Paekakariki Holiday Park

Our caravan club rally spent at Paekakariki can best be described as rather damp underfoot.  We spent most of Saturday skirting large puddles, and carefully placing our feet in the least muddy places as we made our way to and fro.  Our intended afternoon walk along the adjacent beach never happened due to the persistent rain and after a quiet afternoon reading, snoozing,or catching up with fellow club members, it soon rolled around to 4zees time.  Thanks go to Selwyn for bringing his heater along to the kitchen to take the chill off the air.

We had arranged for our group to partake of an evening meal at Finn’s Restaurant, situated in the Paekakariki Village.  Cars were pooled, rides offered to the motor-homers and we set off for a good night out.  “Mine Host” happily welcomed our group of 16 happy campers into our establishment.  Robin went up to the bar to purchase a glass of red for himself and a small bottle of bubbly for me.  “Try this one”, he was advised when enquiring about the bubbles, “it’s French” – and yes, it certainly was delicious.

The bar at Finn’s

Our group was soon settled at two adjoining  tables and then came the hard decision – what to order?  There was plenty of choice, from burgers, to fish, steak, chicken, beef  and pork, plus vegetarian options.  Then there was the dessert menu to peruse as well.

Waiting patiently for our dinner

The meals started to arrive, and it was interesting to see what everyone had ordered.  Robin certainly enjoyed his big serving of sticky ribs, and was grateful for the finger bowl which came with his order.  And Glennis was soon tucking in to her pan fried fish.

Yum, yum, dinner’s arrived

Our two tables enjoying their night out

The tables went quiet as we all got down to the business of eating!  As any wife knows, a night off from kitchen duties is a bonus indeed, and we were all set to make the most of it.  There were no complaints about the meals, and most managed to get through the large portions, although I did notice one doggy bag being taken back to the camp.  A few desserts made it to the other table, but our table of eight declared they really couldn’t do them justice, and declined. 

 

Sunday morning dawned fine and sunny, and the large puddles had gradually soaked away overnight, leaving quite a  soggy mess all around the vans.  But it was warm enough to sit outside in the sunshine for morning tea, a first for the weekend.  The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the camp had that “just washed after rainfall” look.  We could forgive the muddy patches – it is winter after all – and this is indeed a lovely large camp with beautiful trees and colourful gardens.

Garden by one of the amenity blocks

Robin brought our rally weekend to a close by thanking everyone for their participation – pity about the weather but that was out of our hands.  Goodbyes were said, and we fare-welled Val and Bill as they were joining friends for a week’s caravanning at Thames, lucky them.  The rest of us were heading home.

More happy travels for Val and Bill

It was a nice relaxed weekend, meeting up with friends, a nice meal out, sharing jokes and tall tales, and catching up with everyone’s news. 

Good weather for Ducks

Our marvellous run of warm sunny weather has broken.  But then, it is mid winter after all.  And what could be a more mid-winter thing to do than go camping in the rain? Due to an afternoon appointment, we were one of the last to arrive at the Paekakariki Holiday Park in the late afternoon, just in time for a delayed 4zees.  Once the van was on site and hooked up to power, we joined our caravan club buddies in the kitchen for a catch up of everyone’s news.

Although damp underfoot at first, the rain soon came down turning everything sodden.  And kept falling, all through the night.  We all awoke on Saturday morning to find our caravans surrounded by water.  Some puddles were deeper than others, and our black mat was completely submerged.  And guess who forgot to pack the gumboots for the weekend?

 

Surrounded by large puddles

But a little rain didn’t dampen our spirits.  We gathered for Morning Tea in the kitchen building, and as the pair of us are Rally Captains for the weekend rally, we outlined our plans.  The scheduled walk along the beach was cancelled, but we could look forward to a meal out later tonight at Finns Restaurant down in the village.  Menus were circulated to give our club members an idea of what was on offer, and the prices.

In between showers I went for a quick walk and stood entranced under a gum tree as several Tui sang and chortled high above me.  Called “Parson Birds”  by the early settlers because of the tufts of white feathers at the throat, these birds appear black but in reality their feathers are iridescent dark blue and bronze and they have a circlet of lacy white feathers covering the back of their neck and shoulders.  Sadly, my photo does not do this beautiful native bird justice, so I have downloaded one from the internet to show how gorgeous they are.

