Waiarapa Racing Club.

On our way home, from Petone to visiting my parents last Thursday, we found another campground, just

south of Featherston. It is owned and run by the Wairarapa Racing Club. It is only $22 a night, so we went

there on Saturday instead of Carterton. It is about 45 minutes from

Petone. It has all the facilities. Water, toilets, showers, rubbish and a kitchen.

The campsite is on the banks of the Tauherenikau River. It is a trout river, so Eddie is going to have a go at catching

some trout. We went to Hunting and Fishing in Masterton and got Eddie some waders and a trout license.

One day, we went for a walk along the river bank here in Masterton. We ended up at a road entrance, so we

turned around and went back to a foot bridge. It is very new and solid. It had a label that said it could hold

100 people. We came home on the other side of the river. We imagined it was a very popular place in the

summer on a hot day.

The foot bridge over the Waipoua River.

There are little carvings on the side of the bridge. Each one is different.

The river from the bridge.

It was a lovely sunny day for shifting. It was a bit odd, only coming about half an hour from our departure point.

We were here by 10.

When we arrived there was another van set up in the spot we had chosen, so we had to choose another one.

We were going to go next to Tony, who we met when we came and looked. In the end, we set up in the shelter of

some trees behind us. Hopefully they will keep the worst of the southerly winds off us. It turned out to be the

best spot, because the sun had gone off Tony’s site by 3, but it was still shining on us. 

We did a walk along the river and back. Then we went and checked out the laundry and did a bit of a stroll

back to our van. We met a lady gardening. She lives in a house on the property, which she bought from the

racing club. She has a dog called Reacher, who is a pound puppy, beardie cross. Very cute. She said he is

nothing like Jack Reacher. Not brave at all. She also has a rather overweight tortoise shell cat, called Peaches. 

Later we met a man, who lives in another house here. I think he is the caretaker. His name is Bastion. He also

has a dog ,called Ernie. He looks like a poodle, but perhaps with something else mixed in. He is quite a character and very friendly.

The racing club is 160 years old. They have 5 race meetings a year. The rest of the year is full of weddings, music festivals, car rallies and the police dog competitions.

Wedding venue

The old stand

We went and made ourselves known to the racing club secretary on Tuesday, We found him in the office and after

a bit of a chat he asked if we wanted a job as custodians. He just wants someone on site to  greet people,  do the

cleaning and the gardens. The gardens were planted by the NZMCA, but they haven’t been weeded for

a while and need doing. We said yes ( of course), so now we are here for the summer. Funny how things work out.