We’re on a Safari – Day 1

There is a safari brewing, starting from Marton NZMCA site – and we arrived a day early.  Keen Leisureline owners are heading up to Bowentown for the inaugural Leisureline Owners Rally.  Why not take a leisurely week to get there?  Robin decided to plan a safari trip, first stop Marton.

While we waited for the others to arrive we enjoyed a couple of peaceful sunny Marton days.  I took a walk around the view the church that we could see peeping through the tall trees.  St Stephen’s Anglican Church, designed by George Frederic Allen, is said to have been modelled on Salisbury Cathedral, England, although shortage of finance led to modifications.

St Stephen’s Anglican Church, Marton

Merv and Joan, the friendly custodians called around to do their checks and cleaning.  They are such hard workers and the nice tidy camp is a credit to their endeavors.  With the kettle whistling we managed to convince them to stop work for a wee while and join us for a cuppa in the meeting room.  It was great to catch up with their news and hear some interesting campsite tales.  They had kindly brought along some grapes from their vine at home for the campers to help themselves.

Merv and Joan, camp custodians

We sat in the sunshine to eat our lunch, and watched as a friendly little sparrow splashed around taking a bath in one of the puddles.  He was certainly having fun.

Bath time for the sparrow

The first of our safari team, Geoff and Eileen arrived soon after lunch.  They told us they had been coming to   Marton for 39 years – this MZMCA site used to be the local motor camp.  Then during the afternoon Don and Sandra rolled in, followed by Bill and Val.

Our four Leisurelines in a row

We had afternoon tea in the meeting room,closely followed by 4zees.  It just happened to be Sandra’s birthday, which one, we asked, but she wasn’t saying.  Sandra had a chocolate birthday cake to share, thanks very much indeed.

Happy Birthday Sandra

Noel and Lynn arrived a little later and had to move their van several times to ensure they could find the satellite for their TV reception.  With that finally achieved, they joined us for 4zees, or maybe it was closer to 5zees by the time they arrived with glasses in their hands.  Most decided on the easy option of Fish and Chips for the evening meal and a delegation travelled into town.  Robin had been told by a camper earlier in the day which was the best Fish and Chips shop of them all – so that’s where they drove off to.

And the sun goes down in Marton

Off we go again

It’s not a bad day for a trip.  There is a clear blue sky, and the early morning sunshine is kissing the hills behind our home.   We are away for two weeks, and taking the driving in nice easy stages.

A good day for a road trip

But first the caravan had a bit of a spruce up yesterday to wash the dust and dirt away.  Robin cleaned high and washed the top of the awning, and then all the paintwork got washed down.

 

Getting ready for another trip

First stop today was Sanson, to top up with fuel, then on to Marton, just in time for lunch – a 70km drive today.

We are staying at the NZMCA site at Marton, quite a favourite of ours.  When we arrived, the camp was quite empty, with all the overnighters moving on in the morning before we arrived.  We found ourselves a site, signed the book, paid our fees, and settled down in the sunshine.

Here we are at Marton for the next two nights

The camp is surrounded by many mature trees, the sun is shining, and the birds are singing.  Down the far end of the camp we could see the bell tower of the local church just peeping through the trees.

Church bell tower

With a little shopping to attend to in the afternoon, followed by a visit to friends, we didn’t return to camp till 5.00pm or so.  And as to be expected, the numbers at the camp had increased dramatically while we were out and about, up to about a dozen or so, and no doubt others will trundle in later in the evening.

We are expecting caravan buddies to meet up and join us tomorrow (Saturday), and then our adventure will begin.  The pair of us decided to arrive a day early, just because we could.

Over Stayers and Fire Engines on Easter Monday

It wouldn’t be a long weekend away without running out of gas, would it?  Being off power, both the fridge and hot water were quietly gobbling up the gas, and sure enough, the gas refused to light when I was all set to make our breakfast cup of tea.  It could have been much worse, when the beep, beeps and the flashing red light on the fridge lets you know the gas has run out in the middle of the night.  Robin soon replaced the empty cylinder with a full one, and kitchen service was resumed.

Changing the gas cylinder

We met in the hall for morning tea, the final raffles were drawn, but no, we weren’t lucky enough to win one of the prizes.  Then the National Rally was officially closed and we enjoyed a cuppa together before people packed up and went home.

