Waikato Miniatures Club Retreat
2 - 4 November 2007: The Venue

at Narrows Park Camp, 442 Airport Road, RD 2, Hamilton, New Zealand

Getting myself to Hamilton was not something I was looking forward to as I am a very nervous driver. But needs must so I had no choice. I had planned on leaving around 10am and stopping in Hamilton to purchase my lunch from a bakery but I received an 8am phone call from Brian, the Narrows Park manager, saying he had a funeral to attend and the gate would be closed between noon and 3pm. Could I get there before noon or after 3pm? Luckily everything was packed already so leaving an hour early was no problem. I stopped twice on route. First at Huntly for a short break from driving and then in Hamilton when I didn't see any signs for Te Awamutu. It's hard to drive and navigate at the same time. After a brief consultation with my map book I was back on track to Narrows Park. Anyway I arrived (thankfully) at 11.47am and booked into the one-and-only self-contained unit at Narrows Park. The manager and his wife left just after midday and I was all alone for three hours which felt very strange. After lunch I had a wander around and took some photos.

On the left is a picture of my car parked in front of the cabin and then looking from the cabin towards my car, parked near a tree, with the office building in the background. The cabin roof looks very 'rustic' but it was waterproof. 

 

Pictures from inside the cabin with all the necessities of life including a TV.

  

A short walk across grass took me to Camp #1 accommodation block that included six rooms each containing 8 bunks. From memory the rooms on each end of this building had beds but not bunk beds. The other building is the kitchen/toilet/shower block. There is a Camp #2 behind a hedge but I didn't investigate this.

 

This is the interior of one of the bunk rooms all ready for the next occupants to arrive.

  

Across from the accommodation block was the hall where all the workshops and dining would take place. I catered my own breakfast back in the cabin. Two lunches and one dinner were prepared for us. So no cooking and dishes for a whole weekend. Everyone brought packets of lollies and biscuits or home-baking. Throughout the weekend, on all the worktables, we had bowls of lollies to keep our energy levels up. Biscuits and home-baking were on offer with morning and afternoon tea breaks. We certainly didn't go hungry this weekend.

 

Waikato Miniatures Club Retreat:   The Venue   : : :   The Workshops   : : :    People In Action