South Waikato 4WD Club Christmas Dinner

Harry's Mud Truck

Harry belongs to the South Waikato 4WD (Four Wheel Drive) Club and although its 'his' thing I go to some of the functions.
And yes its usually the ones that invlove food!


I'm not much of an adventurer when it comes to the activities they get up to so I stay home and let that be 'Harry's thing'. Some have said I should go with him but I don't believe in 'shoulds' as they suddenly put pressure on you. I 'could' join him but I choose not to. Not all the wives/partners do, so I am not alone in my decision.

The trips up and down hill and dale and the competitions to see who can do it the quickest,
just don't interest me ...
...or
...more to the point  really just scare me.



It involves a lot of mud and interesting positions to be trapped in.

I mean do I really want to be traveling on bumpy roads, being tossed around a bit and end up like this?

Well in case you were not sure the answer to that question is a definite "NO".





Do they mean to do that and how did it happen? Could they not just drive in the gap sensibly instead of trying to go up the sides?

I am told that half the fun is then helping each other to get up/out of the mud or tricky positions making sure no-one is left behind or broken down at the end of the day.

Well that's all good and fun, and boys will be boys what ever the age; so they can do that with out me thanks.

In New Zealand, the end of the year means that with everything there are breakups and Christmas functions and for some reason this year there seem to be some starting in November.

The 4WD club were very nice and organized this around Harry being able to go as he was going down south for the Burt Rally. Apparently because he was the only one who spoke up when they were talking about it, a date that would fit him was chosen and others told.





We had a dinner at The Prince Albert in Cambridge.

It is an old English style pub so although it had a slightly dated atmosphere and people seemed relaxed and able to be there with their children, it wasn't a place I would choose to go to again.






It got quiet noisy as the evening wore on with younger people coming in, not necessarily for eating, but to drink and have a good time (as far as they thought).
Yeah I know I must be getting old!
I suppose I just like to be able to chat with those around me while I'm are out eating.

There was a live band - two singers with a guitar - but the music drowned out their voices so we couldn't really hear them singing.


The food was just typical pub food but Harry and some of the guys seemed to like that and it was for them really.

Harry chose his usual favourites - sea food ... and as long as there are plenty of chips with the mains he is not that fussed with what else is served with it. In fact he usually leaves the salad (or "green stuff") on the plate.

So it was...

Mussels for entree and a fisherman's basket for mains.

He couldn't eat all of his so we asked for a "doggy bag" which I heated up for his lunch the next day.

The only entree that wasn't a fish dish or garlic bread was deep fried Camembert with a dipping sauce. So I had that and it was nice.

For mains I chose Cajun chicken with apricot sauce.
I was a bit disappointed with this as the menu seemed to 'dress it up' but when it arrived (as you can see) it was really just the chicken with salad and chips and the sauce in a bowl.

It wasn't long after we had eaten that people started to leave. We left too as Harry had things to do ...

He was heading South and still had work to do.