The most beautiful morning greeted us as we awoke in Otaki Beach and as soon as the sun rose above the mountains to the east it felt very warm. There had been great debate about which route to take to Martinborough complicated by the lack of signs to the mountain route (Akatawara Road) from the new expressway. However, we decided upon the mountain route and eventually found a way to get on to it.
Well what can I say! Yes it was full of twists and turns, which we expected, but it was also very, very narrow for most of the way, which we had not expected. Luckily it was not too precipitous but it was steep for most of the way. The scenery was fantastic but Ray rather missed out on most of it because intense concentration was required. The major concern was meeting oncoming vehicles and having to reverse the camper van down or up a steep narrow slope. Reversing a camper van is hard enough at the best of times but on a road hardly wider than the van and with steep slopes on either side it did not bear thinking about. Luckily the traffic from the opposite direction was very sparse and the couple that we did meet happened close to passing places so no reversing was required. Prudence was the word of the day and 35 Km took us about an hour.
Ray was promised a treat when we reached the valley but all that was on offer was a flat white from a mobile coffee shop.
There was another mountain pass to tackle, over Rimutaka hill, and you dear reader may recall that on the last occasion we were here, we encountered the most atrocious weather whilst driving across this pass. Gale force winds and torrential rain made the drive very torturous. This time the weather was perfect and having experienced the Akatawara pass this was a doddle.
Soon we entered the Wairarapa which is the very fertile area surrounding Martinborough and including the growing number of vineyards
We checked in to our lovely, quite camp site and Ray was sent off for a ride with a short shopping list of essentials. I spent an hour or so cycling all around Martinborough until once again I was defeated by the sun. As I came back into the town I encountered the Circus, Cinema, Restaurant and Bar which I stopped to check out and low and behold tonight's offering is The Favourite which we both want to see. After procuring said essentials at Four Square, I headed back to the camp site and the LLW quickly agreed that we should book to see the film this evening, which we did.
After a short rest the LLW was ready for a ride and off we went again round the vineyards.
Whilst the LLW was dealing with her men, for some obscure reason, I started looking at the use of medical scanners on the web. Low and behold, one name that jumped out at me was Professor Ken Packer who had been my Professor when I was at the University of East Anglia researching Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (now commonly used in MRI Scanners). I followed the thread and amazingly the Perkin Elmer NMR machine that I had worked on was eventually donated to the Science Museum in London. I can't say I was terribly fond of the beast at the time as it required regular visits at unearthly hours to check on the water cooling system. However, now that it is famous and on display at the illustrious Science Museum I think I must go to see it again. I can't keep referring to "it" so I decided to use the name Echo, since I was working on Spin-Echo NMR. Echo I look forward to renewing our acquaintance when back in London!
BBQed lamb chops with peas and runner beans were on the menu and soon all were on the go, eaten and we were ready for the cinema.
Well what can I say! Yes it was full of twists and turns, which we expected, but it was also very, very narrow for most of the way, which we had not expected. Luckily it was not too precipitous but it was steep for most of the way. The scenery was fantastic but Ray rather missed out on most of it because intense concentration was required. The major concern was meeting oncoming vehicles and having to reverse the camper van down or up a steep narrow slope. Reversing a camper van is hard enough at the best of times but on a road hardly wider than the van and with steep slopes on either side it did not bear thinking about. Luckily the traffic from the opposite direction was very sparse and the couple that we did meet happened close to passing places so no reversing was required. Prudence was the word of the day and 35 Km took us about an hour.
Ray was promised a treat when we reached the valley but all that was on offer was a flat white from a mobile coffee shop.
There was another mountain pass to tackle, over Rimutaka hill, and you dear reader may recall that on the last occasion we were here, we encountered the most atrocious weather whilst driving across this pass. Gale force winds and torrential rain made the drive very torturous. This time the weather was perfect and having experienced the Akatawara pass this was a doddle.
Soon we entered the Wairarapa which is the very fertile area surrounding Martinborough and including the growing number of vineyards
We checked in to our lovely, quite camp site and Ray was sent off for a ride with a short shopping list of essentials. I spent an hour or so cycling all around Martinborough until once again I was defeated by the sun. As I came back into the town I encountered the Circus, Cinema, Restaurant and Bar which I stopped to check out and low and behold tonight's offering is The Favourite which we both want to see. After procuring said essentials at Four Square, I headed back to the camp site and the LLW quickly agreed that we should book to see the film this evening, which we did.
After a short rest the LLW was ready for a ride and off we went again round the vineyards.
Whilst the LLW was dealing with her men, for some obscure reason, I started looking at the use of medical scanners on the web. Low and behold, one name that jumped out at me was Professor Ken Packer who had been my Professor when I was at the University of East Anglia researching Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (now commonly used in MRI Scanners). I followed the thread and amazingly the Perkin Elmer NMR machine that I had worked on was eventually donated to the Science Museum in London. I can't say I was terribly fond of the beast at the time as it required regular visits at unearthly hours to check on the water cooling system. However, now that it is famous and on display at the illustrious Science Museum I think I must go to see it again. I can't keep referring to "it" so I decided to use the name Echo, since I was working on Spin-Echo NMR. Echo I look forward to renewing our acquaintance when back in London!
BBQed lamb chops with peas and runner beans were on the menu and soon all were on the go, eaten and we were ready for the cinema.
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