Nostalgia in the first three weeks of the New Year

We had a peaceful and friendly start to the new year, with a pot-luck dinner where 70s food was on the menu. Such nostalgia … And in some cases, dishes that some of us still make. There were three bowls of Kiwi dip (Nestle’s reduced cream and a pack of Maggi Onion Soup with a dash of vinegar), and a lovely platter of curried eggs and asparagus rolls – made with tinned asparagus of course, as was the way back then! Our contribution was a beef and pineapple casserole – I know, it sounds awful, but it’s yummy – and our favourite dessert from the 70s: Hawaiian cream. That is one thing we haven’t made for ages, and no wonder: it’s whipped cream with chunks of chocolate, marshmallows, chopped canned peaches, and strawberries through it. It is far more decadent (read unhealthy) than Eton Mess, as the cream is at least 70% of the dessert. I used to serve it in glass bowls; this time I served it in champagne glasses and I only managed one. David however had 3 – aaarrrggghhh! To be fair, I only had one because Leith had made a wonderful cheesecake which was also extremely rich.

Garlic bread, salad dressing made with condensed milk, vinegar and mustard, rice risotto, curried sausages, chow mein, ...

A symmetrically decorated salad - straight out of the 70s ... Note that the lettuce under all of the decorations is shredded!

We will do another 70s pot luck when we get back from the South Island – it was a lot of fun and there are a lot more DONs (dishes of nostalgia) to be prepared. One of the interesting things was people’s reactions when I said we were doing it. Both Tim and Kirsty (both born in the 70s, so their long term memories are working) said ‘fondue!’(they meant the chocolate variety), others said ‘ooh, savoury eggs!’, ‘curried sausages!’(Gary did them).

The kereru (native wood pigeon) in our cabbage tree.

I am sure this is one of the hydrangeas that I got from Joy and Grahame - in their garden it was a deep crimson, but here in ours it is a deep purple. Beautiful in either case ...

We came back on Monday 21st from a weekend away that was nostalgia-filled – is this a burgeoning theme as we age, I wonder?

We spent Thursday night at Manawatu Caravan Club, and David had a great surprise in store for me. Way back in 1974 when we were first together, we lived at Okoia, just out of Wanganui. In the flat next door lived Viv with her three young boys. She became a good friend, but we lost touch when we moved to Wellington and she re-married. Viv was an NZ champion swimmer (her specialism was breaststroke, and, boy, was she fast! She did only 4 strokes to reach the end of a 25m pool, and seemed to move her arms and legs slowly – but I couldn’t keep up with her when I walked beside the pool.) David had tracked her down after seeing an article in the Manawatu paper – he got in touch with her brother who contacted Viv, and then David and Viv hatched a plot to surprise me. Viv and her husband John live in Brisbane now but come to NZ each summer, and have a static caravan at the Caravan Club that is their base here.

So much reminiscing and catching up over cups of tea, wine/beer/G&Ts, dinner (in their abode), then breakfast the next morning in the CROW. It was so neat to see them again, and we have all declared it will not be left another 40-odd years! In fact, we cunningly left a dessert plate at theirs, so on our way back from Wanganui on Monday, we had to meet up at a café to collect it …

David, Viv and me in the 'conservsatory' at the back of their static caravan.

Viv with John. I would have recognised Viv, but would not have known John - when we last saw him he had a full head of brown hair ...

After Foxton, our next stop was up the Kaukatea Valley Road at Okoia (with a quick stop to see the old house we lived in and Viv's old flat next door). We had a night with Linda, and her partner Graham. Linda is one of my former sisters in law, and we have stayed good friends. Graham and Linda have 100 acres which they lease out to a sheep farmer for a good rate so that Graham can use the sheep for training his dogs for trials. Linda has redecorated a very old house, and has brought an extremely wild and overgrown garden into shape over the last 4.5 years – she IS a worker, and has done a wonderful job.

The road up the valley is one lane, gravel and a bit scary – actually the drive up was good as the drop-offs were on the passenger side, but coming back was a bit hair-raising in places. The camber probably made it very safe, but it doesn’t feel that way when the motorhome gets a lean on and I’m on the down side…

Hair-raising stuff to one side, it was great to catch up with Linda and Graham again – she and I call each other on our birthdays, but they have no internet up the valley (their choice, I think) and no cell phone service, so emails and texts are not the go.

Linda xx

Linda makes these flowers - she is very clever and crafty and artistic.

