Thunder and plenty of Rain at Red Barn

What a weekend of strange weather we had at the rally, it was warm, wet and thundery.  Generally, the days were fine, but by late afternoon the clouds would roll in, thunder would rumble, and the heavy rain would fall, and fall, and fall.  Although we didn't sight any lightening, Mr Google tells us these two always come hand in hand,  and it is not possible to have thunder without lightning. Obviously it wasn't happening overhead and we didn’t notice it, but the lightening would have been flashing across the sky not too far away.

The six early bird vans were joined by four others on Friday, making a total of  ten vans for the weekend.  It was very handy having the implement shed to gather in for our morning teas and 4zees, but the resident swallows were not at all happy with our presence – I think they were busy building nests inside the shed.   The birds  were rather agitated and flew about, swooping from corner to corner.  Gemma came on her lead to join us during the day  and really enjoyed the interesting smells everywhere, until one of the swallows swooped low and buzzed her!  People were bad enough, but to bring  a cat as well, just too much!

On Friday evening we gathered again in the handy implement shed and our hosts Geoff and Colleen came to give us a talk about their life in South Africa and how they came to arrive in New Zealand, settle in Auckland then come to live in Palmerston North.  Life in South Africa could be quite dangerous and they spoke of multiple locks and alarms on their doors, and motion sensors outside around their home. Certainly a different way of life than we experience here.  Moving to Canada or England were discussed, and soon rejected, much too cold.  Australia was considered, but they didn't meet the criteria, but they did for New Zealand, so it all eventually fell into place.

Collen and Geoff

Gathered for the evening talk

Palmerston North is well known for the wind turbines on the hills and we had a good view from this property.  Love them or hate them, these turbines swish around producing “clean green” electricity.

Wind turbines on the hills

Robin, Dave, Russell and Pat, wonder if they are talking about cars?

Pat planned a little 4WD adventure on Saturday, he was told that he could drive through the farm and reach the Manawatu River.  So off we went, three 4WDs in a row, with the front car opening the gates, and the back car closing them, as you must do on a farm.  The grass was so thick and lush we remarked it was rather like driving over the African  savannah.  Instead of being attacked by lions, we were set upon by a bunch of steers who galloped up from the adjacent paddock. Just as well there was a fence between us.

Here they come

We reached the stop bank, but where was the gate we had been told about?  There it was at the other end, so off we drove again.  But once there, a few of us decided that as the gate couldn't be opened, those with sore backs and knees better not try climbing over.  Some of the more energetic ones did, climbed up and over the wooden gate without doing themselves a mishap, and got a glimpse of the river.

We made it, but the river is over the stop bank

Rally Family Dave and Deb had a couple of quizzes for us on Saturday night.  Dave had insisted his quizzes were easier that his previous ones and that we would all get every answer but……….  Never mind, it certainly gave us something to think about.  All too soon the rally came to an end, and it was time to hook up and depart for home.  Many thanks to Dave and Deb for the weekend, to Flo and Deb for the home baking, and to our hosts for giving us a big bowl of mandarins to share.

We were one of the last to leave, and drove through Palmy to the dump station.  This is in a very attractive setting surrounded by large trees.  The caravan ahead of us got caught up on a steel bollard protecting the dump area, ooops, the wife was driving and hubby was not at all pleased!  Luckily Robin did much better and we drove out unscathed.

At the dump site

Early Birds at the Rally

There was excitement  our household, after a couple  of months we were heading off for a caravan club  weekend rally.  And just because we could, we were joining the other early birds on Thursday and sneaking in an extra day.  This was the first time Robin had pulled the caravan from it’s allocated space since his knee replacement, parked it in front of our home, and attended to winding the steadies up and down as required.  He managed very well, considering that it was months since he had last done these chores, and his knee  was still feeling a bit stiff and sore.

The weather wasn’t too bad as we drove up to Palmerston North to a new to us site, the Red Barn.  And here it is, turn into this driveway to see who had arrived before us.

There were five vans here already, with us making six early birds.  The others were on the fence line, and we tucked ourselves alongside the red barn.