Tui, formerly known as Parson bird

This is a lovely large camp with over 200 power sites, and beautiful mature trees which certainly encourage the abundant bird life.  There are five caravans and three motorhomes attending this weekend from our club.  And it looks like we have most of the camp to ourselves

.  

It’s certainly a rather damp day today

Wonder if we can hope for nicer weather tomorrow before we all pack up and head for home?  Guess we will just have to wait and see.

Day out at Kapiti

We had things to do down Kapiti way.  Most importantly, to check our booking at Paekakariki Holiday Park.  We are rally family at this camp in a few weeks time, and needed to make sure that our booking had been recorded.  As it happened, the office lady was out for the day, and her hubby was busy doing outside jobs and not inclined to check our booking.  “There’s plenty of room here”, he said, “Of course we can fit you in”.   He was right of course, with over 200 sites there’s room for an army.  And the camp is not likely to be full in the middle of winter.

As I wandered around to take a photo of the giant flowering, or maybe it is fruiting, cactus, a voice said hello.  It was fellow club members Barrie and Dianne who were returning their caravan to the secure area.

Huge cactus bush

Chatting away, we were kept amused by the antics of a mother tui and her fledgling in the trees overhead.  We had never seen a baby tui before, and try as I might, I just couldn’t get a decent photo of them through the branches and the leaves.

Next stop was back to Paraparaumu, and soon attended to our business at the beach shops.  Noon must mean it’s time for lunch, we reasoned, so we went into Fed Up Foods for a fish lunch.   Tasty Bluff oysters were on the menu, but at $38 a dozen (cooked) we sadly had to turn them down.  “Cooee, cooee” called a lady in the café, don’t know who she is, so she surely can’t be talking to us. 

But we did know them – it was former caravan club members Andy and Bev.  Bev used to have a head of bright red hair, and that was why we didn’t immediately recognise her – she is now sports a very elegant steel grey hair do.  We joined them at their table, ate our lunches together, and caught up with  each other’s news.

Lunch over, we had a few more things to do, this time in the bustling local mall.  With the school holidays almost over, the place was buzzing with kids, little ones out with their Mums and Grannies, and plenty of teens mooching around.  With all our shopping and chores taken care of, it was time to relax with a cuppa.  And this looks just the place, Butlers Chocolate Café.

I went to the counter and ordered a Flat White for him,and a Hot Chocolate for me.  And what chocolates would you like with your drinks, I was asked.  That was a hard choice, for a procrastinator like me.  I looked at the selection in the cabinet, read all the little labels and finally told myself, just choose something!  So we got a double chocolate choccie each, and they were absolute bliss! 

We drove back home with rain all the way until we reached Levin.  Surprisingly the roads were dry, the washing was safe on the clothesline, and no sign of rain at all.  Who would have thought it?

Happy Campers at Fisherman’s Table

With such a long break between caravan rallies, some of us were suffering from withdrawal symptoms.  If caravanning was not on the immediate agenda, perhaps a mid winter lunch might be a good alternative?  I booked the restaurant, emailed out the details, and the acceptances soon rolled into the computer in-box.  Everyone seemed happy with the idea of a mid winter get-together.

It was starting to feel like mid winter as we drove down SH1 to our destination.  The wind definitely had a “wind chill factor” to chill the bones, and the Tararua Ranges looked lovely with a sprinkling of snow.

Tararua Ranges

Our group was meeting up at Fishermans Table, Paekakariki, and 19 happy campers soon arrived, chatting away, calling out greetings, and finding a chair at the long table set up for our group. 

Fisherman’s Table, Paekakariki

Robin and I decided that as this restaurant specialized in fish, that was what we would order.  Although he did toy with the idea of having a big juicy steak for a while.  But fish it was for the two of us, tarakihi for him, and seafood pasta in a rich cheese sauce for me. Plus plenty of variety from the salad bar.  The orders duly arrived at the table, and that kept us quiet for a while as we tucked into our various choices, and sipped on a glass of wine, beer or juice.

And here we all are

Did we want to order dessert, the waitress asked.  Why not – is was an occasion, after all.  Robin never goes past an ice-cream sundae, and I had spotted creme brulee on the menu, so that was us sorted.

