Christmas Caravan Rally

We had beautiful warm weather for our caravan club Christmas Rally, for the most part, anyway.  As often happens, the heavens opened and the rain came down on our last day.  But never mind, it didn't dampen the Christmas spirit.  Our caravan was decorated with the Christmas Cushions, and Santa Bear was perched on the corner of the sofa.

Christmas Cushions and Santa Bear

I found my Christmas Coins tablecloth, safely tucked away, and this was inspired by Jocelyn of https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/   I made this when I saw something similar on her blog some time ago, using small Christmas strips and scraps.  Originally this started as a leader and ender project, as I often do, just sewing strips together while I was working on something else. 

Christmas Coins tablecloth

Our last rally of the year was held at Rangiotu School.  The first school was built here in 1896 on 2 acres of land gifted by Enereta te Rangiotu. In 1996 the school, with a role of 24 pupils and four classrooms, was closed by the Government, along with a number of others through out New Zealand. The school and the land was then  passed back into Rangitāne ownership, and  now used for seminars, conferences and the like, and is also available for clubs like us to use from time to time.

Staying at Rangiotu School for the weekend

Although Father Christmas didn't come to visit, and no gifts were exchanged, we still had a great time.  We all gathered under the nice shady trees for morning teas and 4zees, and we had the use of a small hall for the evenings.  It was a bit of a squeeze, but we all managed to sit around the table  to eat our meal together on Saturday evening.  Some had been busy barbequing, others cooked in their vans, or brought cold salads over for their meal. The tables were decorated, bottles of bubbly were popped, glasses raised, and we wished each other well. Dessert was provided by the club, lovely locally grown strawberries and ice-cream, to finish off our meal.

Dinner time

Gemma seemed to enjoy her time away too.  She was keen to get outside and explore, so we took her safely under control on her harness and lead – we don’t let her run loose, while camping, both dogs and cats must be tethered and under control.   While we were sitting down outside with the others under the shady tree, she was investigating what she could find in the undergrowth, then settled down for a snooze.  Of course, she is very fond on relaxing in the caravan as well and makes herself comfortable on the bed or the sofa.

Afternoon nap time

The rain came down overnight, so we packed up in the rain on Sunday morning.  But not before we had our final morning tea, with delicious Christmas Mince Pies courtesy of the club.  Goodness me, we seem to have been eating all weekend and it was great to catch up with our caravan friends before we all head off in different directions over the holiday season.