Reno's finished - time to head northward.

A break between showers at Waihi Beach

We have nearly completed 3 weeks here in Waihi Beach . It has been full on with the renovations in the bus while the country has been subjected to a couple of severe storms with plenty of flooding and snow. Thankfully we have got off fairly lightly here, only the one night with such strong winds and heavy rain that it was blowing through the bottom of the ranch slider and back up into the house. Luckily the bus was on the sheltered side of the house.
The pictures tell the story really, but it is great now to have much more storage that we can finish unpacking and complete making this bus our new home. And continue our travels.

Front of Bus before renovation
cupboards not big enough to store our meagre possessions 

Half way there - airconditioning removed
leaving a large storage area - new cupboards up

Finished - complete with Roman Blinds in place

Kitchen after TV unit removed leaving a hole up in top cupboard
Wiring all pulled back into cupboard.

Finished - much more storage. Little patch still to be fixed.

Thankfully we have had access to G&C's house
while they are overseas and housesitter has been delayed.

In between showers and the renovations Bill
managed to get on the roof and clean the skylight!

Renovations at Waihi Beach

Happy Birthday Mum

We headed down to G&C's at Waihi Beach on the 4th July in time to celebrate what would have been Mum's 95th birthday, sadly she wasn't here to enjoy a glass of very nice champagne. But as tough as it was, we had a lovely evening reminiscing our many times here with her.

Our little bus the only Bus in the front row

The next day we travelled down to Mount Maunganui where we had the Bus booked in for a service, it's first one under our ownership. Thankfully it was a lovely day so we walked around the commercial area of The Mount and picked up a few items that were on our list. eg ramps - always nice to be able to sleep on an even keel.
One item on my Bucket List was to have a night on the beach front at the Mount. It would never appeal over summer when it's pretty hectic with holiday makers. But being the middle of winter, I expected it to be very quite. Forgot to take into account the Lion's Tour and our proximity to Auckland for the last Test at the weekend. We did manage to get the last site on the beach front thankfully by booking at mid day on a hunch that perhaps I should ring to make sure it was possible. No point in staying in the back row and seeing nothing! On our arrival 4 beefy white bodies in their togs had emerged from the sea. Bill had to ask if they were English! No they weren't, they were hardy Kiwi's they said in a very strong English accent! Yeah right!

View from the top looking along the beach to
Papamoa and south 

But the presence of these hearty people did give a party type atmosphere to the camp, sitting around in their deck chairs complete with big jackets and beanies. Mostly all red of course.
We had time for a walk up to the summit of the Mount (Te Maunga), which we haven't done since the kids were quite young, so probably 15 to 20 years ago. One of the main reasons for not doing it is every time we have visited is usually summer which is too hot as a lot of the track is so open. But the track has been improved hugely since then, and although you can't walk right around the mountain at the moment due to slips earlier this year from heavy rains, the walk to the top at this time of the year was perfect.

Bill checking out the edges for me

We caught up with ex Nelsonians Dale & Don who have been living in Tauranga for about 20 years. Had dinner and a good catch up on their lives and our families. Mid week, middle of winter, who would have thought you had to book for a meal? Again the Lion's Tour! It is great the money these sport attractions do bring into the country - but why the one week we are in town!! But the Maitre d' did manage to find us a table (and no not by the toilet), and we had lovely meals.
Part of my picture of our staying on the Mount's beach front was breakfast on the waters edge. Well it wasn't to be with it pouring down when we woke and stayed that way for a lot of the day. So we just headed back to Waihi Beach so Bill could get stuck into the renovations. He was itching to go!

Before construction started
Cupboards too shallow for storage

One moment cupboard is there..

Just under a week later, it is coming along well. A few interruptions from brother G who was ready to head off overseas a couple of days early and bored wanted to play darts and table tennis. Sadly Bill didn't have time so he had to make do with me! He's obviously had lots of time to practice is all I can say!!

Next it's gone....

I'll just chop out all these wires,
don't think we need them......

We don't need air conditioning, do we?

Nope! Much better for storage.

molding new cupboard fronts
Not quite the same gear Bill had access to
when he built Big Yella but he's quite creative.

Time to leave Ak and start our travels Northward

Ready to head North

 Ruapehu Ski Club Lodge, Ohakune was  the venue   for Sheryl's long time school friend Julie-Anne's 60th  party. (These things can't be buried indefinitely). Not a catch up as such as most of the attendees were Julie & Steve's Auckland friends, however it was good to meet their ecliptic circle of friends and to celebrate Julies day.

Julie with the Ohakune Carrot

There was one face from our past, a friend that we met in the UK in 1979, Jill, whom we hadn't seen since then, so some reminiscing was done. The weather couldn't have been better.
We  strolled the  Ohakune  ski village over the weekend that  has some lovely eateries to bide our time between wine and food supplied in copious amounts over the 3 nights we spent there in the company of our hosts, ex workmates and the Plunket / Kindergarten / School parents of their children's friends.
Saturday afternoon some fun was enjoyed with the greater part of the party hiring bikes  and transported up the mountain to the snow lift where indeed there was snow. Then we rode the 16 km back to town. All down hill and not a challenge though Sheryl's wee handies did get cold. (Graham from Rangiputa kindly lent his gloves half way down so she didn't get frost bite). Ohakune at this time of the year reminded us of Hanmer.

Mt Ruapehu in the background as wandered the streets
of Ohakune looking for a cafe for a coffee

Saturday night was the big night where we all enjoyed celebrating Julie moving into the next decade. Great social night, not too many showing signs of overdoing it the next day. OMG are we maturing!!
Our time with Wayne and Kate is coming to an end and have done all the painting we wish to do for some time. There is more stuff to help with should we have stayed on but 3 months in AK has been grand but time to move on.

Great nephew Oscar learning some tips on
cleaning a bus. (Don't think his mother was happy)

We picked up our bus and tho improved, with our  requirements met, it can only be summed as a very average job at very AK prices. I think we will spend any further money on our bus down country where better value for money is perceived, the price of doing business up here is expensive. Our decision to leave when Shannon was born has worked well for us. Our visit here has been interesting and an eye opener but I think we can truly say we have no desire to shift back. Although it has been great to catch up with family and friends once again. We will miss our Flatmates, but I'm sure they will be looking forward to having their home back to themselves once again.
Our next stop is back to Waihi Beach, Gman & Claire are travelling in Europe for some weeks and we will assist their house sitter for 2 or 3 of those weeks while I rearrange the cupboard space in the front of the bus. To that end we have been amassing some timbers to rebuild much in the manner off Big Yella.
From there in time we  will go north  for a few weeks to acquaint ourselves with an area we have only briefly visited in our 20's. That will be a story for later.

Rust removed from around the windscreen,
looking much tidier