Wandering around Woodville – Part 2

Lunch in Woodville was at the Lindauer Restaurant and our bus group of 40 filled the restaurant to capacity.  Roast lamb was on the menu and our 60s Up group was quickly served – silence reigned while we all enjoyed our meals.  Later the owner told us some of the history of the area.  His restaurant sits on the site of the old Club Hotel and stables, which replaced Woodville’s very first building, a log hut in a clearing inside 70 Mile Bush.  Two large photographs grace the walls of the restaurant, showing Woodville in it’s very early years.

Part of 70 mile Bush can be seen behind the early buildings

This photo was taken just 9 years later showing growth in the town

Woodville still had more to show us, so after lunch we boarded the bus, and drove around a few corners to the Woodville Pioneer Museum. 

Woodville Pioneer Museum

Old fashioned grocer’s shop

There was plenty to see, from the grocer’s shop, and lovingly decorated vintage rooms, kitchen, dining room, parlour, and bedrooms complete with dolls clothed in beautiful hand made clothes.

Dining room

Many cabinets house the 600 strong Bessie Spinnet Teapot Collection, lovingly collected over many years and donated to the museum in 2001.  Like most collections, it started small, and grew and grew, with tea pots from all over the world.

Just part of the Bessie Spinnet  tea pot collection

Outside was a tiny gaol, with hardly room to swing a cat.

And sheds behind the house held a plethora of artefacts, from tools, farm machinery, horse drawn wagons, and even a fire engine.  We could have spent a lot of time here, looking at this and that, but we were called to board the bus for our return journey.

A gig and flat bed wagon

After Peter made a quick head count to make sure we were all safely aboard, he announced that we were travelling back home over the Saddle Road, instead of driving back around the notorious Manawatu Gorge.

All aboard – it’s time to head home

We would have a stop at the Te Apiti Wind Farm Lookout, to get up and personal to the wind turbines, Peter announced.  Sadly, this wasn’t to be, as the area was closed for maintenance.  

Wind Farm Lookout closed

So we continued on our way, up and over the Saddle Road

Once through Palmerston North, it wasn’t too long till we arrived back in Levin.  I don’t know how many enjoyed the scenery, as most of the passengers seemed to have nodded off after their long day out.   As always, it was another interesting 60s Up trip.

Wandering around Woodville

The big white bus was full of 60 Up members all happy to be having a “Big Day Out” in Woodville yesterday.  Our favourite bus driver Peter soon had us all aboard and settled down as we headed north, taking us through the Manawatu Gorge.  Yes, the gorge was now open, Peter assured me.  This stretch of road often suffers from slips and was closed after heavy rain for a few days in June.  Then in July it was closed again for a day or so when a large tanker was left hanging over the guard rail.  The driver of the tanker hung in the cab in a "life-threatening position"  for 30 minutes before he was rescued.  No wonder many drivers approach this road with fear and trepidation!  Luckily our bus trip was safe and uneventful and once through the gorge it was just a short drive to Woodville.

A crane arrives in the gorge to lift the truck from the ledge. Photo: Warwick Smith/Fairfax NZ

Our first stop was to the Gottfried Lindauer Replica Studio, a gifted artist who had quite a connection to Woodville.  Born in Bohemia, he studied at the Vienna Academy of Art.  To avoid being drafted to the Austrian military service he left for Germany and in 1874 boarded a boat to New Zealand. He soon specialised in portraits of the Maori race, and many prominent Maori chiefs commissioned his work, in which he recorded their facial tattoos, clothing, ornaments and weapons.  In 1890 he built a house and studio on four hectares of land on Pinfold Road, living there until his death in 1926, at the age of 87.  The replica studio contains reproductions of many of his paintings. I could only take a photo of an overview of the interior, I was told, and not to focus on any one particular painting.

Inside the Gottfried Lindauer Replica Studio

  Statue of the great painter outside the studio

Morning Tea was next, at Cafe 88.    Most climbed back on the bus for the short ride, but we decided on a brisk walk up the main street, arriving well before the bus arrived.  As we were happily tucking into our coffees and date scones, our fellow passengers were waiting to be served, with the queue stretching out the door and onto the footpath.  

 

Bruce and Robin ready to enjoy their date scones

We had an hour or so to fill in before lunch, but that wasn’t hard to do.  Woodville has quite an assortment of antique and second hand shops, some better set out than others, offering all sorts of articles from by-gone days, so we were happy to potter around.  And what’s this - another cafe with such a cute name, especially for someone like me who is very fond of piggies.  We’re going there next time, I declared.

Great name for a cafe

Big Boys Toys and Painted Eggs

Our host for the weekend, Farmer Noel, invited us to look around his truck collection.  There is nothing modest about this collection, and Noel told us the whys and wherefores of the various items he had collected over the years.

Some of the many trucks on display

Ford L8000

Bedford

Noel even had a Dodge fire engine in his collection. 

