We had planned to go east to Karangahake Gorge for this run but the intel on the road conditions was difficult to interpret without making a full reconnaissance. We decided to go west instead, a run down the west side of the Waikato over some familiar roads to Raglan for lunch at WYLD. In the end the weather forecast wasn’t good in either direction!

The day started well – it wasn’t raining in the carpark at Drury, everyone was on time and Ken thought we should leave early! Russell came by for morning coffee – apparently he was on some important errand but stopped for a chat (and coffee). There were some mutterings that the committee wasn’t up too much at organising the weather.

We headed off promptly – Ken had recalculated the route and worked out we would be late for lunch on the current plans. A quick phone call and we changed the booking time so we could relax into the drive.

We can report that some parts of the road have been fixed but others may have deteriorated further. However, we maintained a convoy, no one got lost, went “via New Plymouth” or took a short cut, so that’s a major improvement on Ken and my previous efforts at organising runs.

Parking in Raglan, however, was another matter. The theory that people might be put off by the weather was not true – they had all driven into town instead. Everyone in our group found a spot and the café. Finn, the dog, was not allowed inside but he had a stream of visitors, including offerings of mince from the kitchen, so he is presumably of the view that WYLD is very “dog-friendly”. Food was delivered for those indoors too.

As the weather forecast was for another front to roll in from the southwest we encouraged the drivers (and passengers) to head home promptly via the Waikato expressway. The retailers of Raglan did not miss out completely – Pree staggered out with at least four bags of coffee.

Thanks to Tony for his photos.

Another good day out despite the weather. We look forward to summer and getting the top down.

 

Philippa West

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