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?

Lunch at Paekakariki

 We met up with our SLG friends during the week.  It was Robin's turn to arrange an outing for March, and he decided to meet for lunch at the Paekakariki Hotel.  The meaning of Paekakariki is "pae" for perching and "kakariki" is a native parrot.  The local cafe just across the road from the pub is called "The Perching Parrot".  

Paekakariki Hotel

Calvin and Helen joined us in Finn's Restaurant for lunch, with Trish unable to make it.  As we sat at the table by the window, we remarked at the railway barrier arms coming down across the road, stopping traffic as a train went by.  This happened time and time again while we were enjoying our meal, passenger trains arriving and departing regularly, and the occasional freight trains too.  This is a very busy rail line indeed.  

We took some time choosing our meals - I was after soup as it was a chilly day, but no soup on the menu just yet, I was told.  Eventually, we placed our orders, and the food arrived.  I tried corn fritters for a change, and Robin enjoyed his sweet and sour pork on rice.  Having a nice meal for lunch means I don't have to cook another meal for our dinner that night.

Corn fritters for lunch

There was  plenty to chat about as usual, including our friend Trish who was about to embark on an overseas adventure, how exciting for her.  We certainly wished her well, and safe travels.  With our SLG numbers so much lower these days, the time for the draw had come around again, and we picked a piece of paper showing who selected which month for the next few months.

Calvin, Helen, Robin and Jenny

THere was an interesting print of an old painting (painted in 1868) on the wall by our table, which I investigated, showing the local Maori people and their waka (boats) on the beach, with Mana Island in the background.

It was time to say our goodbyes and we headed home, stopping off at a couple of places with things to cross off on our list.  And no trip along the coast is complete without a stop to admire Kapiti Island, is it.  This really is my favourite island, I have to say.

Kapiti Island, along the coast road

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.

Away We Go Again

Home from our Anniversary Trip a week and a half, and off we go again.  Where to this time?  We are heading off to join the ICA people for the  Christmas Rally in Te Aroha and then Matamata, taking two days to travel up there.  So once again, the caravan was packed and we were raring to go.  It was fine when we departed, but then the weather got steadily worse.  Such is our temperamental Spring weather here in New Zealand.

The van is almost packed

The blue skies soon disappeared to make way for grey clouds.  Our first stop was Taihape by the railway station, lots of room there for our car and caravan, plus a handy coffee cart.  A bus full of tourists were making the most of the public toilets, then were soon on their way.  We lunched in the van, with something I had prepared earlier, plus a latte from the coffee cart.

Lunch stop at Taihape

Then the heavy rain came, and didn’t stop, following us as we headed north.  Our original plan was to spend the night at Taupo NZMCA Park, but as the parking is all on grass there we decided against it.  So we stopped at Turangi, a much better idea to be parked up on hard standing in such wet weather.  This large park was fairly empty, plenty of spaces here, but as the hours rolled by, more vans rolled in, happy to be off the roads in such wet weather, just like us, I imagine.

At Turangi NZMCA Park

There was a tap  on the door, and a lady asked us if we would be interested in a trout fillet.  My goodness, of course we would, and she didn't want any payment for it either.  They had obviously had a good day out fishing as we saw her take fish to several other vans as well.  It’s  a long time since we had eaten trout, and I carefully wrapped it up and popped it in the freezer to enjoy another night.

Freshly caught trout

Our plans for dinner was to go to a local take-away shop for a roast meal.  Last time we were in Turangi, Robin purchased fish and chips, and discovered that the roasts are so popular with the locals that they sell out really early.  “Call in by 5.00pm” he was advised,  so we did.  The roast pork meals were delicious, plenty of roast veggies, and very generous servings of roast pork and crackle.  We can certainly recommend them, and the fish and chips were very nice too when we enjoyed them last time we were staying here.

Delicious food here

It kept raining off and on all night, and still hadn’t stopped in the morning when we were heading off again.  We could just make out Motuaiko Island in the middle of Lake Taupo through the rain and the mist.  The name Motuaiko is from the Maori language, with “motu” meaning island, and “taiko” being the name of the black petrel.

