Off to Carterton

 It seems that we have only been home for 5 minutes or so, and then it's time to head off again.  It was a wet and drizzly Friday morning when we put the last few things in the caravan, hooked up, and got on our way.

It was a wet Friday morning

We were heading to Carterton, a two hour drive, so off we went, up and over the Pahiatua Track which took us to the Wairarapa.  Henley Park in Masterton is always a good spot to stop for lunch, with plenty of parking available.  This is also a Freedom Camping area and there were about half a dozen caravans and campervans staying there.  We stopped for about an hour, enjoyed a leisurely lunch, and then I took a stroll down to the lake edge.  The ducks and geese saw me and thought I was coming to feed them, no such luck, ducks and geese, bread is bad for you.

Lunch stop at Henley Lake

From here, it was only a short drive to Carterton Holiday Park.  We were joining the Wairarapa Caravan Club who were running a combined rally, with members from our club Heretaunga CC and Wainuiomata CC attending.  There were 17 vans in attendance.

We're in here somewhere

The traditional 4zees was held in the camp dining room, and it was great to catch up with everyone.  Friday night fish and chips are also tradition at a rally, and they were very tasty indeed, with nice crisp batter, just how I like it.  We returned to the hall at 7.00pm for "Back in the Day", this one was all about old sayings.  Such as "sweet as a ?"  I never knew the term was sweet as a nut, here in Kiwiland this has evolved  to "Sweet As"  which I always found wondering sweet as what?  Mr Google tells me it means "no worries, or that's cool".  The beginnings of all sorts of old sayings were offered to the audience, some we knew, others not.  Such as Poets Day, which means "push off early, tomorrow is Saturday", Robin remembered that one.  It was certainly interesting hearing these long forgotten sayings again.

An outing had been arranged on Saturday morning to visit a local attraction, featuring old cars and model trains.  The property was a beautiful old villa, with lovely gardens.

Stoneway property

The man of the house has several interests, with car restoration top of the list.  He talked about finding old cars, and working around the difficulties of obtaining parts.

This one might be past saving perhaps

The current work in progress

Not many enthusiasts could lay claim to a separate building for model train layouts,  but he had one.  His interest in layouts was bush railways, milling and moving the native timber in years gone by.  As well as designing the several large layouts, he also 3D models items to use.  His saying was, "if I can draw it, I can model it".  Amazing stuff indeed.

Just some of the layouts

We all enjoyed dinner at the Carterton Club on Saturday night, two large tables full of us all.  There was a large group being served ahead of us, we had been warned so we just sat and chatted till it was our turn to order.  The meals were very nice, Robin ordered Bangers and Mash and I had Corn Fritters.

Don, Robin and Jenny and Rae waiting for our meals

There was a whole lot of happy campers

Sunday morning tea was the conclusion of the Combined Rally.  We provided savouries to commemorate Robin's recent birthday.  Thanks were made to the Wairarapa Caravan Club for a great rally and we all packed up and went our separate ways.

Happy Birthday Robin

Not us though, we are not going home yet.  We are both running a Safari Trip for a group of Heretaunga CC members, and our starting point was the Masterton NZMCA camp, starting on Sunday.  Here's hoping for good Wairarapa weather for the coming week.

Weekend Rally at Carterton

We had a fine but rather chilly weekend away.  Probably very lucky during winter, no rain, and most importantly, no wind.  Pulling out of our village we could see the Tararua Ranges looking lovely with their snow capped tops.

A fuzzy photo, but you can get the idea

We drove up and over the Pahiatua Track, when the wind turbines were turning rather lazily with just a little wind at the top to get them moving.

We reached the top

Driving on through Wairarapa we passed by the Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre which show cases some of our glorious native birds.  Then through Masterton, stopping at the Truck Stop to top up with fuel, and most importantly, refill the tank of our diesel heater.  A must in this cold wintry weather.

Topping up the diesel

The trip from Masterton to our destination at Carterton was extremely slow with roadworks taking place, and road cones galore.  It was stop-go very slowly for quite a while, until at last we were on our way at a reasonable speed.  Our weekend was spent at Carterton Holiday Park with our caravan club buddies.

Because of the wet conditions the caretakers wanted us all park on hard standing and not on the grass sites, so our vans were on different sides of the camp.  This is one of our favourite camps, nice sites, spotless facilities and a large dining room to gather in, water taps on every site together with on site drains to take our grey water, and a dump station.  What more could we want?

We were on this side

And the others across the way

Friday night was Fish and Chip night and Murray and Sue came to dine with us and we enjoyed our fish and chips together.  Very tasty they were too, with plenty of left over chips to use for a future chip butty in a day or so.  There was an informal get together in the evening, with plenty of catch ups and chatter going on.

We were presented with a huge wrapped box by Owen and Helen and they left us to open it at our leisure.  What a job that was, inside the first carton was another, and another, and many more, all getting smaller.  We could tell they really enjoyed all this wrapping and sellotape sticking to go to so much trouble.  Finally we came to the very last teeny tiny box, and what's this inside?  New name badges – thanks so much Owen and Helen.

