Easter Holidays

It was a separate holiday for us and the cat this Easter.  We were keen to attend  the 27th CCNZ National Rally at Masterton.  With a no animal policy at Solway College, we couldn’t take Gemma, so dropped her off at the local cattery for her second only visit to such a place. I must admit it did worry me how she would get on, although the cattery owner assured us she would get the best of care, and would send a text to let us know how she was settling down.  So we said goodbye, placed her in her unit, and went on our way.  It did feel strange going away in the caravan without her.

Ready in her carry cage

With helpers guiding the vans into rows we were soon settled in.  Our row was Boothill, named for the place where gunslingers and outlaws were buried in Tombstone, Arizona who "died with their boots on."  The hall was decorated in a country and western theme, and the committee had done a great job.

Let the fun begin

Saturday was a busy day and 55 happy campers lined up to board the big blue double decker bus for a mystery trip at 9.00am.  We had to take a packed lunch with us, and our folded camp chairs were whisked away to our lunch spot, wherever that would be, it was a mystery, after all.  First stop was to the local Farmers Market, where the only purchase I made was a nice hot coffee, then on to visit a private garden featuring many sculptures.  The massive gate on the property was interesting.  The owner was told that the designer had his own idea of what he wanted to  to make, and if the owner wasn't happy with the finished product he didn't have to buy it.  It opens by turning the very heavy wheel, so a couple of us took turns trying the mechanism for a photo op.

This is a statement gate indeed

Our picnic lunch stop was at a local farm and as promised our fold up chairs were ready and waiting for us.  But the highlight of the bus trip would have to be Ponataki Greek Church. This private church was the dream of George Pantelous who achieved his heart’s desire with the construction of this beautiful building.

Greek Church

The interior was beautifully painted by an 18 year old artist, Stephen Allwood, who took a year to finish his work, including the dome ceiling.  Such beautiful details, and many thanks to our guide who related the history of this building.  No church pews are inside, the faithful must remain standing for the 2 1/2 hour service, we were told.

Such a beautiful painted interior

The weekend was full of entertainment – in the evening after our bus trip we all met back in the hall for a Line Dancing demonstration.  The dancers all looked very smart indeed in their country style outfits as they “strutted their stuff” to the music.  I was pleasantly surprised that it was not all country music used, they danced to a little rock and roll, and other types of music  too.  After the demo, many of the campers joined the dancers for some easy tuition and did their best to keep up with the experts.

Line Dancing demonstration

On Sunday morning we were all treated to a cooked breakfast, bacon, French Toast, banana and Maple syrup, that really went down a treat.  Such a lot of cooking to feed us all, and the committee did very well indeed.

Sunday breakfast

Two very cute Easter Bunnies came hopping around the hall handing out Easter Eggs, that was nice!

So pleased you came calling

Included in our Goody Bag were two complimentary tickets for the Miniature Railway in nearby Queen Elizabeth Park.  The sun was shining and the park was buzzing with family groups.  Toot, toot, here comes the train!  The passengers disgorged, and then we clambered in.  The track took us several times around the lake, through the tunnel, tooting as it went, such fun.  It doesn't take much to make us happy!

Ride on the miniature railway

The Grande Finale of the weekend was our catered dinner.  The caterers, Kiwi Kai Catering,  arrived towing their kitchen caravan all painted up advertising the Pink Floyd Experience.  The owner told me that they will be going on the tour in June and will be feeding the band and crew.  Our meals were very tasty, roast chicken and ham, with a selection of salads and veggies, followed by individual  berry cheese cakes.  We had taken along some bubbly for me and red wine for Robin to complete our meal, and were obviously having such a great evening that I forgot to take any photos!

NO cooking for us tonight, the caterers have arrived

After our lovely meal the final raffle prizes were drawn, and then the committee started auctioning off various items used for the country style decorations around the hall.  I’m happy to say I won the bid for the three pumpkins, looks like I’ll have plenty of pumpkin soup making ahead of me.  Just as well pumpkins store well so I don't have to use them all immediately.

