We stopped at Featherston , the most southern town in the Wairarapa.
We were pleasantly surprised.
There was a good library , a Information Centre and a small Museum.
Directly across the road was a RSA that was bigger out the back than it looked from the road.
In the centre of the village was a Memorial.
The original stone domed structure was in memory of WW1 local people who died in battle.
The granite four sided monument inside the domed structure was to those locals who died in WW2.
Some poor families lost 5 of their members.
The library had free WI FI so we went in with the e'book to see if we could get it to work.
We were there an hour with a friendly helpfull lady who managed to teach us quite a lot.
She then invited us to stay overnight in their no charge parking area behind the library.
Which we did.
As a truly friendly motorhome town would , they had a sign that clearly showed how to get to the Dump site which also had fresh water available.
We were impressed.
Across the road was a modern art feature.
A 6m tall clump of golden bullrushes that swayed in the breeze and made a gentle clacking sound.
On the edge of town was a site of Army history.
There had been a major training base and supply depot.
The Supply Depot was mainly underground and was quite extensive.
Based in this rather remote district it was , at the time , quite secretive and was considered reasonably bomb proof.
It was also a Prisoner of War type camp for Japanese people who lived in NZ before WW2 started.
They were taken from all over NZ to live out the duration of the war under armed guards.
The Japanese Embassy erected a memorial in there honour.
We found one grave with a Japanese headstone.
The NZ/American Association also erected a memorium.The training camp was the departure point for thousands of NZ men and women who went to war - many did not return.
At RSA's around NZ the Rememberance Ode always ends with that haunting phrase -
"We Will Remember Them - Least we Forget".
