Menz Shed in the News

Robin is a keen member of the local Menz Shed and they have been in the local newspaper this week.  They have been working through the year to make wooden toys for children at Christmas, some families are finding it a struggle at this time of the year.  The members have just handed over 150 wooden toys to the charity which distributes them.  No privacy is breached when the toys are passed on by the charity, all that is needed is the child’s age and gender so the present provided is appropriate.

Toys made for children who may miss out at Christmas

The range of wooden toys made include trucks, tractors, pull along animals, aeroplanes, dolls clotheslines with miniature pegs, and dolls cots.  A member’s wife also makes mattresses, blankets and sleeping bags to go with the cots.

Menz Shed in the newspaper

Ready to Help

The local Menz Shed men were on hand today to help clear some donated items from the home and shed  next door.    Sadly, our neighbour has moved into a rest home so it was time for the family to clear the house and shed. Tools, lengths of timbers, a couple of small pieces of wooden furniture all got loaded up and taken back to the Menz Shed, where no doubt they will be put to good use and/or recycled.  

Many hands make light work

It’s interesting to note that our village has six very keen Menz Shedders living  here, they all love attending, making things  and enjoy the companionship of fellow members.

ICA Christmas Rally at Pauanui

After arriving a couple of days early with Bill and Val, and enjoying the lovely weather, on Monday the rest of the ICA members rolled in.  Alan and Roger had the parking well organised, directing the motor homes into spaces, with the overflow parked up on the adjacent car park.  So the numbers went from our two vans to a full complement of 27 vans in no time at all.

It’s serious work being the parking monitors

Pauanui  Sports and Recreation Club

Those staying in the car park decided to park right up to the fence next to the airstrip so they had a good view of any arrivals and takeoffs.

Parked by the air strip

Several groups got together to organise teams for the Mini Putt, although these ladies did tell me they weren't too sure what they were doing.  All good fun though.

Concentrating on their golf swings

The adjacent Menz Shed was open, so Robin popped his head in to say hello – one Menz Shedder to another.  They all seemed very busy working away on their projects.

Menz Shedders at work

And just what was happening here?  This very interested group were checking out the configuration of our gas cylinders, it seems.  Not that I would know, I was inside the van keeping well out of the way.

Mmm, what’s all this about?

The expected rain arrived on Tuesday so that put paid to any more Mini Putt.  In fact, it rained and rained so much there was a severe weather warning for the Coromandel area.  Luckily we took advantage of the club bar for Happy Hour, rain or no rain.  The highlight of the rally was our Christmas Dinner, catered at the club.  Our evening started off with a Sing-Along, with Bob and Stan providing the music, the song books and leading the singing.  It was amazing just how many of those songs we knew, tucked away in the recesses of our minds, as they were.

Making beautiful music together

As we entered the dining room we were handed a glass of bubbly, such a lovely gesture, sat down at one of the beautifully decorated tables (thanks Dell, the tables  all looked delightful) and enjoyed a lovely roast meal together.  Then it was time for our celebration meal, and what a feast it was.  Roast beef, gorgeous ham on the bone, and a great selection of vegetables.  The dessert was delivered to the tables on a platter, mini pavs, Christmas Pudding and ice-cream.  We certainly didn't go hungry.

Robin, Jenny, Bev, Bill, Scotty and Val

After the meal Santa and the Christmas Elf came calling, bringing bags of gifts with them.  Wonder if we had been naughty or nice?

Christmas Elf (Alan) and Santa (Doug)

Guess the pair of us had been very well behaved this year as our names were called up to go and sit on Santa’s knee.  Poor Santa, we didn’t really want to cause him an injury, so just gave him a cuddle instead.

Thank you Santa

Everyone was called up to get a gift, so we all must have been very well behaved this year.  Then the Christmas Cake was cut and handed around.  It was so delicious, thanks to Janice who baked and decorated the cake.

Our beautiful Christmas Cake

The rally concluded on Thursday morning, with some getting on their way extra early, while the remainder of us enjoyed morning tea out in the hot sunshine.  Looks like the rain has finally left us.   Some then moved on, we were heading north, and a few other vans decided to stay an extra night.  It was a great ICA Rally, so nice to catch up with everyone again, and many thanks to Roger and Janice, Dell and Alan for organising this event for the club.

I had a mishap in the caravan when we first arrived, tripping and falling and giving my jaw a great whack.  So spent the rally sporting  a large bruise, which seemed to get darker each day.   I’m sure the club members were looking at the pair of us sideways, wondering what on earth had happened, but rest assured, Robin was completely innocent, I managed to do it to myself.  Not a pretty sight at all, but luckily nothing was broken.

Scratching Post Refurbishment

Our beautiful Birman Gemma has two scratching posts – a biggish one in the house and a smaller, lighter one in the caravan.  The caravan scratching post was badly in need of repair, as it had been scratched down to the bone, so to speak.  Or in this case, down to the cardboard cylinder.  It was looking rather sad and  sorry indeed.

