It was a lovely day out with our Super Leisure Group friends. A real "Blue Sky" day, lovely warm Spring weather, what could be better. We drove down to Lower Hutt, my old home town where I was born, did my schooling, grew up, and lived for quite some years. It always feels like coming home to me when we travel to the Hutt Valley.
Five of us met at the Bluebird Eatery, the cafe at the Dowse Art Gallery. We had a nice lunch, but commiserated about paying for parking. (Most of the parking is free where we live, except for the main street, and I always park behind the library and walk through the mall to get to the shops.) Some dishes on the menu were a little different, I chose roast mushrooms on toasted focaccia, very tasty indeed, and Robin had delicious fish and chips.
My mushrooms are under this salad
Sadly the photo of our lunch group turned out rather dark, and my computer will not let me alter it. Never mind, here we all are, having a fine old time together. The young woman manager of the cafe used to board with Trish some years ago when she came to New Zealand as an overseas student. So she was very attentive to Trish and our group.
Helen, Trish, Jenny, Robin and Calvin
After lunch we visited the adjacent Dowse Art Museum.
The jewel in the crown at the museum is the pataka whakairo (carved storehouse), known as one of the Hutt Valley's greatest treasures. Commissioned by Wiremu Tako Ngatata and built in 1856 under the guidance of carver Te Heuheu Tukino, it is one of several buildings created in support of the Maori King movement, and the only one that survives intact. The storehouse, known as Nuku Tewhatewha has had several homes in the care of a pakeha family, first in in Lower Hutt, then Thorndon (Wellington) before being carried over the Remutaka Range to Masterton in 1912. The passing years and the weather were taking its toll on the building, and it was returned into the care of the Dowse in 1982.
We then went back to Trish's home for a chat, followed by afternoon tea. She had reminded us at lunch not to have any desserts as she had been baking for our arrival in the afternoon. And goodness me, were we spoilt, she had made one of her famous lemon meringue pies!
So yummy
Our mutual friend Pauline popped in for afternoon tea too, so it was great to catch up with her again.
Pauline, Jenny and Robin
Pauline and her late husband Geoff joined us on our epic 3 month South Island trip with two other couples way back in 2012. The four of us had done lots of research for this trip, and had a long list of places to go and things to see, to make the most of our journey. Here we all are at Hakatere Conservation Park at the foot of Mount Sommers. The DOC hut was just the place for us to sit and eat our picnic lunch after a trip to Staverley to try some of their famous sausage rolls I had read about.
Geoff C, Pauline, Eileen, Geoff T, Robin, Jenny, Derek and Dot
On our 2012 South Island trip
Many thanks to Trish for organising such a lovely day out, we had a great time indeed.
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