Te Araroa 16-17/01/26

Days 117&118, Geraldine 

The weather was wet on Friday, not heavy rain but steady all day, hopefully not filling the rivers too much.

Wet cabin at Geraldine Holiday Park 

I wandered round the town finding where the cafés were and sampling some of their wares before going to the Geraldine Vintage Car & Machinery Club Museum where they have a great collection of old farm machinery and tractors as well as cars.

Old eastern European tractor designed to run on any fuel. Hot bulb starting

I spent a long time there looking at some fascinating exhibits including a Bristol 20 crawler that was built for small farmers or market gardens.

Very early Fordson

I had never heard of a Bristol tractor and asked the guy on the desk about it and it turned out that his father had one and he spent the next half hour telling me stories about what they, and it, got up to on the farm.

Perfect Riley 2.5

Bristol 20

They were originally made in Bristol but the company was bought and moved several times. Click for details

Collection of cars at the Holidays Park

A good curry rounded off the day.

Barker's 

Saturday was dry but grey as I wandered into the town for breakfast at a rather nice eatery which is also a shop for Barker's who make chutneys, sauces, jams, etc. rather like Baxters at home.

Inside the Record shop/cafe

Record Shop 

Down the road then to a vinyl record and coffee shop where I would have spent a lot of money if I hadn't been walking.

Lovely Rolls Royce in the main street 

Geraldine Museum 

A book exchange cupboard solved the problem with the book that I finished reading last night and a visit to the Geraldine Heritage Museum gave me information on the origins of the town. Starting with logging and clearance for farming then the development of flax production at exactly the right time, just before WW2, which made the area reasonably prosperous with the largest quantities needed in Europe for many purposes including covering aeroplanes.

Details of the flax Mill

Recreation of Morrison's shop

After a healthy lunch there were some bits of blue sky when I went to the Military Museum for a look around.

Wellingtonia in the Holiday Park with my cabin beside it

Military Indian 

There were some interesting exhibits but it wasn't as good as the last two places, probably because it was all American and British equipment that had been used in New Zealand, most of which I had seen before.

More modern

Interesting 6x6 articulated vehicle

The town was very busy as it was Saturday evening so I had to eat early in Monteith's restaurant but I did go for a beer in the local brewery first.

Bonnie Day brewery 

I had an interesting discussion with the manager about the small canning machine that has obviously changed the microbrewery business.

Canning system 

An excellent three course meal in the Village Inn with an Ardbeg Whisky, my favorite, to finish rounded off the rather cold day and hopefully prepared me for more hills and rivers over the next few days.