Linda cleared all of the overgrown vegetation here, pruned and trimmed all the shrubs and then built the paved area. Did I say she is clever?

She has also repainted the house and the roof.

Linda dug out some of this plant for me - I really liked the little flowers. She doesn't know what it is. Does anyone else know?

And she has cleared all of this area and painted the pool house/shelter. It makes me tired just thinking about it ...

Then it was on to Wanganui where we stayed with Denny and Cheryl – we parked the motorhome in front of their bus, and slept in it but ate with them all weekend. It was just lovely. Cheryl wisely organised David to catch up with people he used to teach with back in the 70s. So Jan Clark came for dinner on Saturday; and we went to visit Baden and Barbara Rountree on Sunday, and popped over to see Mary and Alan Dean who live diagonally across the road from them.

Baden and Barbara in their new place in Kowhainui - Baden was David's syndicate leader when he first taught at Rutherford Intermediate back in 1974. In those days, Baden was a mad keen snow skier, and used to organise ski trips up to Ruapehu to the Wanganui Skiing Club's hut. We went the year I was pregnant with Tim so I was only allowed to slide down the slope on a plastic bag ...

On Saturday, Denny and Cheryl, David and I went in to the city to experience the Vintage and Steam festival. Wanganui is ideal for these events as the main street is long and straight, the side streets are in a grid, and there is a well-developed riverside park.

This is where we got married 44 years ago - the Wanganui Courthouse. David doesn't look much different but I do - the years have told on me. It must be the effects of living with a man ...

I like this flower and wish I knew what it is so I could find it to plant in my garden.

One of the three traction engines that were providing rides around the city streets during the weekend.

That wheel is taller than the wheel of the tractor we used for travelling up to the Alexander mine back in 2017 ...

Towards the end of the afternoon, David and I walked along Taupo Quay to take a ride out to Kai Iwi and back on Mainline Steam’s train. We could have caught the train up from Plimmerton but I didn’t think of that … However that may have been a bit long for an impatient person like me. I was surprised at how emotional I felt watching adults and kids alike stopping to wave, running to be able to get a good view and wave, and a number of people who drove between look out spots to get their tripods out and take photos/videos as the train went past.

Here is our train arriving back at Taupo Quay from its previous trip. Very handsome!

Being pushed backwards

Off we go, through suburban Wanganui

Crossing the Whanganui River

Rounding the bend on the way back to Wanganui from Kai Iwi - the engine was going in reverse as there was nowhere for it to turn at Kai Iwi. A young man standing outside with us happily informed us that last year, the engine couldn't get up the hill on the way back and had to roll back down to Kai Iwi and build up more steam and try again ... AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Not what I wanted to hear! But no worries, this time.

A derelict factory - an old fertiliser works on the outskirts of Wanganui. It is not visible from any road I have ever travelled on. Maybe it is still there because of asbestos, but that is only a guess. The closing down of this factory was one of a number of causes of increased unemployment in Wanganui over the last couple of decades of the 1900s.

On Sunday Denny and Cheryl took us on a tour of bits of Wanganui we hadn’t seen for ages and some of which we had never seen, even though we lived there 5 years from 1974. We had lunch in a great café called Citadel out in Castlecliff. Lovely food, and very clean rest rooms – always a plus, I reckon.

David with Denny and Cheryl. Denny and David were both teaching at Rutherford Intermediate in the 70s. None of the three of them look very different from back then, dammit!

The drive back home was very fast to Sanson with a strong wind behind the motorhome; however when we turned south, the wind continued from the west and rocked the motorhome lots so it was a tight two-handed grip on the steering wheel all the way back to Waikanae.

I was going to have an early night, as we had to get up up at 5.15 on Tuesday morning for a 6.15 departure. But I found there is a fifth series of Grace and Frankie on Netflix, so I binge watched up to episode 7 before heading to bed...

I recently purchased a Shakti mat – it replicates a bed of nails. Sounds scary but it’s not. I am finding that lying on it for the first half hour of being in bed makes me sleep really well. In fact I often fall asleep on it and wake about an hour later. However I haven’t yet laid down on it without my nightie on – I briefly tried it last night and it’s a bridge too far for me on bare skin. Now, why did I mention the Shakti mat? Because I am sleeping through the night most nights now – and I haven’t done that more than once or twice a month over the last several years. So if you’re a bit wakeful or insomniac, check them out. Healthier than sleeping pills, I am sure.