There was some new technology to check out – Geoff and Eileen have just purchased a new “Motor Step” to make things easier getting in and out of their caravan.  With the a push of the button, it gently glides up, or down.  Such a clever idea indeed.  Reminds us of “Are you being Served”  Level 3 – Lingerie perhaps?  I had to have a try too, stepped on, pushed the button, and glided up to the doorway!

Coming down

Campers were soon hooking up their vans, saying their goodbyes and setting off on the homeward journey.  There was also the option for “over stayers” to stay over on Monday evening, and about half decided to take advantage of this offer – including us.  The rain came down in a deluge, and when it finally stopped,  I climbed up the staircase again to get another photo of those remaining for an extra night.

Half full, or half empty?

The heavy showers continued off and on all afternoon, and the drains couldn’t cope with all the water.  We ended up paddling to and fro through water inches deep!  But a rainbow made an appearance, promising that the rain would soon stop.

Rain, rain, go away

Preparations got underway for the Over-stayers Dinner in the late afternoon.  Cooks were busy in the hall kitchen cooking up pikelets for dessert while the rest of us were enjoying 4zees.  Goodness knows what they were getting up to in the kitchen but the cooks set the fire alarm off.  As the alarm was ringing in our ears a disembodied voice kept repeating, “evacuate the building, evacuate the building”, and we stood outside the hall in the drizzly rain.  Sure enough, sirens sounding, a fire engine soon arrived.

Fire engine to the rescue

The crew donned their heavy tanks, and entered the hall, to check things out.  Goodness knows what they thought of our bunch of geriatric campers all milling around.  They had to search through the other rooms attached to the hall, just to make sure that nothing else was amiss, and in doing so, set the burglar alarm off as well.  Then a second fire engine arrived.

Then there were two

After all that excitement, we were finally allowed back into the hall, and the fire engines departed.  Luckily the blokes cooking our shared evening meal of sausages, meat patties and onions out on the porch didn’t make enough smoke to recall the engines.  With the addition of coleslaw and bread and butter, it was a simple but tasty meal indeed.  With pikelets, jam and whipped cream to follow, yummy.

Grub’s up!

The Gisborne club did a “wooden spoon presentation” to one of their members, all taken in good spirit.  Sorry, but I didn’t catch the name of the giver, or the receiver, but it seems that this was the bloke who set the fire alarm off while cooking the pikelets in the kitchen!

It was all his fault, it seems

It was a great weekend, and so nice to catch up with people from other clubs whom we hadn’t seen for a while.  Although we had no luck with the raffles, but we did receive Easter Eggs and Easter Buns.  And staying an extra day meant that we missed most of the Easter road traffic.

Easter Sunday at Foxton

The Easter Bunnies came calling on Sunday morning at the rally, complete with a basket full of golden eggs.  Thank you very much!

Judith and Alan, masquerading as Easter Bunnies

As usual at these sort of rallies over the Easter Weekend, a church service was arranged for Easter Sunday.  Our very own caravanning Reverend, Derek Keatley, took the service, and a fair sized crowd of campers gathered in the hall.  Thank you Derek, for providing this service for your fellow caravanners and friends.

Later in the morning I climbed some stairs up the side of a building which gave a good view of all the assorted caravans and motor homes attending.  There were a few more vans parked around a corner or two, but this was the bulk of them.

Birds eye view of the campers

Our spot in the school grounds

Sunday evening saw us gathered at the local RSA for a meal out, just a short walk across the grass, squeezing through a gap in the fence, and we were there.  With 90 or so guests for dinner, the kitchen staff did very well indeed to get us fed.  To make things simpler, the chef offered a choice of two mains, roast beef or fried fish, plus desserts.  We both enjoyed the roast beef, melt-in-the-mouth tender beef, tasty rich gravy,  with a great selection of roast vegetables.  Those who had ordered fish said it was delicious too.  It was a great night out indeed.

Waiting for our meals

Two more happy diners

Easter Saturday - Pancakes for Breakfast

With the promise of a pancake breakfast, most of the campers were up bright and early on Saturday morning.  Blokes and barbeques were everywhere.  Bacon was sizzling away, pancakes were being poured on to the hot plates, bananas were sliced in half, and maple syrup was waiting.  The smell of cooking bacon was delicious indeed.

Cooking up a storm

We had taken plates and cutlery into the hall, and waited for the call for breakfast.  The hall was filling up fast.