He's happy with his chocolate ice-cream sundae

The restaurant looks out over the coast line, and guests can sit outside in warmer weather.  The views through the large windows were lovely, and we were nice and cozy inside and away from the cold wind.

View from the restaurant window

It was good to catch up again with some of our members whom we hadn’t seen for a while, and after the meal, there was a lot of seat swapping going on so people could talk to others at the far end of the tables.  And talk we did, there is always plenty of noise and chatter amongst our bunch of happy campers.  Finally it was time to pay the bill, say our goodbyes, and wend our way back to our respective homes. Now, just how long is it till the next caravan rally?

A Fall from Grace at Paekakariki

Oh dear – just look at that nose!  Poor old Selwyn took a tumble as he was on his way to the ablution block in the dark and fell off a ledge.  Crack – right down onto his nose, and his knee didn’t fare too well either.  But with a whole lot of TLC, a few painkillers, and tucked up in his cosy bed overnight, he had recovered enough to laugh about it the next morning.  It could have been much worse, with a broken ankle perhaps, but we won’t even think about that.

Shaken – but not too stirred up after his fall from grace

The good weather continued all weekend and it is always so nice to be able to sit together outside in the sunshine.  Our Rally family, Geoff and Eileen, had set us the task of a “do it yourself quiz” over the weekend.  Each couple had to compile a short list of 5 general knowledge questions, and we had to go from van to van to get the questions, and hopefully write down the answers.  Some questions were decidedly more difficult than others.  But you know how it goes -  if you know the answer, the question is easy, if you don’t know the answer, it is too hard.  Barry and Diane were the clear winners. 

It was announced at Sunday Morning Tea that we were having our own version of the “Chocolate Éclair Rally”, and a plate of mini éclairs were handed round.  Several of us had planned to attend the original Chocolate Éclair Rally in Ohakune last month, but due to bad weather and road closures this rally was deferred a month, but the new date clashed with other commitments.  Thank you, Geoff and Eileen – since we couldn’t get to that rally, the chocolate éclairs came to us!

Chocolate Éclairs for morning tea

Paekakariki Holiday Park where we were staying is set in 11 acres of rolling grounds with beautiful mature trees, and is a bird lover’s paradise.  Many bird varieties kept us enthralled and entertained over the weekend.  Large groups of Californian Quails appeared in the late afternoon feeding on the grass in front of our caravans – their head plumes bobbing away as they busily pecked away, feeding on the grass and any insects they might find.  I crept up towards them with my camera, only to frighten them away.  They took to the wing and flew away to hide from sight in a large tree.

Californian Quail

Some pretty little Goldfinches came calling too.  These are rather attractive birds with their black and tan faces, and bright yellow wing stripes.  They joined in with  the quail on their late afternoon feeding expeditions.  Sorry for the poor quality photo, but I had to hurriedly snap them before they flew away.  We do not see these birds in our garden at home, so it was lovely to spot them at Paekakariki.

Two Goldfinches

We sat and watched a large Kereru (New Zealand Pigeon) high up in the trees.  These heavy birds are rather clumsy on the wing, and crash about from branch to branch.  Believe it or not - they have been known to gorge themselves on fermented berries and get drunk! Then we saw a Starling perched up high on a bare branch, with the sun shining off the iridescent feathers.  Starlings were introduced to New Zealand in the late 1800s and have successfully made themselves at home here in this country.

Starling perched on high was watching us having morning tea

We practically had the whole camp to ourselves, but once the summer holidays roll around, families arrive with their tents and caravans and to enjoy fun times at the nearby beach.

Rally Weekend at Paekakariki

We were the last to arrive at Paekakariki Camp on Friday afternoon, despite being 20km closer to our destination because we had stayed overnight at Otaki.  Robin was busy all day attending a refresher driver’s course with other volunteer drivers from the Cancer Society – that’s our excuse anyway.  There was a bit of discussion on what particular site we would take – camping too close to large trees means that the TV will not pick up a signal from the satellite.  Eventually we were in place in a more open area, and with the help of a long lead were soon plugged into the power box. 

