Spot the Difference

Thanks to fellow caravanner and blog reader Geoff for giving us the “thumbs up” after reading about the purchase of our new pale blue Toyota.  Can anyone else see what is wrong with this photo?

Something is not quite right

As Geoff pointed out, the wheel trims are not the same on this side of the car.  We hadn’t noticed that while checking out our new purchase.  Consequently, the car was driven down to the dealership, and the difference politely pointed out.  What could they do about it?  As it turned out, they were aware of the problem, had ordered a new wheel trim and it was ready and waiting.  But….. they couldn’t quite remember which car it was for, probably because we had since taken this car home.  Now, why couldn’t they have told us that at time of purchase, we wondered?  Never mind, the trim was speedily replaced and we were on our way, happy little campers again.

  That’s better, matching wheel trims

The car was supplied without a copy of the car manual, but we have been assured that the book has been ordered and should be received shortly.  That’s what we want to hear – courteous service goes a long way and makes for happy customers.

That’s a real bloke’s tool

Just how long does a birthday last?  A couple of days, it seems.   The actual birthday yesterday finished with a birthday meal last night to Breakers in Paraparaumu.  There seems to be a chain of of these casual family dining establishments throughout the country and this particular restaurant has only recently opened.  It was doing good business and we noticed that most of the tables had been reserved for reasonably sized groups.  The meal was tasty, in fact we had the steak special of two for the price of one!

Today we drove up to Bunnings in Palmerston North to get Robin his new Ryobi drill.  For those who want to know the specs:

Compact Drill Driver Kit, 4.0ah Lithium Battery & 1.5ah Lithium Battery, 2 speeds, 24 torque settings, LED light and on board accessory holder, 2 batteries, and comes with a carrier bag.  It all sounds rather technical to me, but it was just what he wanted.  So why not – he will be able to potter around to his heart’s content.

Robin’s birthday pressie

We bought a few things for the back garden, they will probably get dealt with later.  As for now, it’s just about time for a cuppa and a piece of that birthday cake.

He’s been waiting a long time

It’s Happy Birthday to Robin today, another year older but still hale and hearty and enjoying life.  After all – he’s not that old!  We started off the day with sautéed mushrooms on toast for breakfast, then he opened up his birthday cards and a couple of gifts.  The presents covered the necessities of life, he said, a large jar of home made pickled onions, a pack of his favourite Tui beer, and a large quantity of chocolate!  What more could a man want on his birthday? 

Happy Birthday to Robin

Actually, there was something else he wanted, and he has been waiting years and years.  As he keeps reminding me every birthday.  Each year, he trots out the story of one particular birthday quite some time ago when I had promised him a home made carrot cake, but didn’t get around to making it.  Why?  Who knows, that part of the story is lost in the mists of time after all these years.  So finally, this birthday he finally gets his wish.  Here it is at last, a carrot cake with cream cheese icing,

He’s been waiting a long time for this

There’s another birthday gift coming, but he has to buy it for himself.  That way he will get exactly what he wants.  Robin wants (needs) a new battery drill and has been checking out possibilities and different brands.  He’s whittled the choices down and we now need to travel to a larger town to make the purchase.

First drive in the new car

I took my first “solo” drive in the new blue car yesterday.  After many years of happily driving  around suburbia in Lazuli it felt strange driving a different vehicle.  This one has six gears, for goodness sake, although I suspect 5 and 6 could well be for travelling on the open road.  I’m certainly not going to worry about them for a while.  Robin sent me on my way full of good advice.  The clutch pedal must be depressed when the motor is turned on or else the car will not start.   I should be able to remember that.  Starting off slowly, I drove carefully out of the village -  I wouldn’t want to knock over any of the other old folks who live here.  Luckily they were all inside their homes having a nice cup of tea and I didn’t see a soul as I went on my way.

It always takes a little while to get the feel of the gears, and most importantly, just how sensitive the brake pedal is.  Must admit it is an easy car to drive, and I parked up without mishap in the shopping centre car park.  Locking the car with the remote was a new experience for me, and off I went, shopping list in hand to complete a few purchases.  Out with the remote on my return, the lights flashed and I opened the door and climbed back in.  That was easy.

OK, I remembered to press the clutch pedal down, but why wont the key go in?  Perhaps I’m putting it in the wrong way?  No, it’s still not going in the key hole.  This is getting embarrassing, I really don’t want to get the cell phone out and ring Robin to come and rescue me on my first time out in the new car.  Then the penny dropped.  I was trying to start the little blue Toyota with the Landcruiser key.  Ooops, no wonder it wasn’t going to work.  Crisis over, and I was soon on my way home.  But we won’t tell Robin, will we?

More to see in Upper Hutt

After checking out historical Golder Cottage yesterday, our SLG friends stopped for a tasty lunch then moved on to Expressions Gallery.  Ashley was organising our day out, and thought we would be interested in the two quite different major exhibitions on show.