Oh dear, there’s a hole

Robin decided to take it down to the Menz Shed and hopefully repair it.  The cylinder was unbolted from the base, and both pieces recovered with carpet.  Bang, bang with the nail gun, and it was soon completed.  Thank you Derek for saving us some carpet scraps, just what we needed.  Now it looks as good as new, and ready to go back into the caravan for our next trip away.

As good as new

This particular scratching post is rather light and could easily be pulled over by a cat focused on the job of sharpening her claws.  But Gemma has worked out how to make good use of it without tipping it over – what a clever cat!

Menz Shed to the Rescue

With a new drier purchased we needed it fitted on the wall above the washing machine.  With no spare floor room in the garage, and a top loader washing machine,  that was the only place for it to go.  Believe it or not, the store we bought it from could not help, saying they had no one who would do this job.  Luckily, Robin’s mates from the Menz Shed came to the rescue.

Robin, Brian and Phil

Brian was in charge of the operation and looked very professional in his tool belt.  Robin and Phil were there to help as required.  The fittings to hang the drier were screwed into place onto the back of the drier, and a sturdy piece of timber was fixed on the wall.  I didn’t hang around in the garage to watch it being lifted over head and fitted in place, it all seemed a bit stressful to me, and felt that the workmen didn’t need me looking on.  But by all accounts, it went up without a hitch.

Tub, washing machine, chest freezer in  row, with the drier on the wall

After 5 years managing without a drier, I decided I wanted one after all.  Not that we tend to use driers a lot here in New Zealand, most of us like to hang our laundry outside in the sun shine and fresh air.  But now it’s winter, there are sure to be cold wet days when a drier will be very handy.  Guess I'll have to read the instruction booklet.

Gemma wasn’t at all pleased with the loud voices, bangs and whirring noises coming from the garage, and hid herself away in her box on the cat tower.  Even that didn’t feel safe enough, and she soon took herself off to hide away in the wardrobe.

Gemma hiding away

The blokes told me when they arrived that they work very cheap.  They certainly did, not even stopping for a cuppa after the job was completed.  Another job beckoned, and they were on their way.  Many thanks to Brian and Phil for doing this job for us, most appreciated.

“The Beast” launches in Foxton

The Levin Menz Shed blokes were out in force, joining the crowd of about 1000 people gathered around the Manawatū Marine Boating Club in Foxton Beach on Thursday to watch  The Beast take to the water.  The monster boat was built for New Zealand jeweller, entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Michael Hill and is 39.5m long and 12m wide.  It was built by Profab Engineering in Palmerston North and can sleep up to 22 people. 

The previous day the boat was maneuvered on to the boat ramp and put on to airbags to wait for high tide. The boat launched about midday on Thursday to cheers from onlookers.

Profab owner Carl Ferguson said it took 22 months to build the boat prior to shipping it from Palmerston North, and it is one of the largest boats constructed in New Zealand.  After two years of working on the catamaran, he was relieved the boat was finally at sea.  The Beast will travel to Wellington for some finishing touches, and then the crew will take it to Auckland. 

We returned to the Boating Club today to catch a glimpse of The Beast without all the crowds of launch day.  And there she was, not a pretty boat by any means, with her name painted very discretely on the side.

The Week that Was

There’s no two ways about it, it was one occasion after another this week.  We met up with our Super Leisure Group friends on Tuesday for a Christmas Lunch.  On Wednesday the pair of us had a Christmas break-up at our respective club meetings.  Then it was double trouble on Friday, starting with a BBQ Lunch for the Cancer Society Volunteers.  While the sausages and meat patties were cooking on the BBQ, the volunteers were filling up the table with all sorts of other dishes.

Friday was a “big night out” with the Menz Shed members and spouses, and quite a number met at the local Cobb and Co Restaurant for dinner.  

After the meal it was announced that Stafford had been awarded “Shedder of the Year” by popular vote.  Well done, Stafford.  President Paul presented the plaque.

Stafford and Paul

Getting in the Christmas spirit – Dot and Derek, and us

Saturday was a rest day as far as social activities went, so we took advantage of a free day to join the hoards shopping for Christmas.  Phew – thank goodness that job is done.  Sunday was a rather special day when we caught up with family.  Daughter Nicky had arranged for us to meet up at the Strong Room Restaurant in Feilding for lunch.

 

The meals were very nice and it was great to catch up with them again.  The waitress kindly took a couple of snaps for me.

G-daughter Megan, Robert, Robin, Nicky and me

Feilding is a lovely little town with a handsome clock tower in the town centre and has been voted  'NZ's Most Beautiful Town' an astonishing 16 times. 

Friendly Feilding

Next week won’t be quite so busy, with only one social outing to contend with.  No doubt there will be last minute shopping to do for perishables, and some preparation and cooking to do for the Christmas menu.  Then we can settle down for a low key Christmas Day here at home before we tootle off in the caravan.