That will make a lot of soup

The official closing of the rally took place on  Monday morning, and  thanks were made to the Wairarapa Caravan Club for putting on such a great National Rally.  Goodbyes were said and it was time to hook up the caravans, and we all went on our respective ways.  Such a fun weekend, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely, meeting up with old friends and chatting with new folks from other caravan clubs too.

The cattery owner had sent a message through to say that Gemma was “challenging”, was hissing and not letting the owner near her.   Luckily she was eating well.   I guess Gemma had no idea where she was, and why we had left her at this strange place.  When she heard my voice she hopped down from her sleeping area and ran towards me, purring away, rubbing around our legs, just so happy to see us.  I think the separation was painful for her and me as well.  Never mind, she is back to being a caravan cat again.

Although the Easter weather in Masterton was mainly fine, with a few showers, the temperatures were really cold.  I’m so pleased I had packed long trousers, warm tops and wooly socks to take away.   There’s always laundry to do after a trip away, and of course hand knitted socks need hand washing!

Sock laundry time

Mountains, Lakes, and a Sheep Rustler

There is plenty to see on our South Island trip, and we are slowly moving on.  The scenery down here in the South Island can only be described as majestic, with the Southern Alps thrusting up like a backbone, down the length of this island.  So what have we been doing?  We spent a couple of  days in Fairlie, home to the famous Fairlie pies.  Yes I know, our holiday does seem to focus a lot on food.  But that’s half the fun of being on holiday, isn’t it.

We knew the pies were popular but I couldn't believe my eyes.  Here it was, mid afternoon on a Sunday, and queues of people went waiting to get into this shop and buy their pies.   Peeping inside the door and there must have been another 30 queuing inside the shop.  Opening  as a tiny family business in 2010, this business has grown to be one of the best known and most awarded pie-shops in the country – Fairlie Bakehouse.  After years of working in high-end hospitality, trained chef and owner Franz Lieber set out to create a retirement job for himself. He never imagined he’d be producing around 2,500 pies a day and end up working with a team of fifty.  We bought four pies to take away the following morning, one each for lunch, and two to freeze for a future meal.

The famous Fairlie Pies

Fairlie is part of the Mackenzie District, named after Scotsman James Mackenzie, who came to New Zealand seeking a better life in the 1850. After working as a shepherd, he took up a lease of land in Southland, and the lease required him to stock the land with sheep.  James Mackenzie used his knowledge of a mountain pass known only to the local Maoris to spirit away 1000 sheep in the dead of night from a station near Timaru.  Soon caught, he managed to escape and his theft took on a degree of notoriety because he had stolen the sheep from one of the wealthiest settler families in Canterbury.  He was finally caught, convicted and sentenced, recommended for a pardon, and sailed away from New Zealand shores.  His ability with his dogs was highly admired and the statue in town pays tribute to James Mackenzie and his dogs who pulled off the daring sheep rustling over the mountain pass.  Most view him as a folk hero, rather than a dastardly sheep thief.

James Mackenzie and his sheepdog

The following day our first stop on the journey was the quaint little settlement of Burkes Pass, named after Michael John Burke, who discovered the passageway leading into the Mackenzie Country in 1855. This was an alternative route to the Mackenzie Pass which  James Mackenzie, had used to take his sheep into the Otago goldfields.

The historic village of Burkes Pass is home to Three Creeks Shop, an eclectic collection of old buildings, old cars, memorabilia everywhere, and a tiny coffee cart.   Everyone seems to break their journey here, and its easy to seem why.  The place looks so fascinating, just like stepping back in time.  We had a good look around at the interesting old buildings,  inside the general store, and bought a coffee each to go. 

Interesting old shops at Burkes Pass

Lake Tekapo was our stop for the next two nights, in a camp surrounded by pine trees and on the edge of the lake.  A very pretty place indeed.

Staying at Lake Tekapo

Gemma was very interested in the duck family waddling around outside.  Why oh why isn't she allowed outside to chase them, she is wondering?