Motuaiko Island

There were very long delays at the Arimuri road works, we waited, and waited, and waited some more.  Finally we got the green light to go and came across another long line of motorists waiting to drive south.  This happed several times along this stretch of road works.  As it was a Sunday, none of the heavy machinery was working, just a few workers monitoring the traffic lights on the side of the road.

We are finally moving, and the other line is stopped in place

We are staying the night at Ponderosa Pop, (park over property) at Matangi, near Cambridge.  This is our first time here, and the helpful host guided us through the gate and around a corner to get us on site.  There are several long time stayers here, he told us, so it’s lucky he has a couple of large areas to park everyone.

Ponderosa Pop

We are moving on in the morning for the start of the ICA Rally at Te Aroha, so that will be interesting. It will be great to catch up with everyone again.  The ICA group only holds two or three rallies each year.

SLG Lunch, and checking out a Camp Site

Mid week we drove down to meet up with our Super Leisure Group friends for lunch.  Although the weather was a little damp when we left home, it cleared up as we drove further south.  Ground Up Café in Pauatahanui was our lunch stop, and the gas brazier certainly kept us nice and cozy while we ate and chatted away.  What to eat?  Robin and I both chose French Toast served with banana, berries, maple syrup and whipped cream.  It was a while since I last had something like this, and it was delicious!

Mmmm, so nice

I got my camera out and we took a snap of the men and then Robin took one of us ladies.  The waiter saw us fiddling around with the camera and offered to take one of the whole group, that was nice of him.  The café had been so busy with customers I didn’t really want to disturb him.

Here we all are, Helen, Calvin, Robin, Ashley, Jenny and Trish

After our meal and coffee, it was time to say our goodbyes and all head off to our respective homes.  We had a job to do first, to check out a prospective camp site for the caravan club.  Battle Hill Forest Park was a 6km drive from Pauatahanui on the Paekakariki Hill Road.  We found the camping area, and although it was a little boggy at this time of year, I’m sure it will be great during the summer months.  Certainly could be well worth a visit in the future.

Battle Hill Forest Park

We took the more scenic coastal road back home, stopping along the way at a rest area to admire Kapiti Island, which was a little hazy that afternoon.

Kapiti Island in the distance

There was an information board telling of the building of this coastal road, Centennial Highway.  Opened in November 1939, the new highway was to replace the Paekakariki Hill Road as the main route between Wellington and Paekakariki. The Road largely followed the route of a military road built on the line of a Māori track in the 1840s and was not suitable for "modern" motorized traffic.  It offered many significant challenges for engineers and builders alike, constructed on a wide variety of land forms – sand dunes through Paremata, swamp land through Plimmerton, carved-out hillsides at Pukerua Bay and required extensive sea-walling along the coastal strip between Pukerua Bay and Paekakariki.  Now overshadowed by the new Transmission Gully Highway, Centennial Highway offers a quieter scenic route with lovely coastal views,  in my view, still a road worth traveling if you are not in too much of a hurry.

Telling the story of Centennial Highway

Foxton Rally

With a bare three hours sleep from our late night ferry trip, it was time to get up and going.  We crept into Plimmerton NZMCA Park at the ungodly hour of 4.00am, awake at 7.00am, time for breakfast and then hook up and await our turn at the onsite dump station. Driving up the coast road we saw Kapiti Island, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen my favourite island off the Kapiti Coast.

Kapiti Island

We were so pleased we had arrived back in time to attend the funeral of our friend and Caravan Club member Selwyn, and support Cath on this sad day.  The funeral was held at Our Lady of Kapiti Church and Robin received permission to park our car and caravan on the lawn in front of the adjacent school, out of the way from the car parking area.  Val gave an eulogy on behalf of HCC and our club members joined the Kapiti E Bike Club to form a Guard of Honour.

Farewell to Selwyn

After the funeral we traveled up to Foxton NZMCA Park, one day early for our caravan club rally.  This was our first time driving along the new Peka Peka to Otaki Expressway.

Early bird at the Foxton Rally

The next morning, Friday, we decided to move along to another area right down the end of the camp, which looked big enough to accommodate the club members attending.  One by one they rolled in and we had a good chat with everyone. Rally Fridays often means fish and chip for tea, and Pat drove Geoff and Robin to get take-away meals.  It was another early night for us, trying to catch up on our beauty sleep after a disrupted couple of days.

