Joint Rally at Clareville

Saturday dawned fine and sunny at Clareville, but the wind got stronger as the day progressed.  Not enough to stop us sitting outside, but the wind gusts blew any unattended chairs over, they went down like a row of dominoes!

Sitting outside in the sunshine

Bill’s new TV aerial caused a lot of interest, as the other blokes gathered around to check it out.  Any new purchase always causes a flurry of excitement, as the men are keen to see what new products are on the market.

Peter and Robin checking out the new TV aerial

While relaxing over 4zees, we could hear an awful racket from a whole lot of sheep.  Something was going on behind that stand of trees and I just had to go and see what it was.  Goodness knows what the farmers thought when I appeared, camera in hand, but the young man was kind enough to tell me what they were doing.  The family lease land from the A & P Society, and ewes and lambs had been penned to check them out, see if any needed treatment, and drafting some of the lambs for sale.

Penned up with nowhere to go

The noise was deafening, with both the ewes and lambs continuously bleating.  Not only did they not like being penned, the sheepdog was watching them closely, and the two farmers were man-handling them.  The poor sheep squashed up into an even tighter bunch as I approached the pen with my camera and shot a few photos.  No wonder they had a lot to complain about.

Drafting the lambs onto the back of the ute

Due to the windy conditions, our planned communal BBQ meal didn’t go ahead.  We had hired the Vintage Car Club rooms for our evening entertainment, and our guests eagerly gathered  to see what we had planned for them.  Club member Selwyn had kindly brought along his equipment and we had a film evening.

Selwyn at the controls

And what a film it was, full of action and heart stopping moments.  We showed a DVD of the movie “Unstoppable”, which told of an unmanned runway train, full of toxic chemicals, careering along with no way of stopping it.  Will it derail and obliterate the towns alongside the railway line?  Based on a true story, and starring Denzel Washington, it was certainly an exciting film.  And just because it is a kiwi tradition, all the film goers were presented with their very own box of Jaffas!

Unstoppable!!

By Sunday midmorning the rally was over, and we packed up, said our goodbyes, and happily made our way back to our respective homes.  All except one pair of caravanners, they weren’t happy at all  – but that’s another story!

Rural Delights

For a couple of townies, coming to Clareville A & P Showgrounds for our weekend caravan rally is always a delight.  The wide open spaces, surrounded by paddocks full of sheep, and the adjoining stockyards and huge hay barn makes this a great weekend venue.  Our caravan club Heretaunga, was hosting a joint rally with both the Wairarapa and Wellington Caravan Clubs, so we made sure we arrived bright and early. 

We were the first to arrive

The weekly stock auction was taking place just over the way so I just had to go and check it out, camera in hand.  Wonder if I’ll find some pigs?  Stock numbers were down this week, I was told, and there were no pigs changing hands.  Plenty of sheep, cattle and calves though, all bellowing, bleating and in the case of the young ones, calling plaintively for their mothers.

We don’t want to be here

Young calves waiting to be auctioned

This handsome fellow with a double set of horns was in a pen by himself.  There was a school group looking around the auction, with clipboards in hand. “I wonder what sort he is?”, I asked, presuming that these were a group of country kids.  One of the boys looked at the label.  “That breed’s a ram”, he informed me with authority, reading from the label.    “That’s not right”, I pointed out, “a ram means that he is a male sheep”.  He looked at me, but I could tell by his face that he didn’t believe me. 

The mystery ram

The friendly auctioneer was sitting outside in the sunshine, waiting till it was time to go inside and start work.  He told me that the ram is an Arapawa Island sheep, now known as a “rare breed of New Zealand origin”.   Historical records suggest that sheep have been known on Arapawa Island in the Marlborough Sounds for at least 130 years.  The first sheep were probably escapees of a flock of mainly Merino origin known to have been introduced in 1867, the original stock having undoubtedly come from Australia. The Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand was formed to conserve, record and promote these breeds with the particular aim of maintaining genetic diversity within our livestock species. 

The auctioneer

The bus selling food and drinks comes to the stock sale each week.  As we read the blackboard menu, Robin couldn’t resist the thought of a steak and onion sandwich for lunch.  Take-aways it was, with a hot bacon and egg sandwich for me, and we shared a pot of chips.

 

Hot take-aways for lunch

Caravans rolled in all afternoon, found themselves a site, and hooked up to the power.  By the late afternoon, there was a select gathering of  twelve of us, representing three caravan clubs. Friday of any rally weekend is generally a laid back day, and we enjoyed a get-together of 4zees (happy hour) out in the sunshine.  Then later in the evening we met up again in the huge hay shed for chatting, and relating any jokes we had gathered up to share.  The resident pigeons fluttered about overhead and Peter had us all worried when he swore he saw a rat scamper by as the light was fading.  No doubt there are rats and mice galore amongst all those hay bales, just keep them away from us ladies – we don’t want anything nasty running up our trouser legs!

Towering bales of hay

He’s getting there with the trailer

The trailer repair is coming along slowly, one step at a time.  The rusty bits have been sanded off, and most of the metal has now been painted a rather fetching shade of green, using rust inhibiting paint.    (The tin of paint purchased didn’t go as far as he thought, so Robin will need to buy another one). 