So many boxes to unwrap and open

Saturday was a free day to do as we pleased, some went out and about while others stayed in camp.  Robin spent the afternoon glued to the TV with other rugby enthusiast watching the second Bledisloe Test.  The All Blacks beat the Wallabies (Australia) but  there was a bit of nail biting going on for a while, I believe. During the breaks he had to come outside to check the Weber BBQ.  He was cooking up a leg of lamb as our contribution to the Pot Luck meal that evening.

Mmm, it smelled delicious

It’s been quite some time since we have had a Pot Luck meal at a rally, and what a feast it was.  A large pot of tasty soup and home made bread to start.  For the mains we had our lamb, chicken curry, cold chicken, home made saveloys, a crock pot full to the brim with a casserole, and a large dish of tasty mince and veggies topped with crispy sliced potatoes.  There was even a salad, cooked peas and potatoes too.  Plenty for everyone.

Owen and Don getting their dinner

But wait – there’s more.  There was a lovely selection of desserts too.  Trifles, meringues, a dish of sliced peaches, ice-cream, and Flo had baked a rhubarb pie, yummy.  We were full to bursting after that little lot!  Some stayed on for card games after dinner, but we decided on an early night.

After Sunday morning tea, more chat, and information given about the next upcoming rally, we packed up and headed for home.  Two vans were staying on for an extra day, so no need for them to rush around.  Instead of turning home the way we had come, we decided to complete the circle and travel the length of the Wairarapa, over the Rimutaka Hill, then up Transmission Gully.  We came across a group of road workers as we drove by, looks like they are working on a new round-about.  

We followed Stuart and Helen’s caravan onto the the Transmission Gully motorway, keeping them in sight for quite some time until they peeled off onto their exit, while we continued on our way home.  Traveling to the Wairarapa is a bit of a mission from Levin, it takes about two hours whether we drive north of south.  As the crow flies the Wairarapa towns are just over the Tararua Ranges – we really need a tunnel through, but that’s not likely to happen.

Stuart and Helen in front of us

We had a great time at the rally, fine but cold weather, great company, and a wonderful shared meal together.  Many thanks to Flo and John for organizing the weekend for us.

Wet Weekend Rally at Carterton

Arriving a day early on Thursday at the caravan club rally at Carterton eased us nicely into the weekend.  Just a pity about the weather, low temperatures, rain and wind.  Our caravan buddies arrived on Friday and the rain hardly let up, with reasonably strong winds to make their journeys a little more unpleasant.  We were so pleased we traveled the previous day.  Nine caravans arrived for the weekend, including three prospective new members.

Yes, it’s still raining outside

We had the use of the large dining room at the camp, which we made good use of, meeting for morning tea, 4zees, and in the evenings.  Even with the heaters on,  most of us kept our jackets on for a little extra warmth.

All rugged up in the dining room

It was a fairly laid back rally, with time to do our own thing, go visiting, or whatever else we wanted to do.  A couple of quizzes tested our brain cells and the highlight of the weekend for the rugby supporters was the Super Rugby 2019 Final between the Crusaders (NZ) and Jaguares (Argentina).  The camp manager came and set up the TV for Sky Sports so all the rugby enthusiasts were happy.  And even more happy when New Zealand won 19-3.

After all that bad weather we could have predicted that Sunday would dawn clear and sunny – how often does this happen when it’s time to go back home?  The camp had that “freshly washed” look about it in the winter sunshine.

Hooking up the van we left for home after morning tea on Sunday, fare welling our caravan club buddies, and headed on our way.  What’s that?  Looks like a little snow on the Wairarapa side of the Taraurua Ranges.

Retracing our journey, we headed back through Eketahuna, which calls itself Kiwi Country.  Probably because this little town is not too far from Pukaha National Wildlife Centre, which has bred some rare white kiwis.

After a two hour journey we arrive home, just as more rain sets in, so we quickly unpacked in the rain.  Can’t complain, it is winter after all.

Away to Carterton

After heavy rain most of Wednesday night, Thursday dawned a little damp, but at least the rain had stopped so we could pack the caravan.  We were off to Carterton for a caravan club weekend, and decided to go a day early, just because we could.  With the van finally packed, Robin hooked up and we were on our way.

Almost finished

It was a matter of “find the cat” as she decided to hide herself in the wardrobe.  The noise of a band of workmen over the back fence trimming trees with with noisy saws was just too much for her.  With a bit of reassurance, she was gathered up and strapped into the back seat of the car for our trip away.

Gemma hiding in the wardrobe, away from all that horrible noise

Two and a half hours and 155kms later we arrived at our destination, Carterton Holiday Park.  We were the first to arrive from our club, so were encouraged to pick our own site.  We decided on site 27, a more generous sized site, and one where we had spent several Christmas/New Year holidays in the past.  With plenty of room, we used to bring our large gazebo on these holidays, for much needed shade over the summer season.

