Finally we are off on a caravan trip - the weekend was spent with our caravan club buddies, not too far away at Betts Farm. Our previous caravan club rally had been cancelled due to Covid lockdown, as had our planned 3 week trip north. So there was plenty of news to catch up with our caravan buddies. The night ended with a lovely sunset, always so nice to see the gorgeous colours in the sky.
Lovely sunset
The weekend rally seemed to be all about eating and a little drinking. Glenys was celebrating her birthday on Saturday so she rushed home to bake some delicious scones for morning tea. They were delicious, Happy Birthday Glenys. We all love home baking, and the scones were delicious. Lunch was at the Quarter Acre Café, and then, to top off our foodie experience, Helen and Owen had made some Mulled Wine for us all to sample at 4zeees. I’m not really a wine drinker, but I found it delicious!
I got a real fright when I realised my wedding ring had slipped off my finger sometime during the morning. We had searched high and low throughout the van, pulled the bed apart,and then I remembered I had leaned out the bedroom window to hang the towels on the portable clothesline hanging from the window. Sue rushed over to our van to check and sure enough, there it was hiding in the grass under the towels on the small clothesline – she came back triumphant! I was so pleased and thankful it had been found.
Spotted by eagle eyed Sue, thanks so much!
Then it was on to visit the Studebaker Museum, a place of heaven for American car lovers. I found a little bit of heaven too – look who was inside ready to welcome me! High on my Wish List is a visit to Gracelands, but that probably wont happen now, I guess.
Who loves you, Elvis
There were plenty of Studebaker cars for the men to to drool over, and it was interesting to see a photo of the brothers who designed and made all these various models.
Also on display was a dinky little retro caravan. So cute!
After our weekend at Betts Farm we packed up and headed to the “Naki”, Robin’s old stomping grounds. We were traveling with Val and Bill, keeping them company as they wanted to finalise arrangements for a future ICA rally. We hadn’t gone too far on our travels before our first stop, lunch at Viv’s Kitchen in Sanson. Bill and Val couldn’t go past the world famous in Sanson Cream Horns, while we opted for Chocolate Eclairs. As it happened, we didn’t manage to eat our cream delights with our lunch, so had them packed up to take away and eat later in the day. And yes, our choc eclairs were delicious.
Viv’s Kitchen
We stayed in New Plymouth at a former tamarillo orchard, a lovely pleasant place to stay, where we opted for power sites, very reasonable at $10 per night. Gemma was kept entertained staring through the windows at all the birds hopping around outside – she didn’t notice the rabbits though, wonder what she would have thought of them?
Staying at New Plymouth
A visit to the laundromat was always going to happen, must keep up with the laundry. Our visit was a little different in these Covid times, as we were not allowed to sit inside and wait till the cycles have finished. I usually stay behind with my knitting, while Robin goes off and does other things which need doing, but not this time. We put the clothes in the washer, went away, came back, retrieved the washing and put it in the drier, left once more till finally returning to collect it from the drier – that all took three trips!
Happiness is clean laundry!
It wouldn’t be a trip to New Plymouth if we didn’t have a meal at Sun World Chinese Restaurant. Being in Level 2 this was a different experience – there was smorgasbord as usual, but we were served by the staff as we made our selections. The food is always very nice here, but we noticed the bookings were very light, perhaps the public weren't quite ready to venture out just yet.
Sun World Chinese Restaurant
The following day we drove to Urenui Beach, driving through a huge Motor Camp to get to the shore. The camp was fairly empty at this time, but will surely be filled to capacity during Summer. This looks a lovely place to come back to in the summer.
Urenui Beach
So far on this trip I’ve only done a little secret sock knitting, so nothing to show. I do have my stitchery with me as well, maybe I’ll get some time to sit and stitch, lets wait and see.
12 comments:
Great you’re able to go on your travels again…
How lucky were you that your friend found your wedding ring…..
Oh those cream horns and eclairs… yummy 😋
this time of Covid certainly makes camping trips different. We haven't gone for various reasons in two years now. I don't drive the motorhome and if Mike would get sick I would need to take care of all of it and with arthritis in my hands it is very difficult to next to impossible for me to do the sewer connections and hooking up the car to tow. When we took a short vacation to two different AirBnb's this past June one day when we were out at a hiking site I lost my wedding ring and was not able to find it so I know how you felt. We had been out at a hiking location and when I put on sun screen on the trails it must have slipped off. The ring of 49 years was gone and not found. I finally got a new one last month and getting used to the new feel.
Thank goodness Sue found your ring: I imagine you were quite frazzled. Eclairs or cream horns? Such a difficult choice!
I'm so delighted that you are not letting Covid steal your fun. Bravo for Sue, give her a big thanks from me, too. It was funny to me that you would have a Studebaker Museum in New Zealand. I was born in the town where they were made. South Bend, Indiana. Happy Camping, sweet friend!
Urenui Beach, we stayed there in a place called " The Castle" in 1963!!! A huge open fire that took logs 3 feet long, and the wind at the beach whipped up the sand so we really did have "sandwiches" So good you can at last be away, and like us, you will be hoping the level drops again soon.Enjoy every day.
How lovely that you got to meet up with your friends and that you got to go away on a trip. I hope you are enjoying/enjoyed it.
God bless.
So happy you got your ring back. My mom lost hers, a pretty one with a ring of forgetmenots around Dad had specially made for her. Her favourite flower. It didn’t cost that much and it got replaced with a much more expensive one. Mom always grieved losing her special ring and never felt the same about the new one.
Meanwhile wonderful food which I loved seeing. Stay safe.
Lucky find with your ring. So good you got to have your trip… Hope you get more sock knitting done. I have just discovered a hole in the slacks my frien made for me. I am so sad. Keep the good times going.
It's so nice that you're able to escape for a change of scenery, though you probably could have done without the temporary loss of your wedding ring! Goodness. And you didn't even know it fell off? Your weight must be down if your finger is that slender. So when you're gone from home, someone must stay at your place, right? But glad that Gemma gets to enjoy traveling with you. The places you're going look nice, especially the critical stops for food and treats! I'd be "rolling" home after so much indulgence! :-) Oddly enough, I've never been to Graceland, though I have passed it many times on our travels. Love the Betty Boop travel trailer in your picture. That's the size I remember traveling and camping in - there were five of us! That's the only way my parents could afford to take us all on vacation.
Love the sunset and the beach photos. So glad to know you are having fun. Enjoy, Jenny!
Great to see you getting away and having a wonderful time. I am so pleased you found that ring. That was a close call!
So glad you found your lost ring. Sound like a wonderful holiday with lots of yummy food! Happy knitting!
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