The Year that Was

What had we been doing during 2016?  Going away on club caravan rallies it seems, 12 of them to be exact.    We visited sites up and down SH1 from Raumati to Himitangi, and travelled over the hill to the Wairarapa several times too.  It was a big surprise when I won the (artificial) cow milking competition while camping at Lutz Farm, squeezing those rubber gloves with all the skill of a milk maid.  Not too bad for a townie!

Milk Maid duties

As well as the caravan club rallies, we joined in to the big NZMCA Easter rally held in Levin, nice and close to home for us.  These are always huge, well run, and have great entertainment in the evenings.  We also enjoyed three longer trips way during the year, a couple of weeks apiece, and got to stay at several “new to us” sites.

Easter Rally at Levin

What else?  Several Probus and 60s Up bus trips in the earlier part of the year.  Our Super Leisure Group kept us busy and we had fun meeting up with our friends, going on outings and of course the lunches which are an important part of these days out.  And looking back we discovered that we had  visited eight museums over the year, everything from dinosaurs in Palmerston North, and the Firth Tower Museum in Matamata.

 

Firth Tower

It’s been a great year for train trips too.   We boarded the Spiral Snow Steam Express to National Park in August, and had another steam train  trip, the River City Express to Wanganui in October.  But the ultimate of train travel would have to be our trip on the Ghan travelling right through the middle of Australia in September.  With great service and restaurant food, comfortable carriages, interesting off train excursions, it was certainly the experience of a lifetime.  And to keep in with the rail theme,  returning home after our Aussie Adventure we decided to travel home from Auckland on the Northern Explorer instead of flying the last stretch home.

Ready to board the Ghan train

Robin joined the Menz Shed and enjoys his time spent there. He has also been busy with the Cancer Society, driving patients to hospital for their treatment, and has recently applied to be a driver on the Health Shuttle.  And I’ve been busy with my various groups and sewing up a storm with my quilting projects.

There's been a bit of sadness too, this year, especially when we had to say goodbye to our beloved Birman cat Muffy.  But we let her go knowing that at 20 years of age she had enjoyed a long and happy life.  Muffy came away with us when we embarked on our 3 month South Island Odyssey caravan holiday in 2012 when she was a grand old lady at 16 years old, had many new experiences on that trip.  She is sadly missed.

  

Muffy relaxing  “down south” in Invercargill

Then I had a major health issue – many hospital trips were involved from February to the completion of treatment in August.  Luckily that is all behind us now, so we can happily keep travelling around our beautiful country.  We are looking forward to more safe and happy travels in 2017.

Fire Trucks, Easter Bunnies and Pancakes at Putorino

There seemed to be quite a serious water problem over the weekend at the National Rally at Putorino.  What was happening to the water supply?  The water was disappearing from the tank at an alarming rate and there was no way we were using it all – there must be a leak under the tank.  We heard a beep-beep-beep as a tanker truck from Kotemaori Rural Fire Brigade backed up to the water tanks to top them up, arriving several times over the weekend to help us out.  Other wise it would have been a very dry long weekend indeed.  The water tanks obviously need to be thoroughly checked and repairs urgently made.  The overnight rain had not made any contribution to the water tanks at all.

Fire Truck to the rescue

The engine on the back of the truck was working hard as it pumped out 4000 litres of water into the aging concrete water tank.

The business end of the fire truck

A pair of Easter Bunnies came calling, and they knocked on each van door with a basket of chocolate eggs.  Just look at those happy smiles as they spread a bit of Easter cheer.

Judith and Anne with Easter Eggs to share

After all that excitement, we joined the crowds who were lining up to get their complimentary pancake breakfast.  Four cooks were hard at work cooking pancakes, bacon and bananas, which was served with a swirl of Maple Syrup.  It smelt delicious, and we really enjoyed our Sunday pancake breakfast.

Cooking pancakes and bacon

Our resident Pastor, Eric Sweeting took the traditional National Rally Easter church service in the hall, which was very well attended.  Then the afternoon activities, also in the hall, flowed from one to another, from the sales tables and book swaps, (swapped a couple myself), followed by afternoon tea, then Happy Hour.  After our evening meal it was back to hall again for an assortment of card and board games, or in our case, just groups of happy campers sitting together, telling yarns, and enjoying each other’s company.  The evening ended on a high note when Robin’s name was called out as one of the raffle winners.  Lots of interesting items plus the handy little wooden table too.