All parked up at Paekakariki

Saturday morning was warm enough to sit outside in the wintry sunshine for Morning Tea.  Then we took a quick trip down to the thriving metropolis of Paekakariki to purchase a few necessities.  Most of the shops are of the vintage variety including the grocery store with it's creaky wooden floor – our old friend Arkwright would not look out of place behind the counter at all.

   Paekakariki Shops

The unmistakable sound of a steam engine had us hurrying down to the station.  And sure enough, there she was, the Passchendaele engine herself, from Steam Incorporated, huffing and puffing in all her magnificent glory.  The day’s trip was from Paekakariki to Otaki and return, and as the train pulled away from the station, we waved back at all the happy day trippers.  There is certainly something quite magical about a steam engine, isn’t there?

All aboard for a day of fun

We took the sea view drive back to camp along The Parade to check out the beach.  The tide was right in at there wasn’t a great deal of sand available for a beach walk.  But we got a good view of Kapiti Island, which is about 5k off the coastline.

Kapiti Island from Paekakariki Beach

The rest of the day was spent with our caravan buddies in camp, and then we pooled cars and drove back down to the village for an evening meal at Finn’s Restaurant and Bar. 

Finn’s Restaurant and Bar

The twelve of us sat around the large table, and we pondered the options for dinner.  Decisions made, the friendly young waitress took our orders, and  the chefs got busy in the kitchen.  They did very well, as the meals all came out together – and they were huge!  Choices made were burgers, fish and chips, pork belly, and sticky pork ribs.

Caravan Club members ready to eat

Pork belly for me, and a large platter of ribs for Robin – both equally delicious

Le Movie and Le Meal

After our ride on the local train on Saturday, there was just time to return to camp for a cuppa before driving back down to  Finn’s.  This establishment is the local pub, cafe, accommodation and cinema all rolled in to one.  Our group had a private showing in the small 24 seat theatre of the film “Le Weekend”.  Rally captain Selwyn assured us all that it was a bit risqué,  so to speak.  Nothing like the whiff of bawdy spice to get this bunch of OAPs raring to go.

Waiting in anticipation

Le Week-End tells of Meg and Nick (Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan) who revisit Paris to revitalise their marriage, and run into an old friend (Jeff Goldblum) who has embarked on a new life, a new marriage, and a new baby on the way.  Sadly, we found the film a bit on the boring side – it certainly didn’t live up to our expectations.  But then, what would we know?  The only risqué thing we saw was this sign in the bar.   Never mind – our movie deal included a pub meal.  The kitchen was working hard and plates full with fish and chips or burgers were quickly carried to our table.   We finished off the meal with rather large ice-cream sundaes.

Sign in the bar

With Sunday being Mother’s Day, all the Mums at the rally got a treat at morning tea.  Kath presented us all with a small packet of “Molly Woppy” Melting Moments, with a choice of chocolate or vanilla.  I was thrilled to discover that my vanilla biscuits were actually lemon flavoured, yummy.  And just so the men didn’t feel to left out, they were all given a Whitakers Chocolate Peanut bar. 

Then it was time to pack up and head off home.  Some of us stayed a little later and ate our lunch together in the sunshine.  Another good weekend rally, great fun, a load of laughs, thanks to Selwyn and Kath for organising it. 

Down by the Station

The Caravan Club notice-board sheltering under the umbrella from the rain said it all.  Just like excited little schoolchildren, we were going on a train ride. What fun!  And on presentation of our Gold Cards, it would be a free trip.

What’s on today?

Some people wanted to travel south to Porirua and headed off early.  The rest of us decided on a shorter trip, north to Waikanae.  So off we went after lunch to the historic Paekakariki Railway Station.  This was built in 1909, and registered with the Historic Places Trust.  A notice board on the station shows what the area looked like in bygone years.

On Paekakariki Station

And here is the New Zealand version of “Mind the Gap” with Robin, Selwyn and Kath standing much too close to the edge of the platform.

They are not standing behind the yellow line.

Here comes our train.  Oh good, it’s one of the flash new Matangi trains.  A few of our caravan buddies had not travelled on one of these before.

Here’s our train

As the train trundled along we had good views of the just started Kapiti Expressway.  This is being constructed over wet peat-land over this part is quite a work in progress.

