For Mother’s Day this year I planned to give my mummy the gift of me … and meeting Ken for the first time.

We decided to roadtrip to the Wairarapa leaving from Hamilton on Friday after work.
In hindsight, I’d probably never ever do this again .. especially not in winter.  It got dark early and petrol is so expensive!!  I’m pretty sure that with a little preparation I could have found us grabaseat deals for less 3/4 less time and definitely less money.

We did get to see some really beautiful country side before it got all dark and wet and yucky.  Autumn really is glorious, I can’t stop saying that!

We arrived at Mom’s after 11pm and after some quick “Hallo’s” and some hugs fell in to bed and went straight to sleep.

Mom was working in the gallery on Saturday so our plan was to do a little exploring – and take some photographs of course.
We got up before Mom went to work and hung out with her for a bit and made some toast and had some breakfast.  After she left we had a little lie down … and woke up an hour and a half later!!  We popped down to the Gallery to check on her (and her caffeine levels) and then went up to the Main Street Deli for brunch.

We sat outside in the weak but warm autumn sun and took photographs of the leaves – and talked about the other people sitting outside in the courtyard.  One couple, we were astounded, said hardly anything to each other at all.  Just read their papers and looked at the trees.

After lunch we drove out to Longbush to Stonehenge Aotearoa.

I hadn’t heard anything about it but we saw the signs when we drove through the night before.  On the way out there we had a quick Google and although there is a small charge to visit, I wanted to see it anyway.
They showed us a 10 minute video which talks about how it was created and that it is not a replica of Stonehenge at Salisbury plain but a full working structure designed for its precise location in the Wairarapa. It incorporates ancient Egyptian, Babylonian and Indus Valley astronomy, Polynesian navigation, and Celtic and Maori starlore.
Two large carved pillars, one to either side of the entrance to the causeway, form the Sun Gate. Seen from the centre of the Henge the Sun rises in this gateway on the morning of the spring equinox.

Near the centre of the Henge is a 5-metre-high obelisk. Using the obelisk you can identify the location of the south celestial pole – the point around which the entire heavens appears to revolve.

On the way up to Stonehenge we saw Carterton’s “Ghost House” on the hill at Ahiaruhe.
We went up to the house (eeek! trespassing!) after we had walked around Stonehenge. We jumped the fence and headed up the hill – I’d already decided that this house was going to be my 365 Photograph for the day. Turns out at least 2 of the other people in our NZ 365’ers group have it in their project too!

Looking like something straight out of Alfred Hitchcock, this old mansion has been presiding from its prime location in Ahiaruhi, east of Carterton, for 20 years.

Local man Robby Stevenson moved the house from Palmerston North in the mid 1980’s.  He and his partner bought it the Wairarapa in four pieces planning to turn it into the family home on the Ahiaruhi farm.
The relationship broke down and Robby was left with his farm and children to raise.
Farming in the 80’s was tough and there wasn’t alot of spare cash so he had to forget the house.
Despite the poor state it is in now, it has hardly been forgotten. It has become a local landmark (and this is the third time it has appeared in one of our NZ 365 Project).  Robby considered pulling it down but now thinks that it would be better if nature took its course.

We picked Mom up from work and headed home to relax and chill out.
We’ve had some pretty exciting news (new additions) in our family recently – I’m an Aunt again!! – and as we were driving home the next day I wanted to spend as much time with Mom as possible. In typical Sutherland fashion there were phone calls overseas and wine. Lots of wine. LOTS.

We all had a sleep-in the next morning and fluffed around a wee bit.
I had a couple of presents for Mothers Day with me so I gave those to Mommy and later in the morning we headed down to Martinborough to The Village Cafe for brunch. Delicious!! With food like that and such a relaxing weekend, I didn’t want to go home. But we had to.

And we had to drive for 7 hours to get there.

Next time we are flying.