After a late lunch, and a rest to get our breath back, the weather decided enough was enough, let’s teach these campers a thing or two about the Manawatu weather.   Showers first, then heavy rain set in, and at the time of writing, it hasn't stopped!  We took our chairs and tables over the the large roomy implement shed for 4zees and had a great catch up together.  The friendly owners Geoff and Colleen came over to introduce themselves, and make sure we were all happy.  Colleen then offered to take a group photo for us, how kind was that.  Two of the group were absent, they were busy doing a spot of shopping.

4zees time

Four other vans are due to arrive tomorrow, Friday, which will give us a complement of 10 vans on site.  Wonder what the rally captains will have in store for us for the weekend!

Family Time at Speights

With our trip to Australia fast approaching, together with daughter Nicky’s birthday it was time for a long overdue catch up with the family.  We arranged to meet Nicky for lunch at Speights Ale House in Palmerston North.  Son-in-law Robert organized his  work day to come along too, and grand-daughter Megan took some time off work and joined us a little later. 

Speights Ale House

Speight’s Brewery has always produced award winning, traditional ales & beers, using only the finest quality  ingredients & purest water.  The popular restaurant is always busy,  usually a sign of good food and service.  We took some time checking the menu and finally made our choices.  Roast pork for me and pie of the day for Robin.  Robert ordered a pie as well, and Nicky had lamb's fry and bacon, served on top of of a huge mound of mashed potatoes and smothered in gravy.  Robin and Robert’s meal were washed down with one of the award winning Speight’s beers.  With such very filling lunches, we will only need something very light for our evening meal.

Our two meals

It was great to catch up with them, and give Nicky her birthday gift, as we are starting our trip to Oz on her birthday.

Robin and Jenny, Nicky and Robert

After we had finished our meals, grand-daughter Megan came breezing in, bright and bubbly as usual.  As it was getting later, made do with just a coffee.

Megan

The conversation centred around horses, this family lives, breathes, and talks about horses and competitions.  All except Nicky, who really doesn’t want anything to do with them, especially when they get into her garden.  The two girls are excellent horsewomen, and Robert was a former jockey, so has been around horses for most of his life.

We said our farewells and went our separate ways.  We had one more catch up, had arranged to meet up with grand-daughter Emma in Feilding after she had finished work in the afternoon. And the conservation centred around, you've guessed it, Emma’s horses.  Certainly an all abiding passion for her.

Jenny and Emma

It was so nice to be able to see all members of this family before we head away.

Running Boards and Chinese for Lunch

Our Jeep finally has running boards fitted – this makes getting in and out of the vehicle so much easier.  The job was efficiently done at Brent Body Motors in Palmerston North.   There has been a real saga about these running boards.  Robin originally purchased a set overseas (at a very competitive price) and because some companies in USA will not ship to New Zealand, had to get them sent to a distribution centre.  They arrived safely but………would you believe it, they were just a little oversize and our parcel could not/would not be sent to us.  After many emails back and forth between the distribution centre and the couriers, there was nothing for it but arrange to send our order back, and ask for a refund.  Then we had an email saying that the oversize aspect could be waived, and our parcel sent on to us!  Too late, it had already been returned to sender.

Anyway, the running boards were finally purchased and fitted locally, and Robin seems very pleased.

We decided to treat ourselves and  had lunch at  China Town.  This is very reasonably priced, is always busy and offers lots of  interesting dishes to help yourself.  Another excellent point is that many local Chinese eat here, so that certainly shows that the food is very good.  Mind you, the Chinese people seem to order off the menu, while most of the other customers are happy to serve themselves from the buffet.

It was a good day out in nice sunny weather, with several jobs being ticked off our “to do” list, and a lovely lunch.  At only $15 each it was certainly value for money, with soup, desserts and coffee included in the price

Found it – at last

One of the “things to do” on our recent trip to stay at Napier was to visit the Waipawa Butchery – it’s world famous in the Hawkes Bay.  Unfortunately it was a stat holiday when we passed by, so the shop wasn’t open.  The Smith family of Patangata Station in the Tukituki River Valley featured on the popular TV show, Country Calendar a while ago, and told how they recently purchased the Waipawa Butchery.  Duncan wanted to ensure they had the same quality product on the shelves every week. “We set up some rules around what kind of stock we would supply to the butchery. That meant ensuring all the animals coming into the butchery are female and they have been killed at specific weights. We find meat from female stock, including pigs, is tastier and juicer every time”, he said.

