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| It's a tough job house sitting - but someone has to do it!😉 |
We left Auckland and headed down to Waihi Beach via Ray's Rest which is near Miranda on the coastal road from Auckland heading toward the Coromandel Peninsula. We spent a couple of nights at this very pleasant spot to stop with not a lot to do but walk along the beach or sit and read. Much needed to prepare ourselves for the next two months of house sitting at Waihi Beach!
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| Plenty of room to spread out a little. We are still sleeping in the bus - great views |
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| Rays Rest with a few fellow Campers |
Waihi (meaning "Rising Waters") Beach is at the western end of the Bay of Plenty which has a permanent population of around 2,000 but over the summer swells to 20,000, so we are staying during a quieter period which suits us perfectly. It is also a handy spot for friends and family to drop in.
Our first night back with G&C had Graeme giving Bill tips on catching fish with his Contiki which he puts in straight off the beach in front of the house. Tuition was pretty good with them pulling in 3 snapper and a Gurnard. Excellent - we shouldn't starve while they are away.
A couple of days later (25th July) we took G&C to Auckland's Airport in their new CRV- which was fine with G driving to the airport for us to drop them off, but bit nerve wracking on our return particularly with having to park up in a couple of large car parks for bits & pieces before returning to Waihi Beach. But I can happily say we returned the vehicle back into the garage here without a scratch. Phew!
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| Lots of beach walks - evenings are starting to get longer 👍 |
While staying here we have a few projects to complete - a bit of maintenance and renovation work on the Bus, a few Dental appointments for Sheryl this time - Bill's just about emptied the bank out with his dental work. Convert my bike to electric (power assist when required) so I can keep up with Bill. Do lots of local walks and cycle trails and of course catch fish.
So with these projects in mind and having two months to do this, we relaxed thinking we have plenty of time. Well 3 weeks into our two month's house sitting I can see we may run out of time with so many things to do & see!
It started with Bill getting a job with a friend of G&C's who lives back in Waihi (11km away) to install a new kitchen for her. Luckily it's not a big kitchen so he's almost finished. But now she would like the floor done as the new kitchen makes the floor look too shabby. It's quite nice he's earning some money again to help keep me in our lifestyle - my wee job I do on line just doesn't cover it all.
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| The Workshop in bust disarray. |
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| A few things to be checked on.. |
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| Hmmmmmm! Not sure where these wire goes? |
Bill has started sorting out our fridge issues (the power and even temperature distribution) so it's been pulled out of the bus and worked on in the basement which has been great having dry space with the frequent wet days we keep having - and room to spread out as you can see in the photo!
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| No keeping me back now! |
I now have an electrically modified bike which is fabulous to ride. I was against converting it initially as I felt we needed all the exercise we can get - but! I have realised there is a place for that extra power like going up hills and just being able to go that much further than we could previously. But the best thing is....... mine now goes a lot faster than Bill's.
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| An Oldie but a Cutie right on the beach. |
The conversion kit for Bill's is different to mine due to the style of our bike frames. Now we just need a bit more fine weather and Bill to finish working so we can get out cycling. Will update this on the next blog.
We try and do 5km walks most days, if the tide is out we head along the beach or if it's in, just around the local streets. There is plenty of activity in the building industry here too with many baches having major renovations or new builds. The market is pretty active here - I guess it's proximity to Auckland encourages this. There are still a few originals around though too.
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| Cornish Pump House used to pump water out of the mine. |
Sam & Pauline (we last caught up down at Warbirds Over Wanaka at Easter) called in for a night on their way through from their home in Hahei to Tauranga.
The next morning we headed into Waihi for Sam to help Bill remove the heavy old oven from his kitchen job, before heading off to walk around the rim of the Martha Mine.
Sadly we hadn't done our homework and since we were last here before we headed overseas, there have been two major slips preventing you from walking the original Rim Walkway. There are a couple of diversions in place on it now making it a lot longer and as S&P had to be in Tauranga by the end of the day we headed back to Waihi Beach.
Much nicer having lunch at the Flat White before they had to head off.
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| Bill & Pauline wanting to take this little fella for a ride |