Robin with our raffle prize

After intermittent drizzle from the previous day, we awoke to find the vans surrounded by fog.  The hills had disappeared from view, and the early morning had quite ethereal look.

Surrounded by early morning fog

The National Rally drew to a close, and the banners were collected from the stand and paraded out of the hall.  Thanks were made, farewells said, and we enjoyed a last cuppa together before everyone went their separate ways.   It had been a great National Rally, not huge as they were so many years ago when we first started club caravanning, but fun and friendly.  Some were travelling straight home, but not us.  We are having a tiki tour north for a couple of weeks before heading home, stopping at places we have never visited before, as well as some old favourite haunts. 

If you want to know more about Club Caravanning click here.

First Days of the National Rally at Putorino

Putorino is one of those tiny places you whizz by on the way to somewhere much bigger.  It is situated on SH2 approximately half way between Napier and Wairoa, a tiny speck of a place, with a pub, a Sports Centre and not much else.  The Sports Centre was to be our base over Easter, with 35 vans and 1 tent in residence all parked up in rows on the playing fields.  There was a large grassy area fenced off beside the vans in case the emergency helicopter has to land for the community.  The distressed calls of cows just separated from their calves bellowed out from the adjacent farmland, with the calves frantically calling back.  You don’t hear much of that in suburbia – all we get is traffic noise.

Waikare Sports Centre at Putorino with vans parked behind

We’re in here sommewhere

Club flags were flying and Derek and Robin went to add our Heretaunga flag alongside the others.  With that job done, it was almost time for the official opening.

Robin and Derek with the club flag

A colourful parade of club banners were piped into the hall, stood up in the stand and the Official Opening was underway.  CCNZ President Alan Dale and  Rex Stewart, President of the Eastern Region said a few words, followed by former Mayor of Wairoa Les Probert who officially opened the 23rd National Rally.  Club photos were then taken, Robin set up his tripod and rushed back to get in line.  Luckily he didn’t trip himself up in his hurry.  

The Heretaunga contingent

Robin was Chief Auctioneer at the Friday afternoon Dutch Auction, with help from Karen and Graham.  Most bids started quite low and people eagerly raised the prices as they bid on the mystery newspaper wrapped items.  The cut off point of $5 kept prices reasonable and within reach of most pockets.  

There’s another bid over there

By the time the last item was offered up, the bidders agreed to an open ended auction.  Excitement was high and the bids went up in leaps and bounds.  It all came to an end at $15 and the victorious bidder showed off his prize, an ambulance ornament.

The winner of the last auction

“If you can walk, you can dance”, Glenys the dancing teacher told us on Friday night.  Some took up the challenge and followed instructions in dancing the Veleta and other sequence dances around the hall, while the not so nimble sat and enjoyed the antics..  There was even a bit of do-se-do-ing taking place too – that reminded us of those long ago days when the pair of us were keen square-dancers. 

Friday night dance class

The Saturday Sausage Lunchtime Sizzle was a great success with the cooks doing a marvellous job.  Goodness knows how many sausages were cooked on the BBQ, along with a whole heap of sliced onions.  The ladies in the kitchen were hard pressed to keep up with the orders, as the queue snaked almost out the door of the hall.  They valiantly buttered the bread,  placed a dollop of fried onions, a hot sausage with a squirt of tomatoe sauce on top, wrapped it in a paper serviette and handed the orders over to the hungry customers.

All waiting for lunch

Four of us walked up to the local Putorino Cafe and Pub for a coffee, but by the time we got there we decided that as it was such a hot day, an ice-cream was a much better idea.  We heard the roar of motor bikes as Harley after Harley pulled up in front of the pub and the riders dismounted – most seemed to be well dressed bikers sporting black clothing covered with the Harley Davidson logo.   It looked liked there was an Easter Road Rally taking place.  After stopping and chatting for a while, they mounted their bikes and roared off down the road to Napier.

Putorino Pub and Cafe

The evening ended with a pub type quiz Trivial Pursuit competition.  Teams of six listened intently to the questions, then our collective brains went into action.  There were six categories, ranging from entertainment and literature, people and places, geography, science and sports and history – the last being our best with only only one incorrect answer.  And…….if the team had listened to me, we would have scooped the pool with the history questions.  One question we didn’t know – what did Otto Titzling invent?  The answer – the bra.  Our score at the end of the night was a credible 65 out of 80.