We were delighted to find a large stand featuring Waipawa Butchery set up outside Mega Mitre 10 during a trip to Palmerston North today.  (They will be there every Wednesday, they assured us.)  Business was booming, and we finally got to purchase some of their famous meat.

We purchased several cuts of beef and lamb, plus a couple of home made lamb and kumera pies for our dinner tonight.  And a chilly bag to take our purchases safely home.  I’m sure the meat will be every bit as tasty as promised, can’t wait to finally try it.  We will give it the taste test and let you know.

Big Rigs around Town

What a surprise – we drove through to Palmerston North for Sunday lunch and a little shopping and found the city taken over by a multitude of bright, shiny Big Rigs.  All driving around, tooting their horns, and seemed to be having a high old time.  And the Square was swarming with people, we needed to see what was going on.

It was the Biannual Professionals Big Rigs event a fundraiser  supporting Teenage and Child Cancer, with all money raised staying within the Manawatu Region.  A very good cause indeed.  With the very popular truck rides for $2.00 per person there was also plenty of entertainment in the square with static displays, raffles and live auction.  A convoy of over 100 trucks, followed by a Helipro helicopter, drove through the city to begin the day yesterday.  Manawatu children receiving treatment for cancer were treated to a ride-along and then a haka on arrival.  It was very well organised indeed, people were loaded on to the big rigs on one side of the square, and offloaded on the other side.  There were sturdy metal platforms to get everyone up and down safely.  And those trucks who already had their share of passengers went on their way.

Loading up.

And yes, we had a turn too, queuing up in line and putting our $2 coins in the bucket.  Our truck looked rather flash with a buttoned leather interior.  The young driver did admit that it felt strange to be driving without his trailer unit behind, as all the trucks were.  We were slowly driven around the circuit, with many toots along the way.  What fun – although as Robin is a former truck driver, I probably enjoyed it more than him.

Our ride in the big rig

There were plenty of displays to check out, such as these stock cars, and a multitude of trucks lined up.  There were quick fire raffles taking place, and plenty of stalls selling drinks, hot dogs, all sorts of refreshments.

The display showing just how big the blind spot is in front of these big rigs was quite sobering. 

Showing the blind spot in front of a big rig

Over at the New Zealand Army display, throngs of kids poured over the inside and outside of the Light-Armoured Vehicle.  Lance Corporal Peter Brown of the Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles said kids often saw the vehicles on Palmerston North roads but to get inside them was an experience many hadn't had.

Light Armoured Vehicle

There was a lot of interest when the Air Force helicopter was ready to depart.   The public had to stand well clear of the area as the air turbulence was quite fierce.   One of the volunteers told us that there was an awful lot of hoops to jump through to get permission for the helicopter to fly over, and land in the city centre.  The noise was extremely loud as the rotors spun faster and faster, no wonder the crew all wear ear protectors.  Then it lifted straight up, up, and away, to return to RNZAF Base Ohakea.

On the way back to Ohakea

With an estimated 15,000 people attending the event, the organisors can be assured of a successful fund raising day for the Manawatu Child Cancer Foundation.  (We believe a sum of $40,000 has been raised, so well done to everyone involved.)  The truckies are to be commended for donating their day and bringing along their shiny trucks for such a good cause.  And it wasn’t just the kids who loved their rides around town, we did too.

Forgotten Treasure Restored

Friday was spent in Palmerston North making last minute purchases before we head off on our 10 week caravan trip.  Top of the list was a new probe thermometer (wonderful for cooking a large roast) for our Weber BBQ as ours died when we last used it.  What caravan trip – you may be thinking?  Our often talked about (between ourselves) return trip to explore even more of the South Island.  We were last there in 2012 so it’s high time we returned again. On our way home we stopped to eat our lunch by Awapuni Racecourse and remembered hearing about an overgrown and forgotten  memorial close by.  Fate was calling, so we went to investigate.

