What started as a casual suggestion for a Line Dancing Sunset Harbour Cruise on the Wahine Moe was quickly becoming a reality, and the Line Dancing Harbour Cruise Facebook chat had turned into a flurry of culinary planning!
Ping! I pick up my phone for the hundredth time that day. Should we just have gluten-free vege sausages, or should we add something else? Thanks to Tish, the vegetarians were well looked after with her delicious homemade vege patties.
Come the Monday of the cruise and everyone was well prepared. I had ordered the meat the week before and was on track to pick it up later that day; Becs had done grocery shopping in Hamilton, Tomato Sauce and all! Tish was slaving over her hot stove in potato salad and patty mode, and Louisa was knee deep in green salad and buns (not to mention the watermelons and brownie baking!). So off I toddled over to her place to relieve her of the glutenous job of slicing them. On the way over I decided to stop at the butchers to see how our order was getting on. Holy F@#* bubble – the lights were out and nobody was in there! Of course! Public holiday! I didn’t have Jacob’s number, so messaged him on his Facebook butcher page, at the same time envisaging him out in the middle of the sea fishing! On arrival at Louisa’s, other frantic options of meat purchasing were discussed. Then…. ‘Ping!’ I’m just at the shop now getting your order together. Text me your number. There was a bit of whooping, and less than 30 minutes later I was off in the car to pick up the BBQ banquet. Thank you, Jacob, at Top Cut Butchery Raglan for working on your day off. The patties, sausages and ribs were a big hit, and comments were made in their flavour.
A Line Dancing Sunset Harbour Cruise on the Wahine Moe was suggested some time ago and finally brought to life with the choreography of Louisa who teaches line dancing at the Raglan Club every Thursday (except the last one of the month); her passion for those country-like steps is inspirational. JamesRay, who plays his wonderful country music for us line dancers (and of course the rest of you there), at the Raglan Club, was a front runner for the cruise and brought along his family, Sharlene and Faith. It was great to have them on board, and lovely to see James out of cowboy performer mode, just a regular dude having a barbie on a boat.
Cruisers came from all over; Otorohanga, Te Awamutu, Cambridge, Whangarei, Auckland, Kirikiriroa and of course Whaingaroa. Most were line dancers, some were not, but I heard they had just as fabulous a time. All ages too, right down to our youngest Foxy Squirrel (the Raglan line dancers), Maria. We line danced on the top deck, and we line danced down below. Louisa had put together a set-list of dances and a Spotify playlist to match. My sea-legs were extremely challenged, boats are not my forte. There was a bit of wobbling, and tilting, and bumping, a lot of laughter. Overall, I think we did incredibly well.
The crew of the Wahine Moe were exceptional in their hospitality and accommodation of our musical demands and dancing space. They loaned us butter knives and sauce spoons. They BBQ’d and bartended, and were a pleasure to chat to. So, thank you to the skipper – Brook, Valeriu and Hariroa.
We are keen to make this an annual event, though next time we’re thinking to extend it one hour, and maybe just do a grazing table!
by Jane Forkert
