Just a little Stitching

Not much time for more than just a little stitching when we joined 1600 caravans and motorhomes at the Motor Home, Caravan and Leisure Show held at Hamilton.  We arrived the day before the show started, as did most of the other campers, and I sat outside under the awning doing some stitching on my Autumn project.  I’ve finished the yellow petals, now need to fill in the middle with brown seeds.  That will keep me quiet for a while, I’m sure.

Autumn stitchery

This is what arrival day looked like, when we lined up with hundred of other vans waiting for the gates to open.  To get us off the road, we were guided into a large paddock high on a plateau overlooking the venue.  At midday the gates opened and we all rolled in, driving gingerly down the unsealed road, then we were directed to the parking areas. You would have to take particular note of where you were parked up, as all these white vans look so similar, it would be so easy to get lost.

Here we come,one after the other

The huge Event Centre was chock full of bright and shiny campers and caravans.  New Zealand built, Australian, and plenty of European vans too.  Where to start looking?  We started with our favourite brand, Leisureline, and looked through their newest vans.  Then checked out overseas brands such as Winnebago, Dethletts, Eldis, Jaeco, and whatever else took our fancy.  Some of these fancy motorhomes cost serious money, beautiful, but very pricy.

Just a small part of the show

Lunch was calling so we went outside to check out the food stalls, finally deciding on a Hot Dog each.  Mind you, we could well have chosen a whitebait fritter, fish and chips, kebabs, or even Chinese for lunch.  We were lucky to find seats under cover in the huge tent to escape from the hot sun beating down, and ate our lunch serenaded by a golden voiced singer.  With so much to see, I’m sure we missed some of what was on offer.  This one piqued my interest, wonder if it built for Aussie conditions to keep them safe from crocodiles while camping by the river?

Tenting on top of a big red truck

I had intended to walk up the hill so that we could get photos of the vans parked up, but in the end we took the easier option and drove up.  Just look at them all – there are sure to be areas of parked vans hidden behind buildings  that I couldn’t see from the top of the hill!

Our white caravan is in there somewhere

Then it was time to start heading home and we spent a night at Taupo.  It was fish and chips for our evening meal, and we both commented that it was the nicest fish we had had for a long time.  Mind you, we paid extra and ordered schnapper fillets, well worth the money, we thought.. Gemma was beside herself to see a cat running around outside our caravan, and really wanted to go outside and give it a piece of her mind.  In the end, she gave up and relaxed on a sunny spot on the bed.

What a life!

I always like to stop at the Lookout at Taupo before continuing on our homewards journey.  And what a beautiful sight, looking over Lake Taupo at three snow capped mountains.

 

Lake Taupo and Mt Ruapehu, Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Tongariro

We stopped for lunch at the National Army Museum at Waiouru.  This building looks rather like a castle, doesn’t it?

National Army Museum

Rather than have a sandwich inside our caravan we ate in the museum café.  Look at this gorgeous view through the café window.

Mt Ruapehu

There were lots of interesting posters on the café walls relating to the war years, and I thought this one was great.  Guess housewives had to be rather inventive in the lean years of food rationing.

A few hours later we arrived home – this was only a short trip, and it’s always nice to get back home, isn’t it.