SLG Day out at Paekakariki

Wednesday was not a good day to be meeting up with our SLG friends.  But I was in charge of the day, plans had been made, and it was all just too hard to change to another day.  The weather in the South Island was atrocious – roads closed with ice and snow, the Inter Island Ferries were not running, and the polar blast was coming north, we were promised.  And just look how cold it was in our neck of the woods – the temperature dropped down to 4 degrees.  That’s really cold for us!

Brrr – it’s only 4 degrees outside

Six of us met for coffee at The Perching Parrot in Paekakariki - quite a small gathering of our friends this time, the bad weather and a bout of laryngitis depleting our numbers.  But we settled down for coffee and a chat, thankful that we had arrived when we did to claim a table, as the small café was full to overflowing in no time at all.

The showers had stopped so I decided to go ahead with my plan to view the new exhibit as part of the US Marines Memorial at Queen Elizabeth Park.  But the icy wind was blowing relentlessly, numbing our fingers and chapping our faces, so it was a quick visit indeed.

Reconstructed four man hut

This little hut doesn’t look much at all, but was one of many hundreds dotted around the park in three camps during WW11 to accommodate 15,000 US Marines as they trained here before being sent off to do battle in the Pacific.  The huge building project took just seven weeks to build three military camps containing 2728 buildings, 1590 huts, construct all roading,  and erect 3401 tents.  After the war the buildings were dismantled, reused, or just disappeared.  This particular hut spent time as a beach house and was recently gifted to the US Marines Trust.  Using original plans, it was carefully deconstructed and rebuilt by the Waikanae MenzShed to live again as a four man hut. 

Peeping through the window into the hut

With my curiosity satisfied, and with us all absolutely freezing as the vicious wind slapped our faces (ugh, it was horrible) we quickly hopped back into the cars and drove to Fisherman’s Table for lunch.  In the car park I spotted a plaque – just had to go and check that out.  We have dined here many times but I’d never noticed it before.  

The plaque commemorated the Centennial Highway (Ngauranga Gorge to the southern-most end of Paekakariki ) and was officially opened on 4 November 1939. While many of the workers on the road came from the local area, public works camps were also established. The workers at these camps were responsible for the construction of the road alongside the Taupo Swamp, through Pukerua Bay and along the coast to Paekakariki. A one mile long coastal seawall was constructed as part of this project. The workers faced two major challenges; digging down to 20 feet to find solid ground next to the Taupo Swamp and working night and day on the coast to construct the seawall then back filling it to create a platform for the road. This challenging work took three years to complete.

Plaque telling the history of the Centennial Highway

Walking  briskly up the steps to get away from the weather, we presented ourselves a little early for our lunch booking.  No problem at all – with a couple of large groups booked in, I think the staff were pleased to get our group settled before the hordes arrived.

Fisherman's Table Restaurant, Paekakariki

We were soon settled at out table, perused the menu, and ordered our meals.  I took the chance to wander over to the windows to snap a photo or two of the coastline.  Oh look, Kapiti Island is just visible trough the clouds.

Views from the restaurant windows

The waiting staff were so busy with the large groups that I didn’t have the heart to ask them to take a photo of our table.  So instead, we did it ourselves.  We look all nice and warm in our cozy woolen garments.

 

Helen, Calvin and Ashley, Yvonne, Jenny and Robin

Our SLG friends always have plenty to talk about and we had a nice long leisurely lunch before we headed out in the cold again.  It was great to catch up with everyone again, and we hope our absent friends are soon feeling much better.  We drove back to Levin and our friends headed back to the Hutt Valley, so this was quite a convenient meeting point.

Waiouru Museum Trip, 3 July 2017

Sixteen members of the Levin Menz Shed plus one visitor did a trip to the Waiouru Army Museum on Monday 3 July, but this was a trip with a difference.  We were look at all the big items that were not displayed in the main public museum as there was no room for them.

The Levin Menz Shed Member Lounging all over a Valentine Tank.

Rather than write a lot of words about what we saw I will just say it with pictures:

Folding paratrooper motorbikes, not very sucessful. The one at the back has a bigger seat, 

it was adapted for use by midwives.

Iconic Willys Jeep

WWII Indian Scout Motorbike

One of only a small number left of an exact miniature Bailey Bridge. Used to teach how to 

assemble. Click on link to find more information on Bailey Bridges.

A Willys Jeep as setup for the SAS, and a Series 1 Land Rover also used by the SAS but for use in Borneo and Malaysia. The spare tyre was mounted on the front to aid with bashing through things.

A selection of big trucks

A room full of big guns all in chronological order.

And to finish off the Royal Parade Land Rover and the Valentine Tank unadorned.

Thank you to Stafford and Adam for arranging an excellent day out at a truly amazing facility. We may have to go back at some stage to see any changes and to see the bit missed.

If there was anything that I was in awe of was the sheer amount of equipment being preserved and of how much of it still is in running order!