In the evening we gathered together for an egg decorating competition. taking our hard boiled eggs, felt tip pens and whatever else we thought we might need.  The concentration was intense as we all got creative, in my case with glue and glitter, which got all over the place, I might add.  Our creative endeavours were judged by Bill, with Selwyn declared the winner. 

  

Decorated eggs

Our Easter weather at Coppermine Camp was varied to say the least, with everything from torrential rain, wind, a thunder clap or two, sunshine and back to more wind and rain.  I discovered that there were scary wild animals on the farm, which emit strange blood curdling  noises in the dead of night.  I was making my way back from the ablution block with only a pitifully weak torch to light my way, and thought something nasty was after me.  I couldn’t get back to the caravan fast enough, and Robin laughingly told me that it was only a possum.  Maybe so – but it sounded like a vicious predator to me! 

Where are the Easter Eggs?

Yesterday some of us went for a walk up the country road.  Cattle grazing on the hillside watched us with interest – they probably don’t often see a posse of townies wandering up the road.

Keeping a watchful eye on the walkers

We came across a tree festooned with plastic milk containers.  Wonder what they were for?  Maybe they were bird feeders, or perhaps containers to catch insects, or maybe some kind of rural ritual?  Whatever the reason it certainly looked strange.

Growing milk containers

The entertainment for the evening was Table Truck Racing, a variation of the race horse game.  The dining room table was taped up into sections, we were put into teams and the dice was rolled to see how many squares each truck could move.  After our team had been soundly beaten in three games, we managed to have two wins in succession.

The trucks are racing

Early on Easter Sunday we checked outside but the Easter Bunny hadn’t called and left us an Easter Egg or two on our caravan door steps – mores' the pity!  It’s just lucky that we we remembered to pack a couple of our own to take away with us.  But this has now been remedied.  During morning tea, the Rally Family presented us all with our very own Easter Egg.  And another plate of Hot Cross Buns was passed around for us to enjoy, very tasty thanks.

Now, what would you call this cute little fellow?  We were tasked with giving him a name.  The ideas were coming thick and fast, with everything from Randy Rooster, to Kentucky Fried.

He’s a rooster – what is that foil wrapped egg doing there?

Coppermine Camp, Woodville

Eerie mist blanketed the farm in the early morning – too good a photo opportunity to miss.  So I sneaked outside in my dressing gown and took a few shots.

Misty morning on the farm

Might as well check the chippy heater too while I was wide awake.  At this camp, no fire means no hot water for the showers.  But wouldn’t you know, the fire had gone out overnight.  Perhaps I’ll have a go at lighting it, I thought.  Hadn’t done this sort of chore for many a long year, but I crumpled up some newspaper, laid kindling on top, threw in a match or two, and success.  I draw the line at chopping wood though, that’s what we have the blokes for.

  I passed the early morning fire lighting test

The full complement of seven vans are now on site, enjoying the rural surroundings.  The farm runs about 5000 sheep, Farmer Noel told us, plus steers as well.

This way to the camp

The horrendous wind has dropped and we enjoyed Morning Tea outside in the fresh air.  Being in the country can have a down-side though, we were surrounded by big black flies.  Armed to the teeth with various fly swats, our club members were ready to do battle with these nasty little interlopers, along with the occasional wasp.  Selwyn and Peter’s fly swats paled into insignificance alongside Val’s battery operated little blue number, which zaps the life out of the little blighters without leaving a squashy mess.

Ready to deal with the rural flies

A mob of sheep started to run down the driveway alongside the camp.  Robin jumped up quickly to shut the gate in case any disoriented sheep decided to check out the caravans.  But they were totally focused on following the sheep in front, and didn’t deviate from their route at all.  The ones in front found some nice fresh grass to munch on till the quad bike and dogs caught up with them.

Just stopping for a nibble

Here comes the boss

The clouds rolled in and the skies opened up late morning, so that sent everyone scurrying inside.  Noel the farmer had mentioned that he was waiting for some decent rain, and here it was.  The farmers are always pleased to have rain to keep their paddocks green. 

Wild trip to Woodville

Wild weather is covering the country, and our drive to Woodville today had us practically chewing on our fingernails in fright.    Buffeted by strong winds, lashed by rain, the caravan was pushed around behind us as we carefully negotiated the bad conditions.  It wasn’t an easy drive and didn’t feel safe at all being on the roads.  As we approached the Manawatu Gorge we could see the wind turbines up on the sky line.  Plenty of units of power would be going into the National Grid on such a windy day.

Wind powered turbines

The Manawatu Gorge has always been one of my least favourite roads.  This area is prone to slips, and the hills are covered in netting in some areas to protect motorists from rock fall.  With steep hillside on one side, and a sharp drop down into the Manawatu River far below on the other side of the road, there is nowhere to go if the hill starts to crumble away.  We had to wait a while for contractors to clear away a small land slip before we continued on our journey.

The Manawatu Gorge road

Once safely through the gorge, I breathed a sigh of relief – although this road doesn’t seem to bother Robin at all.  Our  Easter Rally is at Coppermine Motor Camp, situated on a sheep farm.  We found ourselves a site, settled in and had lunch.  Only three vans here so far, but more will be arriving later in the day.