If you want to know more about Club Caravanning click here.

Last Days at the National Rally

Kelvin the Magician kept us entertained on Sunday evening with his droll humour and sleight of hand tricks.  Just how does it work when he ties a knot in a rope, cuts it in two, gives a shake, and it all comes out in a complete length?  He was rather nifty with the card tricks too.  Kelvin called one of the campers up on stage, to give a demonstration on the power of projecting thoughts.  The hapless victim had to hold the handle of an egg-beater to his forehead, turn the handle like crazy, and the energy created supposedly projected the number of the card he had earlier selected to us in the audience. 

The volunteer and the egg-beater

Another trick involved a $20 note, a hard boiled egg, an onion, a pumpkin and a candle.  Another volunteer bravely offered his $20 to Kelvin, who wrote down the numbers printed on the note, put it away in an envelope and absent mindedly burnt it over the candle.  Oh dear!  Never mind, said Kelvin.  After Kelvin had consumed the egg and the onion, and the volunteer had chopped up the pumpkin looking for the note, the magician remembered where it might be.  He  then cut the candle in two, and drew out a note with the same serial number from the inside.  It was all very enjoyable and a load of laughs.

  Oh dear, I didn’t mean to burn your money

The closing ceremony of the National rally took place on Monday morning.  Speeches were made, and the organising committee were thanked for all their hard work in running such a successful rally.  Our  resident piper Jo.looked resplendent in his kilt as he piped the flag bearers out of the hall.

Six of us decided to celebrate our last evening in camp with a meal out.  We dined at the local RSA restaurant which was close by. It seems to be a tradition to have some sort of arms on display outside the RSA buildings around the country. 

RSA building in Mt Maunganui

Even though the temperatures were still hot, I couldn’t go past the roast beef which was featured on the menu.  Everyone else enjoyed their choices.  Although the menu was not vast, there was something to suit everyone, and the surroundings were excellent.  Robin did the honours again with the photo, setting his camera up on an adjacent table,  then rushing back to sit down in the nick of time.

After our meal in the RSA

The National Rally was over and it was time to pack up.  Robin helped with a bit of man-power as our neighbours wanted their caravan pushed out of the way, to be collected later.  With a huff, and a puff, they soon had it rolling to the new position.

  Many hands make light work

We were soon packed up too, and ready to continue with the next part of our holiday, staying for a few days at the Awakeri Hot Springs Motor Camp.  There is nothing like a nice soothing soak in the hot pool after a hard day’s holiday!

Celebrating New Year in Mt Maunganui

The New Year’s Eve celebrations got off to a good start at the National Rally with a BBQ meal, all provided by the hosts.  While the rest of us were finding nice shady spots to sit down to get respite from the hot Mt Maunganui sunshine, the ladies from the organising club, Bay of Plenty Caravan Club, were busy in the canteen.  They were chopping, and slicing, and mixing things together with gay abandon.  While all this was happening, the men were busy slaving over a hot barbeque.  A huge quantity of sausages were cooked, together with a big pile of sliced onions.  Then it was time to serve the hordes.  As we filed past the canteen windows the sausages and onions were served.  Further along we invited to try rice salad, coleslaw, bean salad, or apple salad. 

   Cooking up the sausages

Later in the evening we gathered in the hall for the Cabaret night.  The tables were nicely set with long cloths and scattered with rose petals.  We chose a table close to an open door to allow for the breeze to come through to cool things down.  The temperatures were still hot and muggy and we had a lot of revelry to get through till the midnight countdown.

Ready to rock’n’roll

The two piece band started fairly quietly and the music swirled around the hall.  Later in the evening the band played a Monte Carlo followed by the Supper Waltz.  These we sat these out as we haven’t quite mastered the finer points of waltzing.  The supper brought back memories of those long ago community dances as we collected our plate of goodies and a hot drink each, then sat back down at our respective tables to chat and enjoy the supper.   As mid-night approached everyone got onto the dance floor in anticipation. The countdown started and all the poppers went bang!  “Old Lang Syne” was sung with gusto and another New Year began. 

