that price.

Jenny, Robin, Owen and Helen

We had a lovely day exploring, and showing Helen and Owen a couple of our favourite Napier places.  It was going to be a  busy weekend, with even more sightseeing planned for tomorrow.