Early arrivals at camp

The camp building are the former shearing quarters, complete with kitchen, lounge, toilets and showers.  One chore that needs to be done during the weekend is to keep the chip heater burning, as this not only warms the lounge area, but also heats the water for the showers.  Robin stacked the kindling in the grate and soon had a good fire burning merrily away.

Lighting the chip heater

The wind is still roaring, and the rain is coming down in torrents, but we should have a great weekend here with our caravan club buddies.  Just hope the Easter Bunny knows where to find us here on the farm when he is out and about delivering those eggs!

Levin to Woodville

Travelling along the Manawatu Gorge makes me feel rather nervous, especially since the last huge rock slide which kept this road closed for quite some months.  With steep crumbly rock faces on one side, and a long drop down to the river on the other, there is not much room to manoeuvre along this narrow windy road.  Robin took it all in his stride, expertly towing our caravan around the many curves in the road, as one after another fully loaded trucks drove towards us on the narrow road.  Luckily we made it through the Gorge unscathed, and drove into Woodville, our stop for the evening.

How many Woodville’s in the world?

We spent the evening at the rather muddy Woodville Recreation Reserve.  But it was quite reasonably priced, and provided what we needed in the way of power, showers and toilets.  Geoff had it on good authority from a number of his former contacts in his working life that the local fish and chip shop was one of the best, so we decided to put the statement to the test.  Our verdict?  Not too bad at all, but certainly not a ten out of ten score.

Camped at Woodville

There were sheep in the adjacent paddocks, and they had worked out in there woolly brains that if they lowered their heads down and wriggled hard, they could squeeze under the fence.  Going from one paddock to another as their fancy took them.   The recycling bins were next to our caravans, and there was a steady stream of locals putting their bottles, papers and plastics in the appropriate bins.  Then the bins were emptied in the early evening and the bags of recycling carried away to the next stage of their journey.  It was good to see such a good effort being made in such a small town.

We took a wander through the town and noticed that the footpaths had been nicely repaved since our last visit.  Sadly, like most small towns, there were many empty shops around.  The local butcher’s shop tempted us with his advertising boards outside his shop, and we came away with some award winning beef and blue cheese sausages, and a nice piece of honey flavoured pickled pork.

The famous artist Gottfried Lindauer settled in Woodville in 1890 and a replica of his studio now stands in the main street.  He was born in Pilsen, Bohemia, and studied at the Vienna Academy of Art.  He arrived in New Zealand in 1874, and soon made his mark as a Maori portrait artist.

Replica studio of Gottfried Lindauer

Gottfried Lindauer

We couldn’t leave Woodville without calling in to the bakery to buy a couple of Eccles Cakes for lunch.  Then it was back to the caravans for an early lunch before we moved on.  Next stop Eketahuna.

Coppermine Camp

With our holiday coming to a close, we decided to spend the last three nights at an old favourite, Coppermine Camp in Woodville.  This camp was set up by the Galloway's on their farm in the foothills of Woodville some years ago, making use of the unused shearing quarters.   These days, the shearing gangs arrive in a mini bus for the day, and do not stay overnight.  The small camp has 10 power points, and the original shearing quarters provide kitchen, lounge and toilet facilities.  Another good value camp at $18 per night. 

Noel provided afternoon entertainment as he drove his digger, squeaking and clanking,  up the driveway.  Then he set to and flattened a mound of crushed rock and lime.  We were impressed with the skill and care he took manoeuvring such a large machine in tight conditions.

Noel flattening the pile

As a working farm, there was always something going on.  The next morning we heard the barking of dogs, and looked out the window to see a mob of sheep trotting briskly up the driveway.  With whistles and shouted commands, the dogs then herded the sheep into two separate yards adjacent to the caravan park.  One group of sheep were going to another farm, we were informed, and the other group was being sent to the meat works.

The dog is in charge

Happiness is clean laundry, I always say,  and I was delighted to find that the old agitator washing machine had been replaced with a new automatic machine.  Not only that, but there was no charge to use it.  So what was a “wash-aholic” to do?  I had the washing done and hung out in the warm sunshine before anyone even realised what I was doing!  Just as well, as the weather deteriorated the next day.

Happiness is clean laundry

The rain came down so that was the end of sitting outside.  No worries, we had the cosy lounge area to use.  We gathered there in the evenings and had a spirited game of Snakes and Ladders on Friday night.  I not sure who won, but I do know that I came last.  That is what happens when you keep landing on a snake’s head.

A change in the weather

On our last evening together we decided to all eat our evening meal together in the dining room.  Noel had put us in charge of the camp and take any bookings while they were away overnight at a wedding and as a thank you presented us with a bottle of wine to share, so we raised our glasses in a toast to him for his hospitality.  After the meal we met up in our caravan.  Robin had prepared a slide show of the highlights of our two weeks together, and it was fun to relive these moments again.