Look at those big birdies, Mum

There is nothing prettier than the historic Church of the Good Shepherd on the lake side, built of stone and oak in 1935.  Sadly the church is not now open to visitors, which is a shame, but the grounds are open.  There was a wedding taking place, such a picturesque place to get married.

Church of the Good Shepherd

This is a lovely view from the lake shore by the church, looking out to Mt Cook.  When visitors were allowed inside the church, this is the view which would be framed by the church window, making such a pretty picture.

Mt Cook, view over Lake Tekapo

With all this moving around, and sightseeing, I haven't been doing too much handwork.. A little on my stitchery project, but not enough for a photo.  My navy knitting is slowly growing I’m pleased to say. Not too bad, as I had to undo it all recently.  With hot days, and such beautiful scenery out of the car windows as we drive along, I haven't been doing a lot of knitting in the car.   Every little bit helps, doesn't it.

It’s growing slowly

Church, Chocolate Fish and Monsters

During the week we joined 40 or so members of our Probus Club for a Big Day Out in Wellington City.  The alarm clock was set bright and early as we were having an early start.  I’m pleased I decided to take my walker with me as we were to be on our feet for hours, and I didn't know how my back would cope.  I don’t use the walker much at all these days, but for this outing it was worth it’s weight in gold.  It folded up and tucked neatly away in the baggage compartment, so it was no bother taking it al all.

Our coach awaits

The bus driver maneuvered the large bus around the narrow Wellington streets, and our first stop was a short but rather steep walk up the hill to Antrim House in Boulcott Street, thank goodness for the walker.  Antrim House was built for Robert Hannah (of Hannah’s Shoes fame) for his family back in 1904, and the surrounding area would have been quite different back in those days.  The views down to the sea would have been spectacular with no high rise buildings crowding the view back then.  The interior is a warm glow of polished kauri and totara paneling, and features a lovely kauri staircase.

Antrim House

Down the hill we walked to our next stop of St Mary’s of the Angels Church, built in the Gothic Revival style, and opened in 1922.  I can vividly remember my previous visit to this Catholic Church.  It was way back in October 1962, the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the world waited with baited breath,  we thought we were on the brink of nuclear war.  A group of my office workmates and I decided to attend a church service here, to pray for peace, I was 17 years old at the time.  Even down here in far away New Zealand, we felt threatened by the unfolding events.   An American U-2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union on the island of Cuba.   President Kennedy decided to place a naval blockade, or a ring of ships, around Cuba, to prevent the Soviets from bringing in more military supplies. He demanded the removal of the missiles already there and the destruction of the sites. On October 22, President Kennedy spoke to the nation about the crisis in a televised address.  What on earth was going to happen?

No one was sure how Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev would respond to the naval blockade and US demands. But the leaders of both superpowers recognized the devastating possibility of a nuclear war and publicly agreed to a deal in which the Soviets would dismantle the weapon sites in exchange for a pledge from the United States not to invade Cuba. In a separate deal, which remained secret for more than twenty-five years, the United States also agreed to remove its nuclear missiles from Turkey. Although the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba, they escalated the building of their military arsenal; the missile crisis was over, the arms race was not.  How many can remember living through this troubling time?  The interior of the church is very peaceful, with many beautiful lead light windows.  After looking around, many of us were happy to sit and reflect awhile, after all, the world is still troubled by unrest in many countries and an unjust ongoing  war in Ukraine.

St Mary of the Angels

The bus was waiting outside for us, we climbed aboard and drove through the city streets.  The conversations were interesting, as people exclaimed of the new buildings erected since their last trip, many years in some cases, replacing the places they knew in earlier years.  We drove around to Shelly Bay to our lunch stop, Chocolate Fish Café.   Our group was ushered into a covered courtyard, the heaters were glowing to keep the chill at bay, and we sat and pondered the menus.  Whitebait fritter sandwich was on the menu and it seemed that this was the most popular choice, with seafood chowder coming a close second.  Whitebait is a real delicacy, and can be rather pricey, so how often do we have it?  No wonder it was so popular – however Robin bucked the trend and went with a steak sandwich.  After our meals were cleared away, the staff returned with little dishes of chocolate fishes for us to enjoy, that was an unexpected touch, and very welcome.

