Today John and I helped out with the Kapiti Branch of the Ulysses at Southwood Car Musum in a fund raising BBQ. A wonderful day as had by all. It was so great to catch up with many members we had not seen for a while .
Volunteers getting ready for a demo on rescuing a person from a car by using the jaws of life
9th March
The weather has been kind to us with only raining at night . This we can all enjoy. Peter and Lexie are taking us over to the The Cliff Reserve in the Wairarapa ( gps. -41.07122 longitude 175.62858 latitude)
It is a beautiful peaceful area on the edge of the Ruamahunga river . Fires pits are here but you need to check with the Carterton council as this area is very dry to make sure it is not banned . A great swimming area for children and trout fishing. This weekend there is a wine festival on Saturday here , we did not know this until we arrived as they were setting it up . A lovely place to relax and have a read or a walk .
Friday brought a cool day with showers due. Approximately 200 vans are due to arrive and over 2000 people for the 2016 Wairarapa Wine Harvest festival here . Peter and John have been asked to act as traffic wardens and are being given some wine in appreciation. Great job guys.
They are having four bands entertain the crowd. Steve Cartin a Wellingron based singer with a rich baritone voice very easy to listen to. Second band was Barry Saunders Singer/song writer with the Warratahs. Third group is the Shenagians , every song with a Celtic fun twist. This band is very popular.
The last band for the afternoon is The Satisfaction a great crowd pleaser, they got the crowd up and dancing .
The Shenagians band playing to the crowd
Selfie two hats the same
The crowd having a great time over 2000 people dancing away .
There are 17 Wineries from around the district and 9 food eateries. A bottle of wine from the Matahiwi Estate Chardonnary 2015 was given to John at the end of the day. This I know will be enjoyed somewhere around our travels in NZ.
The 16 th of March we received a phone call to OK everything for my surgery yah it's happening. Yah right not. We received a phone call first thing on Thursday morning to say sorry the surgery was cancelled for the 30 th due to some emergency that had come up and it look like it could be a further 4 to 6 weeks away. We are so over the waiting.
Friday 18 th March
We decided to go and see the Central Districts Field days at Fielding in the Manawatu for a outing. John had a great time looking at farm equipment and taking notes etc for his brother Glen in Aussie. Looked at a Predator kontiki for fishing , decided to wait a while until we got it . At present it will cost $4500. Hopefully the prices will come down.
A good bit of advertising
A way of carrying electric fence rods around on a farm
Easter weekend we are going to the NZMCA Agm which is going to be held in Levin. 40 k from where we live.
What a lovely weekend we had over Easter, meeting old friends and making new ones. There were 652 vans and 1225 people gathered together at the show grounds in Levin. The entertainment on each night was enjoyable with Steve McDonald playing Celtic themes on the Thursday evening. Friday evening was Gil Mohi and a few songs from the Coasters Music group. Saturday evening was Kiwiana night with Andrew London, it was also dress up night as something Kiwiana. Some great costumes were made. The winner was a person dressed as Carmen a Wellington icon . Sunday evening was a Bling night and the music was by Tony Williams band. He got the crowd up dancing early in the evening until it finished. Through out the weekend there were workshops for you to attend in regards to GPS units, the new NZMCA website, Noel Leeming introduction to Technology answering any questions you may have, all were answered. A work shop for escorted tours to Nepal and other places. Electrical work shops in regards to your Motorhome, Self containment talks . All very informative workshops.
On the Sunday 27 th they had a Market day with products Motorhome people produced whilst living In their vans travelling around or at home. Some very clever members .
Also available over 3 days were the trades sales with many different and very useful items that you may require for your Motorhome. We purchased some Led lights that we have been looking for for sometime now for our bus from John and Michelle NZMCA no 26413 . A great selection of led replacement bulbs and not very expensive.
We also joined the FnF fuels (Far North Fuels) so we can get good discounts when fuelling up. A discount of 12 cents per litre at Mobile service stations and truck stops, well worth joining when travelling around NZ. Apparently the Australian club are now looking at doing something like this for their members and this will be wonderful , they said at the rally. So watch this space our Aussie friends who are traveling around Oz.
Each evening was a happy hour for 1 1/2 hours so you could catch up with old friends and make new ones. Also a time to buy the good old meat raffles. Yes we were lucky enough to win one. 2 pieces of porterhouse steak, 2 large pork chops, sausages and rissoles plus a voucher from Burnsco for $20.00 which I'm sure will come in very handy. Many thanks Wellington club for all the hard work you did to make this a wonderful 60th Easter rally .
It has been very quiet for us lately just visiting friends and John is still helping Gary when he can.
We are heading up to Taranaki for around 3 weeks to visit friends on their farm and hopefully by then we would of heard from the Wgtn hospital re my surgery.
We went for tea at Jan and Vals , whilst there I put the mobile phone on charge and when I checked it, to our surprise we had a phone call from Wgtn hospital saying I am booked in for surgery on the 27 th April yah , hopefully it will happen this time. We are still going up to Taranaki to visit friends and hopefully met up with Wendy and Colin from Oz in Rotorua .
5 th April we are staying at a lovely spot right on the New Plymouth coast line at Oakura (NZMCA 4346) or lat -39.13170 longitude 173.89734. Not large areas for many vans, but a great walking beach to stretch the legs and let the wind blow the cobwebs away. To many rocks for fishing off the beach also.
We are now back at the farm helping Jack and June get unpacked . Whilst there John helped Jack put a new floor in the laundry, toilet, and the bathroom. They are also getting a new kitchen installed on Thursday so the old one needs to be pulled out and the walls need to be done . It's never quiet for John when we visits the farm and he loves it that way.
Part of the farm looking up to the hills in the distance
The friendly calf posing beautifully
15 th April
After leaving the farm we made our way to Rotorua and found a free park in the centre of town . There are only 17 spaces for motorhomes that are self contained. Yah that's us . Straight across from the area is the Rotorua Hot pools . Very quiet here at night . ID #3118 gps -38.137586.
Long 176.25734369 . We met up with our friends from Ozzie Wendy & Colin Blyth and had a wonderful evening catching up with all the news. Dined at the Lone Star in Rotorua and Wendy and I scored a free pink tea shirt .
When we arrived there were 12 vans staying the night .
John was very keen to get back to Waikanae so he could get the new solar panels on the bus and make sure we have the batteries charged full over the winter . So now we have 2 @ 120watt and 1@ 150 watt and 1@ 70 watt. I think our bus is now completed . It has taken 9 years but we got there and love it. It is so wonderful meeting new people on the road and making new friends .
John and I were shown how to play a card game called 5 crowns . A good way to pass the time away in the evening when you don't have TV signal.