Tucked away in a corner of Awapuni Racecourse is the Memorial to the Medical Corps, in memory of the men from the Corps who lost their lives in the Great War,  and was officially dedicated in 1929 by Sir Charles Fergusson. Awapuni Racecourse was home to one of the largest WW1 training camps at the time.  The camp was also the sole location for training New Zealand Medical Corps.    After their training the members of the Corps were widely dispersed, to Egypt, Palestine,  Salonika, France, Belgium and England, to serve with units of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

Medical Corps Memorial

The history and condition of the Memorial had faded over time and an extensive restoration project took place between 2014-2016 to mark the centenary of WW1.  The aim was to preserve the original design features as a functioning water fountain while improving the aesthetics and accessibility of the memorial.  After much research, the overgrown site was cleared followed by intensive site remediation.

The design of the memorial was originally described as “a cairn of marble blocks down which clear artesian water would gently weep”.  The 14ft high cairn is in the centre of a pond shaped like a Maltese Cross, all encased by a circular garden.  It was suggested at the time that the water trickling down “was the gentle weeping of Mother Earth who gave those men birth and to whom they had returned”.  Such a lovely thought.

Photo by MURRAY WILSON/FAIRFAX NZ

Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial rededication ceremony at Awapuni racecourse.

The water feature was not in use during our visit, but even so, it was so interesting to view this lovely memorial and read the history on the information boards surrounding the site.  And we discovered that Palmerston North remains the primary training location for NZ Medical staff who deploy overseas.

Railcar Trip to Pahiatua

What a great way to spend a few hours on Sunday - taking a vintage railcar trip from Palmerston North to Pahiatua through the Manawatu Gorge.  This fun trip (one of many ran over the weekend) was full of our Probus Club members and we pooled cars and drove up to Palmerston North Railway Station.   And there it is, all ready and waiting for us.

Waiting at Palmerston North Station

We soon boarded RM31, and sat down to enjoy the journey in the nice comfy seats.  Robin went up the front to check out the controls.  Before too long the carriage was full and we were on our way.

The refurbished interior

Robin was wearing his “Savannahlander” cap and tee shirt and a couple of volunteers came to talk about this Aussie iconic railcar trip.  The railcar took us past farmland dotted with stock.  Horses, sheep, cattle, even some alpacas looked up from their grazing to watch the railcar whizz by.

The rain was lashing down as we traveled through the Manawatu Gorge, looking over to the road which has been closed since April.  The Manawatu Gorge road is likely to be remain closed for some time due to fresh fears about another major slip.   The Transport Agency said a large area above the Kerry's Wall rock face was highly unstable, and it had since  removed all contractors from working there. 

The slip in the Manawatu Gorge. Photo: NZTA

We arrived at Pahiatua and were given a tour through the workshops.  The Pahiatua Railcar Society (PRS) is  dedicated to the restoration of railcars and other locomotives and rolling stock formerly operated by the New Zealand Railways Department. It has the sole remaining examples of the RM class 88 seater and Wairarapa railcars.  We were told of the innumerable hours of work the volunteers undertake to restore these vintage treasures and the efforts to obtain funding.

Then we were taken into another workshop and it was explained that the two units being worked on are two halves of a railcar.  We could appreciate how these restoration jobs take so many years as they are painstakingly rebuilt piece by piece. Such dedication from the members, and excursions like those held over the weekend put some extra funds into the coffers.

There's our railcar waiting to take us back again.  We appreciated the request for passengers to swap sides,  as we would get a much better view of the gorge on the return journey – there were too many heads in the way to get good pictures previously.

The railway tracks are on one side of the gorge, and we looked over at the road propped up on pillars. The road is eerily quiet with no traffic at all for the foreseeable future.

Views of the Manawatu Gorge road

For whatever reason, the return journey always seems much quicker – I’m sure there is an explanation for that. We thanked the organizer, hopped into the car and drove back to Levin.   We had a great time – what can be better than riding the rails on a Sunday afternoon!