Bill and Val arrived soon after us, and we settled down to see who else might be coming a day early too.  No one, as it turned out, just us.  The others will roll in on Friday.

Early birds on site

There have been many improvements at this camp since our last visit.  The ablution block has had a makeover, and there is now a little hot tub for hire.

Hot tub in a cute timber cabin

It may well be wet and wintry, but the new managers have been really busy and the grounds are looking good.  The camp is blessed with many mature trees which are beautiful, even those which have lost their leaves.

Park like setting

I took a walk around the camp and came across these two in the paddock over the fence.  One ordinary sheep, and the other must be valued for it’s coloured fleece, I’m sure.  We don't usually see piebald sheep like this, I must say.

These sheep were watching me carefully

We spent a convivial 4zees together with Bill and Val, catching up with news, and putting the world to rights, as we do.  Wonder which of our caravan club members will be the first to arrive on Friday?

Rally at Carterton

You can’t say we weren’t warned!  The local campers told us that the overnight temperatures for Friday night would drop to minus 1 degrees – and it did!  Brr, it was certainly cold!  But a cold chilly night is generally followed by a nice sunny day.

There were 16 caravans in residence over the weekend for the Combined Rally at Carterton School, with Wairarapa being the host club.  Our orange club flag soon joined their green one, and they fluttered together in the breeze.

Camping at Carterton School

There was a strange cloud in the sky on Saturday night, so we just had to get a photo.  Long and thin, with a seemingly red line running  through the middle.  Wonder what that is all about?

Strange looking cloud in the sky

We all ate together in the hall on Saturday night, cooking and eating our own main courses.  This was followed by a shared dessert, with everyone bringing their contributions.  As always, there was a great selection on the table.

Plenty of choices here

After the tables were cleared and the dishes done, we played several games of “Card Bingo”,  with Harry doing a great  job as Caller.  Sadly, neither Robin or I had a win, so didn’t get rich with our gambling.  But never mind, it was quite a fun game with our “Eyes down and Looking”.

My cards for Card Bingo

Visitors called in on Sunday morning, well known to most of us.  It was Diane and Pete, who previously  ran the Carterton Holiday Park for 8 years or so.  They keep up with our adventures through our blog, they told us.

Pete, Robin with Gemma, and Diane

We packed up and headed for home about 11.30am on Sunday.  With two hours drive ahead of us, we wanted to get on our way.  On our return trip we traveled north, up and over the Pahiatua Track, passing by the Big Kiwi at Eketahuna.

Big Kiwi at Eketahuna

You know what it’s like when you get home from a weekend rally.  The caravan gets unpacked, the fridge cleaned and emptied, the bag of laundry taken inside, and the floors vacuumed.  Once all that was done, we sat down for a late lunch.  It had been a great weekend away, crisp sunny Autumn weather, and great company.

Over the Hill to Carterton

There is no shortcut to drive from our hometown of Levin to the Wairarapa.  We have two options – drive north and over the Pahiatua Track, or south, over the Rimutaka Hill, both reasonably long drives.   For our caravan club weekend away,  we chose the southern option, a trip of 150kms to our destination.  Driving through Pauatahanui we drove under the massive bridge, part of the Transmission Gully roadworks.  The Transmission Gully road is due to be completed in 2020.

Pauatahanui round-about

For a while we followed this car with it’s special number plate.  Such a well mannered car and driver, it seems, pardoning itself as it passes by!

Once through Upper Hutt, it was up and over the Rimutaka Hill.  There was a flurry of rain, and the temperature kept dropping lower and lower, reaching 6 degrees at the summit.  The temps slowly went up to 10 degrees as we arrived in Featherston, where we stopped to buy a hot pie for lunch.

It had been a while since we had been to Featherston and I noticed a new art installation.  The $600,000 Paul Dibble sculpture, designed to remember New Zealand's largest ever military camp, was dedicated late last year and is now on display in the town's centre.  Paul Dibble said the concept represents the soldiers' marching from the camp through Featherston and up and over the Rimutaka Ranges  through the Hutt Valley and into Wellington.  Here they boarded the troop ships which took them off to war.  This is a wonderfully evocative sculpture, showing all those young men proudly marching off to answer the call, with so many of them not returning.

Paul Dibble sculpture in Featherston

With our weekend rally being held in a school, caravans were not to arrive till 3.30pm or so, to give the pupils and parents time to clear the grounds.  There was time to spare, so we met up with Bill and Val in a lay- by off the road for a chat and a cuppa, before heading off to Carterton School.  Once we were on site, vans started arriving thick and fast.  This weekend is a Combined Rally organised by Wairarapa Club, with attendees also from Heretaunga, Wellington and Wainuiomata clubs.  It should be a great weekend.

All ready for the weekend festivities