Robin with Bruce and Julie, our neighbours from the village

The highlight of the day was our 90 minute tour of Weta Workshops, of Lord of the Rings fame, both of us had been wanting to come here for ages.  Kevin, our very enthusiastic host, took us around the display rooms, explaining how the film props were made going through many stages  from conception to the finished products.  And those heads and bodies which the actors wore, turning them into monsters, all these took an awful lot of time to make, and to get in and out of for filming  As Kevin told us, since starting Weta Workshops, technology has come a long way in making these creations. 

Kevin, our host

Interesting to find out that there is a full time sword maker on staff a required, and his original work of art is used in close ups by the hero and copies are made from this for the crowd scenes.  All very interesting and absorbing, and we were pleased to be able to handle examples of exquisite leatherwork, chain mail, and weapons as they were passed around.  Taking photos was limited to the reception room, and masks were required during our time here.

There’s a monster behind us!

It certainly was a great day out, we were on the go all day, and pleasantly tired enough on our trip home for many to nod off in the bus.

Still Tripping Around

We're making the most of the sunshine, and what better way to do that than indulge in a huge raspberry snow freeze waffle cone ice-cream.  Made with fresh fruit grown at Windermere Gardens in Wanganui, and enjoyed while sitting in the café there.  I didn't manage to consume it all before it started melting and dripped down the front of my top, but that’s not an unusual occurrence for me.

Yummy ice-cream

So, what else have we been doing?  We had a great day out on a big red double decker bus the other day.  We don't see many of these in New Zealand.  First in, best seated, as the early birds climbed up the narrow stairs to the top deck.  Robin was tasked with ringing the bell at the rear of the bus, ding, ding, I’m sure he felt just like one of those characters on the long running series “On the Buses”.  But his most important job was to make sure no one from upstairs tripped and fell down the stairs and out the back entrance!  I kid you not, this bus did not have a back door so was open to the elements.

All aboard!

Our first stop of the day was to the beautiful Putiki Anglican Church.  Although sporting a relatively plain and modest exterior, stepping inside is full of Maori carvings, woven panels, and painted kowhiwhai panels.  No photos were to be taken inside, but take my word for it, the interior was breathtaking.  The work was overseen by Apirana Ngata, who led the Maori Art and Crafts School in Rotorua.  He agreed to bring his team of tutors and student carvers to Wanganui over a two year period.  Four local women were sent to Wellington to learn how to weave the tukutuku panels, and shared their knowledge with other local weavers.  All the timber has been richly carved with only the pews left plain.  The people were told “We will carve you the most beautiful church you have ever seen”, and they certainly did.

Putiki Church in Wanganui

Back in the bus again and it slowly ground it’s way up Durie Hill, puffing diesel fumes onto the following cars.  But never mind, this bus in aa good age, after all. Some of us took the opportunity to ride the  Durie Hill Elevator,  built in 1919.  This is the only public transport elevator in the country and is still used daily by locals and visitors.  At $2.00  a ride it seemed a bargain and I followed a little later with Scotty.  The other passenger on board kindly took our photo, Scotty, me, and the young elevator operator.  After our ride down we walked through the long, rather ghostly tunnel to finally reach the street.

Going down.

We waited on the footpath at the bottom for the bus to drive back down the hill and collect us.  But……. it drove straight past, with the others on board waving out the windows.  Seems Neville had forgotten all about us, drove over the river, then had to do a U turn and make his way back to collect  the missing passengers!

