Ron and Julie Johnston
recently visited
Thursday 10th May 2007
Five a.m. rise, shower, get dressed, load suitcases and bags into car,
have a cup of tea, and we are on our way to
We take our bags and head into the terminal. Checked our luggage in for
the 8:50 a.m. departure to
More duty free stuff. Where will it ever end? Keep your hands in
your pockets and just keep on looking. Finally we head over to the departure
gate and wait half an hour before we can board the aircraft. It gives me the
shits having to wait around. I would rather just arrive, book in, get on the
aircraft and fly away, but it’s not that simple. Rules are rules.
Everyone is on the plane and we are ready. Taxi out to the runway and off
we go. It is a good feeling sitting there as we accelerate down the runway and
we lift off. Whoopee! We flew QANTAS (Queer And Nasty Try
Another Service). We didn’t see a lot from the air because of the cloud.
We flew at 40,000 feet. Once it had levelled out, we were served our
meal, and then read a book or watched TV. The flight was okay: a bit rough in a
couple of places. The pilot informed us that we would be approaching the
airport from the south.
Looking out the window I could see some land. I recognised it as the top
right corner of the
Arrival time, 2.30 pm, NZ time, which was 12.30 pm
Australian time at home. Disembark, passport check, collect baggage. On
the way out I mentioned to Julie about the Rent a Car we were to pick up, and
there before us, was a gentleman holding a card with our name on it.
I went and spoke to him and he said he was from the Ezi-Rent
car hire. We trundled off into the car park
to find his car, which took us to the depot where we collected our car. It was
a Hyundai Getz 5 Door, 1300 5 speed. It was 3 years old. After signing papers,
taking details of our Drivers Licences, doing a check list of all the dents and
scratches, we were finally on our way. Fortunately for us, the depot was on the
way out of
There was quite a bit of traffic on the road; a lot of trucks. We
followed the motorway through to Upper Hutt, turned off and went into
This hill winds it way up to 5,500 feet above sea level. It would be a
great ride on a motor bike. About halfway up I had some dude in a Ford Courier
Turbo Diesel flat top ute sit on my arse for a while,
and I eventually pulled over and let him pass. He obviously travels the road
regularly. I stayed with him, but at a distance. It was dark and raining going
over the top. On the way down we were held up by a stock truck; 8 wheeler with
an 8 wheel trailer. There were several cars behind the truck as well. The truck
was doing 50 km/h down hill which wasn’t wasting much time considering the size
of it. He pulled over in a passing bay at the bottom and let everyone pass.
Down the bottom and out the other side near Featherston it was lighter.
Some of the land is flat, going on to rolling hill country with lush green
pastures. Quite a contrast to
I had to ask directions because the map didn’t have an exploded view of
the town. As it was, we weren’t far away. Took a few knocks on the door before
Leanne and Martin heard me. After getting ourselves settled, Martin and Leanne
took us to the Stellar Restaurant and Bar which she manages.
The place was open but no customers were to be seen. Great food and drink, but
sadly the place closed the day we flew back to
Friday 11th May 2007
Rest Day. Usual stuff, shower, breakfast, hop in the car, drive a few
blocks, park the car and walk your feet off. We check out an Op Shop and picked
up a sim card for the mobile phone, so I can use it in NZ. We visited the
Did more walking, had lunch in town and went back to Martin and Leanne’s
place. Leanne came with us back to Carterton to have a look at the Paua
Factory. It was interesting, with lots of different things to look at. On the way
in to Carterton there is a pub. I have forgotten the name, but it is a house of
ill repute. According to Leanne, it was in its early days, but over the decades
it’s been different things but, it’s back to its beginnings. On the way home we
stopped at a Savers store. It was huge and sells everything. It was bigger than
the Coles and Safeway where we live in
Saturday 12th May 2007
Get up about 7 a.m., pack bags, breakfast, take a few photos, load the
car up and say our good- byes. We leave Masterton and
head for Wanganui about 150 kilometres away. There is
light rain but otherwise the weather is okay. Find our way back onto the main
road and leave Masterton behind. It rained for a short time and stopped.
Forty-two kilometres away we came across a place called Eketahuna:
one of many country towns. Fifteen kilometres on we turned off at a place
called Mangaire and headed cross country to Palmerston North. The road through
here was narrow and twisty, up and down; great for motor bikes. There was also
some terrific scenery to go with it. For those that haven’t been, you ought to
go. You don’t know what you’re missing. Palmerston North is spread out. The centre
of town has a large park that you have to drive around.
They were making a walkway from one building across the road into the
park. They had paths through the park and a monument in the middle. The main
street was six lanes wide, kerb to kerb, with lots of shops everywhere. From
here, we carried on to Sanson where we stop at a monument off the side of the
road, dedicated to WWI veterans, and have a cup of tea. Photos.
All the way through here, there are a lot of dairy farms, plus sheep as well.
After we left Sanson and before we got to Bulls we came across a place
called Ohakea, the
military air base. When we here seven years ago we went and had a look at the
We arrived in Wanganui just after midday, in
time for lunch, and to meet a few relatives that we haven’t seen for years.
Soon it was time to get changed and head down to the church. The wedding cars
were late arriving, so I waited down on the street for them to come. From my
sister’s house on the side of a hill, I saw a couple of cars down the road
looking for the house, then head in the wrong
direction, but eventually came back. The first car was a 1956 Ford Customline
Tudor Sedan, top chop, lowered, XR6 running gear, ABS brakes, Falcon interior,
mag wheels, metallic blue in colour. It looked cool. The second car was a 1967
Chevrolet Impala 4 door hard-top, pillarless,
lowered, wide chromies, custom grille, Pineapple Yellow metallic in colour,
(Holden Commodore) white roof.
The wedding went well at the church, followed by afternoon tea. We went
back to the house and watched a couple of DVDs after the afternoon tea. Then it was off to the racecourse for the
reception. Food was a smorgasbord setup, quite good, followed by dessert.
By the end of the evening we had to use three cars to take the gifts
back to the house. A good evening was had by all. There were 13 people sleeping
at my sister and brother-in-law’s crowded house.
Sunday 13th May 2007
On Sunday they put on a BBQ lunch. Some guests had to fly back to the
We decided to walk into town. It only takes 20 minutes on foot. Following
the road down to the river, we see the old paddle steamer getting fired up for
business. Seven years ago when we were in Wanganui,
the boat had its maiden voyage. The boat had been restored to its former glory
after being dug out of the
We went to the shops down from the main street in Wanganui.
We had a coffee at Maccas, ducked into the Warehouse and bought some more DVDs,
stopped at a bookshop, picked up NZ Hot Rod magazine, had a bit more of a look
around and walked back home. It was still raining outside. Good to be back at
the house. Julie came out of the room and said that she had found the car keys. Thank God for that! I was wondering what the
hell I was going to do, other than get in touch with the rent a car company and
tell them I had lost the keys. It’s got the remote built into the key, but it
was all good.
In the afternoon of Mothers’ Day we took my mum out. I can’t remember
when I had last taken her out. Probably never. In a
way, it was special because I don’t get to see her very often, and she is in a
nursing home and suffers from dementia. It is sad to see her like that after
you remember what she used to be like, but there is nothing you can do about
it.
We were supposed to go to the beach but I took a wrong turn and we ended
up at the beach, but not at the right place. We arrived at the mouth of the
TO BE CONTINUED…