 

Flipping those pancakes

The call “Come and get it”, or words to that effect soon had us queuing up to collect our tasty breakfast.  Which was soon demolished.  Then the call went out for seconds, and honestly, we just couldn’t help ourselves.  Many thanks to the Gisborne club for organizing the breakfast.

Happy campers eating their pancake breakfasts

After lunch we took a walk up town for a couple of necessities.  Foxton is one of those towns decorated with murals, which is a great way to see the history of the area.  This particular mural shows the engine “Palmerston”, built especially for the Foxton line.  The engine carried both passengers and freight,  depicted here on the mural travelling through the main street of Foxton, about 1875.

The engine Palmerston on the Foxton Line

The Saturday evening entertainment was provided by Ian Farmer, of Feilding.  He kept our toes tapping as he played the sort of songs that we all remembered from our young days, and we sung along with gusto.

Entertainer Ian Farmer

And took to the dance floor, sitting down again when the creaky knees started complaining.  Enthusiastic dancers joined in the Gay Gordons, and the Chicken Dance while we preferred the more romantic trips around the dance floor.

On the dance floor

It was a great night, as we reminisced about dancing the night away in our teen years.  In the early days before our boyfriends had cars, we traveled by bus and train to Saturday nights, to meet up and get our dancing fix.  Those were the days!

National Rally at Foxton

That nasty Cyclone Cook travelled down the country, wrecking havoc here and there, and fortunately for us,  veered away slightly from our area before travelling South.  A massive clean-up is underway in the North Island after Cyclone Cook carved a destructive swathe across eastern regions overnight. Heavy rain and strong wind watches remain in force for southern regions as the cyclone unleashes its final sting before moving away from the country tonight.  Originally touted as “comparable to the Wahine storm” everyone  was very worried indeed. The sinking of the Lyttelton–Wellington ferry Wahine on 10th April 1968 was New Zealand's worst modern maritime disaster, with the loss of over 50 people.

With Cook out of the way, the attendees at the rally at Foxton breathed a collective sigh of relief and settled down to enjoy themselves.  About 40 vans were in attendance, some travelling from Auckland, Gisborne, and Hawkes Bay, with plenty from the local region.

Some of the vans parked at Manawatu College

There were a few dogs along for the weekend, and one couple along their beloved birds, snapped outside enjoying the sunshine.

Caravanning is for the birds!

The Opening Ceremony took place on Friday afternoon, and the banner holders were led into the hall behind a piper.  There is nothing like bagpipes to get the pulse racing, I always feel.

Here come the banner holders

The 24th CCNZ National Rally was officially opened.

Presentations were then made.  Graham and Heather from the Wairarapa Club were presented with their 200th Rally awards.

Graham and Heather receive their 200th awards

Then Graham and Karen from the Palmerston North club received their 400th Rally awards.  Many congratulations to both couples.

Graham and Karen receiving their 400th awards

Derek then took the floor and announced that he was in charge of “bog rolls” over the weekend.  He then went on to explain that to keep costs down we would be allowed one sheet at a time, and went on to carefully explain exactly how we could make this allocation do the job.

Derek explaining toilet etiquette, one sheet at a time

Club photos then took place.  We took some photos for other clubs and then they returned the favour for us.  Here we are, some of us in our orange outfits.

Heretaunga caravan club members at the rally

There were a few quizzes held in the evening get-together to test our brains.  Sadly our table didn’t have all the answers, but then, we didn’t get the lowest score either.  Not like that other group in the hall - how embarrassing to have to admit to that!  The beauty of these rallies is the opportunity to meet up again up with people we hadn’t seen for a while, and catch up with all their news. 

Weather Watches and Warnings

It’s Murphy’s Law again – and we wish he would stop.  We can practically guarantee that when we want to pack the caravan, the rain comes down.  Several trips were done this morning, and once we stopped for lunch, the rain came down, heavier than ever.

But wait – there’s more!  Cyclone Cook is set to bring chaos across New Zealand.  The country is being warned to be prepare for damaging gales, enormous storm surges and widespread flooding as Cyclone Cook bears down, threatening to plunge regions into chaos.    A State of Emergency has already been declared in flood ravaged Bay of Plenty, the area which suffered so badly last week with Cyclone Debbie.

Luckily, our Easter Weekend caravan adventure is only 20km or so up the road at Foxton, not too far to travel in the expected wild weather tomorrow.  So fingers crossed that Cyclone Cook will pass us by quickly, and we can enjoy our weekend away.  We will certainly be keeping a wary eye out on the weather.