Weekend in the Country

Last weekend was spent with fellow caravan club members at a Park over Property (Pop) on a farm just north of Feilding.  This is where owners make their properties available to NZMCA members for a small fee, offering somewhere safe to park up, quite often a grassed or shingle area.  The owners of these properties are also members of NZMCA (NZ Motor Caravan Association). 

Early arrivals

There is a toilet available for the use of the campers, and the farmer obviously has a sense of humour.  The attached sign reads “Last Dunny for 240kms”.

This way to the loo

Staying at a rural property is full of delights for those of us who live in suburbia.  There were sheep in the paddocks, chickens running around, and the roosters made sure we all woke up bright and early.  In a neighboring farm we could hear the stags roaring, no doubt warning rival stags to keep well away from the hinds.  There were even some peacock babies running around, we spotted several penhen mothers and their gangly legged chicks trying to keep well away from the visitors and their caravans invading their farm.  The mums flew over the farm gate, while the chicks scrambled through the metal bars.  Sadly I didn't have my camera at the ready to capture their antics.

After lunch the club went out for Afternoon Tea at a local café, while we traveled on to Kiwitea to meet up with the family, and had a cuppa and a good catch up on their newly built deck.  The granddaughters are very keen horsewomen and Emma took me to the paddock to meet her Dad’s new acquisition, a pretty roan pony.  And to say hello to Emma’s two horses, mother and daughter duo Sonata and Fire Dancer.

I had to go and greet the horses

The farmer and his wife joined in with us for morning tea and happy hour, and told us that one of his sows was farrowing, and if anyone was interested, he would take us to see the babies the following day.  How exciting, I’m rather fond of these animals.  We tiptoed into the barn where Mum was laying down and the babies were suckling.  “They are at the milk bar”, the farmer intoned.  Then he picked a piglet up, what a racket that little one made, squealing at the top of its voice!

Just look at those cute little piglets

I spent a bit of time sitting outside in the sunshine while I finished off the back of my cardigan/jacket.  You may remember that I had knitted up to the armhole decreases while on holiday, found I had an incorrect number of stitches, so then sat to and unraveled the whole lot!  So I am pleased to finally get to the end of it, the second time around.

The back is finished at last

We had a lovely weekend away in the country, catching up with our caravan buddies, played a game of Battle Sticks outside one afternoon, and took part in a couple of quizzes in the evening to test our brains.  Met up with family, and then got to see those little piglets, much fun.