We had a great lunch out at St John’s Club in town, my scallop wee delicious.  Then bus driver Neville took us on a tour around Wanganui, through the town centre, out to the beach, then back to camp.  I had climbed up the steep narrow stairs of the bus for the ride back to camp, and can attest that every little bump in the road is definitely magnified ten-fold upstairs!  What a great day, thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Scallops for my lunch

What we’ve been up to on our Travels

We’ve been away about a week now on our travels and starting to head for home.  After leaving our caravan at the Leisureline factory bright and early on Friday morning, we packed up Gemma, and parked the car under a shady tree for Gemma’s comfort, deciding we could safely leave her there for a half  hour while the temperatures were still relatively cool. Now, what’s for breakfast?  There weren't too many customers at that time of the morning, so service was very prompt.  We decided on French Toast for him and poached eggs for her, both very tasty.

Our next three nights were spent at a Park Over Property on a farm, not too far from the city.   Such a lovely peaceful place after the hustle and bustle of the city, and friendly hosts.  Our hostess Lynda has several horses, including two pure bred Arabian horses who had done very well when she competed in earlier years.  And her husband John, she told us, has a passion for plowing competitions, so that is why an old plow is proudly on display.  Lynda is a true farmer’s wife and commented on the number of rabbits around the property – she often takes her rifle out at dusk to keep the numbers down!  I’m sure Gemma would have liked to try her luck at catching one of those young rabbits bouncing around.

Life n the farm

Robin got on with the task of firing up the BBQ and cooking sausages for the evening meal.   And our traditional bacon and eggs Sunday breakfast the next morning.  Gemma enjoyed some time outside with us during the balmy early evenings, keeping an eye on birds and any insects fluttering about.

BBQ time

On Sunday we went to visit my nephew Shane and his wife Kirstie who live in Te Awamutu.  It’s been a while since we last saw them, so it was a good catch up, and to reminisce about the recent passing of his Mum, my elder sister Kathleen.  Shane and Kirstie had recently purchased an English  caravan, and proudly showed it to us.  Welcome to the club, we told them, I’m sure they will enjoy many happy trips away in their new van.

Shane and his new van

Driving to another factory on Monday for even more work to be done on the caravan we passed this interesting church, so had to stop for a photo.  I think it was a Sikh Temple and it certainly looked rather grand in the industrial area of Hamilton..

Sikh Temple, Hamilton

Arriving at the factory, we were getting work done on both the car and caravan.  While the car was being attended to, we were invited to sit in the office, taking Gemma with us.  She was not at all happy when she was bundled into the cat carrier – we keep this fold up one in the caravan in case of emergencies.

Why am I in here?

And to add insult to injury, the office lady arrived at work bringing her two little dogs with her, as she usually does, it seems.  They pranced right over to see this poor cat in a carry cage, no doubt laughing in their little doggy minds.  We were most surprised that Gemma didn't start hissing and yowling at them!  Then, one of the little dogs demanded to get up on the sofa, sit on my lap, and be petted.  Don't know what Gemma thought of that at all.

How could you, Mum, while I’m locked up?

As soon as the car was ready, we could get on our way, leaving the caravan behind to get an extra solar panel fitted, plus new batteries.  Where to now, we wondered, as we had the day to fill in.  We spent some time down by the Waikato River, such pretty surroundings,  and ate our lunch there.  And there were baby ducks too – this Mum had done very well to keep so many of her brood together, they often get taken while quite young..

Down by the river

Next stop was to the large shopping centre, The Base, to get a couple of things.  If we needed to be reminded that Christmas is coming fast, just look at this  huge Christmas Tree.  It  looked wonderful, with the sun glinting on all the decorations, and would probably look even more festive when it was lit up at night.  We enjoyed a delicious mixed berry ice-cream here while we waited to the call to tell us the caravan was ready to collect.  Mind you, the weather was so warm that I was fighting a losing battle to eat mine before it melted away.

Huge tree at The Base, Hamilton

So, have I been doing any stitching while I’ve been away, you are probably wondering?  A little knitting, as it happens, and I’ve also done some stitching too.  I’m stitching a design on a tea towel each for my grand-daughters, for when they settle down.  Just in case they get engaged one day and have one of those old fashioned “Kitchen Teas” as they did in my day.  I bet young ladies don’t do that any more.

Stitching two at a time