We heard race horses thundering around the track, bright and early on Saturday morning.  Morning Tea rolled around.  Club members Russell and Maureen celebrate birthdays a mere few days apart, so brought along a home made fruit cake to share with us all.  Thanks so much, it was delicious.

Happy Birthday to Russell and Maureen

The weather really didn’t know what to do, and the rain came and went during the day, not really pouring down, but enough to make it’s presence felt.  Luckily the grounds didn’t end up with puddles everywhere, the rain soaked away quite easily.  On Saturday night we were put into three teams, visited our host van, and battled with Murray’s quiz.  I always say a quiz is easy of you know the answers, and we did wonder where Murray had dredged these questions from.  Never mind, we did our best. 

Sadly, our best wasn’t good enough, as we found out the following day at morning tea when the answers were given.    The other two teams came first equal, meaning our team came last. But we all got a chocolate or two from Murray and Sue, the rally family for the weekend.

Sunday Morning Tea

After being on our South Island Odyssey for the last ten weeks or so, it was great to meet up with our caravan club buddies again.  There was plenty of catching up to do.

Let the Journey Begin

Packing up from the caravan club Christmas Rally was the start of of our South Island adventure.  We called into home to drop off a few extra items we took away for the rally, and collected the Christmas ham, and a bag of gifts from the family – not to be opened till Christmas Day, were the strict instructions.  And I better not forget the big bag of books to swap as we travel around.  Travelling south we drove up the hill at Pukerua Bay to come to a stand still.  This is the site of a huge slip which had this road closed earlier for quite some time, and it looks like the work is still ongoing.

That’s a big clean-up job

It wasn’t too long till we arrived at the NZMCA Park at Plimmerton, our stop for the next two nights.  This is nice and handy for the Inter Island Ferry.  There were plenty of spaces available when we arrived in the early afternoon, and sure enough, a steady stream of rigs arrived during the afternoon.

Staying at Plimmerton

This is a great park, plenty of room here with water available, a dump station, and rubbish bins, all very necessary when travelling around.  Inside the members room is a nice big bookcase, for those who like to swap books.  That’s where my big bag of books ended up, and I found several more to take on my travels.  I really can’t cope with not having a handy book or two to get immersed in during the evenings.

Swap-a Book fun

Today was a spare day so we had time for a little drive around Plimmerton.  Plimmerton has its modern origins as a late 19th century seaside resort. It is named after John Plimmer, an English settler and entrepreneur who, through the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, helped to fund and direct construction of the railway line. Regular services began from 10 October 1885. With the railway's arrival, Plimmerton became accessible to holidaymakers, and evolved into a seaside resort.  Sections began to be sold in 1888 and by the late 1890s Plimmerton had become a popular holiday destination with 30 summer cottages, two private hotels and one general store.  The estimated population today is 2,180.

Plimmerton featured in my past too and I was delighted to take a photo of this large building in Steyne Street.  Way back in 1964 in a former life I lived here as a young bride with my new husband for several months, in one of the upstairs flats.  After all this time I wasn’t sure if the building would still be standing, and wondered if it may well have been demolished and something new built on the site.

A blast from the past

Plimmerton boasts a small beach,and a rocky fore shore.  Many of the sea front houses have been replaced by those of a much more modern design, although some of the older homes are still dotted about.

Plimmerton Coast

Just off the coast is Mana Island.  We have visited this island a couple of times in the past, and can remember being part of the Forest and Bird group planting young trees under instruction.  The steep-sided and flat-topped Mana Island Scientific Reserve is a distinctive feature of Wellington’s west coast. The 217 ha island lies only 2.5 km from the mainland at its closest point. Mana Island’s name is an abbreviation of Te Mana o Kupe ki Aotearoa. This acknowledges the achievements of Kupe, the legendary 12th century Polynesian navigator.  Mana Island’s potential for threatened species conservation was greatly enhanced in 1990 when mice were eradicated – they had been present in plague numbers. Fortunately, rats and other mammalian predators never established themselves here.

Mana Island

There will be no sleeping in for us  tomorrow morning, we will have to be up and away to drive into Wellington to the Ferry Terminal.  South Island, here we come!