Our music for the evening

We celebrated the start of the New Year with a group Champagne Breakfast outside in the sunshine.  Some brought cereal and fruit, others cooked their breakfast on the BBQ,  and our friends Geoff and Pauline were munching on bacon butties.  It was bacon and eggs for us, Robin’s speciality breakfast cooked on the BBQ.  We sipped a glass of bubbly, then finished our meal with a cup of plunger coffee and cream.  What a great way to start the morning.

Robin cooking bacon and eggs for breakfast

Geoff was cooking pizza for lunch and invited us to join them.  We were very interested to see how this all worked out as he had intrigued us when he explained that it is cooked in a casserole dish on the gas hob.  The pizza is cooked in a heavy  “Bessemer” dish with the lid on and the gas turned down low.  Geoff and Pauline cook roast chicken, casseroles and even scones in this speciality  utensil.  It comes complete with a cook book, and is so handy and easy to use, producing all sorts of hot meals easily while off power.  I think we need to get one too.

Pizza for lunch

As you can see, we had quite a time celebrating the Old Year out and the New Year in -  Happy New Year to all our friends.

Seeing the local sights

A happy band of campers queued up in the afternoon to take in the sights on our bus trip, an optional extra for the rally. The trip took us down town and we saw how all the rich people live in their sea front apartments and posh houses.  Real estate is a booming in this region.  The port is kept  busy with the many cruise ships which come calling.  The bus then took us into the hills and we arrived at Minden Lookout.

  Our bus

Although it was a short climb to the top of the lookout, we were all puffing in the clammy conditions.  The views were a little hazy, as we looked out over farmland one way,  and across to the port and Mount Maunganui in the distance.
 

We climbed back into the bus and commented that the seats were certainly not made for our ample proportions!  Through lush green farmland, and a short trip along the state highway, and we turned into our next destination of McLaren Falls.  What a delightful place this is.  There are many places to camp along the river and the views are very pretty.

The falls themselves always attract people who like to clamber all over the large rocks.  The water flow is much reduced at the current time as it is drawn off for the local power scheme.

Playing on the rocks at McLaren Falls

Back on the bus again, and we drove over the toll road. This is only one of two toll roads that operate in New Zealand.  Then it was a short drive back to the rally site.  It was a most enjoyable afternoon of sight seeing.

On the Road again

Only four of us were representing Heretaunga Caravan Club at the 21st National Rally at Mount Maunganui.  We all met for a bit of R&R at Rotorua, enjoying evening dips in the thermal hot pools.  Pity about the weather though, it rained, and it blew, then rained again.  The TV news showed bad weather throughout the country, with flooding and road and bridges washed away, so we probably got off quite lightly.

All set for the National Rally

Firemen were striding around the Mt Maunganui College grounds on our first morning.    A fire engine was parked outside the college grounds, manned by a couple of officers talking on the radio. 

  Ready for action

Wonder what the trouble was?   We soon found out – the fire alarm in the gym was ringing loudly, and that certainly stopped the campers in their tracks.  Up they wandered to the gym, clad in their dressing gowns and clutching their soap and towels,  all set for their morning showers.  No showers were available while the firemen were there doing their thing.  After checking the whole building out, it appears that steam had set the alarms off.  At last the campers could get on with their morning ablutions. 

Looking after our safety

After all this excitement we gathered in the hall for the Official Opening.  The hall was a sea of colour as club members arrived dressed in their official club colours.  People were clad in blue, white, yellow, purple and our own extra bright orange.  Representatives from each club gathered with the respective club banners and followed the piper as they made their way into the hall.

Robin with the Heretaunga Caravan Club banner

The local Mayor did the honours of opening the rally.  He related he knew all about camping as he grew up in a motor camp owned by his parents.  In fact, the mayor met his future bride while he was doing the afternoon rubbish collection around the camp, and was still happily married, he was proud to say.  A special presentation was made to  Ron and Averill from the BOP Caravan Club on attaining 500 rallies, congratulations for this great achievement.  

Ron and Averil with CCNZ President Peter Spicer

Click, click went the cameras as club photos were taken to commemorate the occasion.  Our friends from the Wairapapa club took our photos and we returned the favour and took theirs as they lined up.  Now the official part of the morning was over, I was happy to remove that orange tee-shirt and wear something a little less bright.

The  Heretaunga contingent