by Geoffrey Churchman

On Saturday, Eva and I took advantage of our Gold Cards and took the train to Wellington. Then followed what must be a 1 km walk up the platform and then the ramp to cross the enormous slab of plain concrete named ‘Fran Wilde Walk’ (I don’t think I’d like my name on it) to what is now Hnry Stadium (yes that is the correct spelling.)

As the song goes ‘you can’t beat Wellington on a sunny day’ but it was a grey and windy day. Never mind, once inside there was the the circular walk around the exhibition area to look at the many stalls. There were several vibrating bed sellers (which we didn’t bother with, already having one), outdoor furniture, house construction / maintenance / retrofitting products and services, exotic products like locally made gin and liqueurs (we bought a bottle of Zealan vodka) health products and art.

In addition there were non-profits such as the Fire Service, the SPCA and one political stallholder — ACT. The lady said that she reads Waikanae Watch and likes it, which was good to hear. We can imagine certain parties telling us the opposite. 🙂

There were several coffee and food stations, but we made do with aqua or as it is labelled here Wai Inu (water in you? Actually just ‘drink water’ and as it happens, the same in Maori and Hawaiian).

It cost $8 entry each and we felt it was a worthwhile visit.

A 90 degree turn at this spot provided this view of a ship being loaded with logs into its holds, the traditional way.