The Gloaming exhibition featured sculptures from Johnny Fraser-Allen’s incredible children’s fantasy series.  He has worked at Weta Workshop as a Conceptual Designer, Sculptor and Model Maker since he was a teenager, contributing to such films as King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia, Tintin and most recently the Hobbit. His work on The Gloaming is a combination and celebration of nearly a decades worth of skills learnt in the fantasy special effects industry, and put to use to create his own take on the Faerie mythologies of the world.  There were some rather scary models on display, so we presume that they would appeal to an older age group.  Very young children would no doubt have night-mares!

 

The intricate models are real little works of art and have to be seen close up to appreciate the details.  Large photos are also on display and we were told the story behind them  The models were taken  down to the South Island and placed in various areas of  the West Coast Forests, resulting in rather lifelike photos.

Models and photos at The Gloaming Exhibition

The second exhibition was more down to earth than woodland creatures and showcased the skill of New Zealand's leading rugby photographer Peter Bush.  Rugby is our national game and has a huge following in this country.  Peter Bush  describes capturing an All Black game as 'a total workout', he chased the game up and down the field, while others set up their cameras and waited for the game to come to them.

“Hard on the Heels” featured over 100 images of great All Black moments, games and players over a 60 year period.  The  exhibition was drawn from Bush's vast library of photographs and features personal favourites, the controversial and contentious, alongside humorous, candid behind-the-scenes shots.

Checking out some of the rugby photos

Running with the ball out of the mist

Photos of players scoring great tries, the team performing the haka, weary players covered in mud, and shower room banter, the photos brought back memories for anyone who follows the game.  And even a non sporty type like me could appreciate the raw talent of tough Kiwi men trying to keep their hands on that bullet shaped ball at all times.  For All Blacks, winning is everything, there is no prize for coming second!

Our SLG friends had a very interesting day out, something for everyone.  Then it was back to Ashley’s home for afternoon tea.  Thanks to Ashley for putting it all together.

Historic Golder Cottage

Imagine bringing up 12 children in a tiny colonial cottage in the late 1800s.  This was the life of Jane Martin and John Golder who married in 1877.  Jane was the first white girl child born in Upper Hutt.  John built the cottage himself, adding to it over the years as the babies kept coming.  He also made much of the household furniture.  We visited this very interesting little time capsule today with our SLG friends.  Yes, we have visited before some years ago, but we always seem to find something new to see at these sort of places.

That’s me walking through the door at Golder Cottage

The tiny rooms were crammed with furniture, mementoes and family photos.  The inside of the cottage has not been redecorated and the walls are still covered in scrim.   The beautiful timber dining table is just one of the many items of furniture made by the talented John Golder.  Two wooden mantles in the house were decorated with crotched lace edging with patriotic sayings such as  “God bless our soldiers in the trenches and our sailors on the sea”.

Sitting room

Cooking was done on the coal range

The tiny scullery

Two tiny bedrooms were up the top of a very steep and narrow staircase.  Goodness knows where all those children slept at night.  Lovely vintage nightgowns and undies were displayed, and hand made rag rugs were scattered about the floors.

One of the tiny upstairs bedrooms

Sadly, John Golder was killed in 1902 when his horse bolted and the trap overturned.  Jane was left a widow with a very large family and there was no such thing as a Widow’s Pension to help out in those days.  Their eldest son Alexander never married, and helped with bringing up the family.  Jane Golder died in 1942, and the cottage stayed in the family for another 40 or so years when Miss Theresa Golder moved into a rest home at the grand old age of 92.  Ownership of the cottage was transferred to the Upper Hutt City Council to preserve it as part of the city’s heritage.

Our group outside Golder Cottage

We admired the gardens and commented that we remembered a huge kowhai tree in the front lawn from our earlier visit.  This had to be removed as the tree trunk was rotten and in danger of falling down.  But a new kowhai tree has been planted in it’s place and is now in full flower.

Young kowhai tree in flower

It was a very informative morning, and I helped out with the fundraising with the purchase of a couple of jars of home made jam from the sales table.  The cottage is staffed with volunteers who work hard to keep it going, so every little bit helps.

Who is this rallying in our patch?

No caravan rally for our club this weekend, but the Wellington Caravan Club was holding a rally up here in our home town.  Quite close by, as it turned out, in one of the local Primary schools.  So being the friendly folk we are, we invited ourselves along to their Morning Tea.  As long term club caravanners, we know to take our own cups and the makings with us, and presumably someone would point us in the direction of some boiling water.  Plus we also took along our folding chairs, in case the group was sitting outside in the fresh air.

The members of the Wellington Caravan Club warmly welcomed us and invited us to sit and join them in the Staff Room for Morning Tea.  Found the urn full of boiling water in the kitchen and made the coffees.  Then a plate full of muffins magically appeared and was presented to the VIPs, (that’s us).  We were well acquainted with most of these people so had a very pleasant catch up with them all.  A lot of banter, and a few laughs, and the morning passed pleasantly.  So that’s how we managed to attend a rally, albeit briefly, without actually having our own rally.  It’s not long now till we go away again, our caravan club has a rally planned in just a week or two, over the hill and far away in the Wairarapa.  Yes, we are looking forward to that.