Painting the trailer

The new floor of marine ply has now been bolted on to the chassis.  The friendly staff at Mega Mitre 10 cut it to size, which was really helpful.

New floor on the trailer

It’s after 5.00pm and Robin has declared he’s done quite enough work on the trailer today.  Time to relax with a cool drink.  Jobs still to be done include fixing the electrical wiring, getting the trailer registered, and taking it down to the garage for a Warrant of Fitness.  By next week it might be all finished and roadworthy.  Watch this space.

Decisions, decisions, and more decisions

Our little brains were working overtime yesterday.  We had an appointment with the builder’s liaison officer to talk about our new dwelling.  Up for discussion was the electrical plan – were we were happy with the power points, TV connections, lights, and all that sort of thing?  These days everyone needs multiple power points with all the equipment a home seems to have.  For example, in the spare bedroom we need power points for my sewing machine, free standing light, the computer modem, router, printer, the list goes on.  The general consensus seems to be to make every power point a double, have more than you think you might need, and don’t forget to add several Sky TV connections in various rooms as well.

We discussed (and came to decisions on) sliding doors and exterior ranch sliders, that wasn’t easy.  Do we want them sliding left to right, or right to left?  More decisions to be made.  But wait, it gets worse.

What about interior colours?  Now, we weren’t expecting to have to make these very important choices so early.  The table was covered in sample books as we looked at carpets, vinyl flooring, bench top and kitchen cabinet wall samples, plus paint colours.  We hummed and hahhed a bit, tossed out anything we really didn’t like, (such as too dark, too bright, too “in your face”) and finally made what we thought were good choices.  Were we finished, we wondered?  Not quite, just a quick decision on the choice of kitchen drawer handles.

Two hours after starting our meeting, we were free to go, with a list of items to check out ourselves.  What a marathon meeting that was.   To clear our heads, we drove down to the windy beach, looked across at Kapiti Island, and ate our picnic lunch in the car, with sea gulls to keep us company. 

Lunch time at Paraparaumu Beach with the seagulls

How many Years, did you say??

We’ve just celebrated our wedding anniversary, and we’ve had 29 happy years together.  It certainly doesn’t seem that long.  To celebrate we went out to a local restaurant for dinner last night.  Being a Monday evening, a lot of places tend not to be open.  Local restaurant Graze also caters to the adjacent motels units, so we knew it opens every evening.

Kitchen utensils decorating the wall

Roast pork was on the menu, and there was quite a large crowd in the dining room.  One of the diners came over to say hello to Robin – someone he knows from his volunteer driving duties for the Cancer Society.  She told us that it was a big family group, having a meal together after giving her 90 years plus uncle a good send off earlier in the day. 

29th Anniversary meal

Happy Anniversary, we toasted each other.  After our roast pork dinner we finished our meal with apple crumble and boysenberry trifle for dessert, and it was all very tasty.  So that’s 29 years down, roll on 30.  There’s plans brewing for that anniversary, I’ve already warned Robin.  Just make sure our passports are valid, I’ve told him, and I’ll take care of all the arrangements.  We will be celebrating that one in style!

Any Old Iron?

During our never ending clean up duties, Robin had gathered a whole heap of various metal pieces.  Old wire netting, a metal tray or two, a few copper pipes, some stainless steel and aluminium.  Even an old brass basin.  All very nondescript stuff really, and some of it covered in rust.  Into the back of the 4WD it went, to go down to the metal recyclers.

Loaded up and ready to go

The workman sorted the metal into categories, and weighed each different type.  This was Robin’s first trip to this facility, and he was pleasantly surprised to receive a moderate amount of cash for a load of old junk.  Thanks to Derek for the metal disposal advice, otherwise the whole lot might well have ended up in the tip.

I’ve been sorting out and getting rid of stuff too today.  Posted off two Trade Me (NZ version of EBay) parcels today to buyers of unwanted things I’ve found in the cupboards.  It’s amazing just what I’m coming across tucked away in cupboards and drawers which I’d forgotten about.  Then I delivered two big bags of clothes and books to the Hospice OP Shop.  The way I look at it, each box or bag we get rid of, is one less that we have to pack and carry away when we leave!  And of course, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!

Here’s dust in your eye

Robin’s got a big job on, and not much time to get it done and no “Bloke” to help.  After years of sitting outside in all weather, his trailer needed some work to get it roadworthy.  More work than he first realised, to tell the truth.  Lifting the ply wood floor right off revealed that the timber struts had disintegrated, the metal chassis was covered in rust, and the bolts on the axle had almost rusted through.   We need the trailer to help us shift, and to carry packed boxes and crates to store in our lock-up.

This bolt has almost rusted through

He got to work with his electric drill and wire brush, working away at removing the rust from the metal chassis, sensibly donning a pair of safety glasses first.  There certainly were plenty of flecks of old paint, grit and dust flying around.  Something lodged in his eye, and I had to play nursemaid for a while.  I peered into his eye, washed it out with warm water, and still he said he could feel something in there under the lid.  I think the particle had grazed the white of his eye, and that is what he could feel.

Sanding off under here

And here as well

It’s dangerous work, being a home handyman.