  Road work machines at the ready

Two stops later we arrived at the end of the line.  Staying aboard, the train was shunted to a siding to allow a couple of freight trains to go past.  Then we took the return journey back to Paekakariki  - our short train adventure coming to an end. 

Paekakariki Holiday Park

“Where are you off to this time?”, our neighbour wanted to know, as we hooked up the caravan and trundled out of our village.  It’s another caravan club rally weekend.  Not too far away either, a short 57km drive down SH1 to Paekakariki Holiday Park.

Most had arrived before us, parked up and  tucked away in individual hedge lined sites.  Robin spotted one with a concrete pad, so decided that was the place for us.  With the ground so wet underfoot, stepping out on to a concrete pad will cut down on mud and grass being tracked inside.  Muffy jumped out of the car after the drive down, into the caravan, settled down on her rug and went straight to sleep.  It’s a leisurely life being a caravan cat.

 

Between the hedges at Paekakariki Holiday Park

We are parked behind the weekend Rally Captains, whose caravan was sporting the newly made porch awning.  These small awnings are so handy on wet days, giving overhead shelter as you enter and leave the caravan, and a space to put wet shoes.

New porch awning

And what’s this - another new caravan arriving.  Geoff and Eileen drove in with their new Southern Star.  Very nice it is too, and everyone was keen to check it out. 

New caravan in the club

Caravan club Fridays are usually fairly low key.  4zees of course in the afternoon, then we all gathered in the kitchen after the evening meal.  That’s when the jokes get told – have you heard the one about the Cat in the Hat lamenting his Golden Years?  With the wonder of the internet, jokes are everywhere, and people like to save up the best to relate on Friday evenings.  Then we had a short competition to write down as New Zealand place names we could think of starting with “W”.  Easy, I though, as I quickly wrote down Wellington, Whangarei, Wanganui, Warkworth and Weber.  Then I got stuck and thought about all the railway stations on the Hutt Valley line, that reminded me of a few more.   My rather sad total was 12, and I could have kicked myself when the winner read out all his 30 or so names.  Of course I knew them all, just couldn’t think of them under pressure.

We woke up to a drizzly Saturday morning, maybe the weather will clear as the weekend progresses.  It was Happy Birthday wishes to Geoff at morning tea as we all shared a piece of home made cake for his birthday.

Geoff passing around the birthday cake

Rally captains Selwyn and Kath have quite a busy Saturday programme for us – it all sounds a lot of fun.  Some of it involves trains, well, that will be interesting!

Simple Pleasures

A stay at Paekakariki Holiday Park is not complete without a walk down to the beach.  Especially a walk ending in an ice-cream, a cold drink, or maybe a coffee.  Simple pleasures indeed - you can see that it doesn’t take much to make this bunch of happy campers very happy indeed.

Purchases made, we sat down on a picnic table in the sunshine to take in the view.  The waves were rolling up on the beach, the sea was sparkling in the sunshine, and Kapiti Island was away in the distance.

Kapiti Island from Paekakariki Beach

Looking towards Pukerua Bay

We tried out the timer delay function on the new camera, placing it at the end of the picnic table.  But the camera was too low, and chopped off our heads.  The suggestion was made to place it on one of the ice-cream containers to give it extra height.  There, that’s better.  Robin  balanced it carefully on top of the empty ice-cream container, set the timer, then ran back quickly and sat down.  We waited expectantly for the flashing red light, then click, the photo was taken. 

Robin, Jenny, Dot and Derek at the beach

A couple of hardy souls in wet suits walked across the near empty beach carrying their surf boards.  The tide was out so they had quite a walk to get to deeper water.  We watched, eyes squinting in the bright glare as they waited for a big wave to carry them back in.

.Let’s go surfing

Ambling back to camp we peered over peoples fences, admired gardens, noticed a couple of rusty caravans, and generally just wandered along enjoying the walk and the company.  There were plenty of birds on the overhead power lines, sitting and chirping away.   I wonder how they reacted to all the earthquakes over the weekend?  Did they fly away chirping loudly in fright each time the ground moved and the power lines swung madly?  Or maybe like our cat Muffy, they didn’t notice anything amiss at all? 

Birds on a wire or two