It was just as well it was not too far to travel to Koputaroa on Friday for our caravan club Christmas Rally. Our day was full to overflowing, to say the least.
It all started off with an emergency visit to the vet bright and early in the morning for our elderly cat Muffy. She had lost one of her canine teeth and we were concerned that there may have been an abscess under her missing tooth which might require antibiotics. Luckily she was pronounced abscess free and we took her home again.
Then later in the morning we attended a funeral, always particularly sad so close to Christmas. Our lovely next door neighbour had been battling cancer for quite some time, and passed away during the week. And finally, I had an appointment with a specialist mid afternoon, and as it was my first time seeing him, it all took a while. We quickly packed the caravan and finally got on our way, to discover that we were the last ones to arrive - and probably just about the closest!
We were spending the weekend in the grounds of the historic Koputaroa Hall. The original hall was built in 1922 and located further down the road. It burnt down in 1937 and was rebuilt using donated materials and voluntary labour. The hall was moved to the present site beside the school in 1997, at a cost of $75,000, raised by the local community, with the land being donated. It now contains a modern kitchen and is in regular use by the school, the locals, and groups such as ourselves.
Koputaroa Hall with Romany Rambler at the side
Discussing the differing weights of individual tow couplings
Several of our members decided that the hall needed some decorations to make if look nice and festive. Lorraine brought along her Christmas Tree and Val clambered up on chairs to hang some decorations. Being vertically challenged, Val needed a tall man to help her out!
Be careful Val, don't you fall!
Romany Rambler suffered from a gas emergency on Saturday, just as we were due in the hall for our Christmas meal. The fridge started beeping, the lights flashed red - oh dear, looks like the gas cylinder was running on empty. And would you believe, this was the one time Robin had not packed his tool box. With a bit of help and a borrowed spanner, the empty cylinder was removed, a replacement bolted in place, the fridge was reset, and we hurried into the hall, a little late for our meal. Luckily everyone had waited until we made an appearance, and we slipped into our seats.
And what a magnificent feast it was. Everyone brought salads to share, and the "piece de la resistance" was a boned loin of pork. This was cooked to perfection by Don on his rotisserie at home just along K Road, then delivered to the hungry hoards. It was delicious! As were the desserts: pavlova, chocolate mousse, trifle, local strawberries and ice cream. It was a very big family indeed, as we all ate together in the hall, seated around the long tables.
Lots of lovely desserts
We only managed one 4zees out in the sunshine, and then the rain came down. Once that had passed us by, the winds got up, blowing like crazy, shaking the branches on the line of large oak trees planted along the school boundary. Before we knew it, the weekend had come to a close, and we enjoyed our final morning tea together in the hall. Selwyn did the honours and passed around a tray of Christmas Mince Pies.
Selwyn, Bill and Derek enjoying morning tea
A few left early, and most stayed behind for lunch in the hall. Then amid a chorus of "goodbyes" and "see you next year" we started off for our respective homes. We didn't have too far to travel, just a mere 10kms down the road. It was a lovely weekend, a great rally, great food, and most of all, great companionship.
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