Whanganui Barbeque

Today is an out-of- town adventure, a day trip to my favourite country town, Whanganui, second city of the NZ province called Manuatu. BP has a number of members we support who live in this region, including my friend S. from Vinegar Hill fame. It is such a sunny warm day, today is a good opportunity for a road trip, which is about seven hours there and back. R. who is head honcho of BP is a good chauffeur so the long trip will not be as tiresome as it seems. We climb aboard his impeccable Dodge car and hit the road at midday...

On the road...

Passing through Levin, a middle-sized and not very impressive town.

Stopping at lazy Levin for lunch...

Destination barbecue at Whanganui...

 It was a perfect day  for a barbecue, and our two friends arrived with their respective dogs, a Jack Russell, Divine, whom I  knew already, and a slightly more aggressive Boxer, called Baillee, who was kept happily contained in his  owner's car.

The portable barbecue was excellent, and the sausages and salad were followed by my freshly baked and very moist chocolate cake. It is always interesting to see how two men in country NZ, somewhat isolated by their sexual preferences, both looking after ageing parents, manage to survive in a climate which is still unaccustomed to accepting them in their full sense as gay men. They are both super creative and enjoyed our three hour visit. We did too, it was a good venture and certainly worth the effort. R tells me it will now be a bi-monthly affair which is obviously a good idea.