Easter to the Shortest Day (Mid June)

Southern Patarau Beach

 Easter 2021 was a quiet affair, with a fairly wet weekend and plenty of renovations to get on with, but sadly no Easter Eggs 🐰. Not that that was a reason to sit around and feel miserable. With having just caught up with Shannon & AC in Wellington - Easter Bunny managed to do a drop off there 😉. But with Rocky & Daniel now living three hours south of Perth, down Nick & Em's way  - Easter Bunny was running late to WA 😕. At least we all managed a good catch up through Zoom - wonderful to see everyone 😍.

Dining / Kitchen areas almost ready for painting

 Prior to the weekend Bill finally got the screw put into his implant in his gum after a four month wait to ensure he had no reaction to the titanium. All was looking healthy and is now ready for his new tooth! Another two weeks till the tooth can be fitted 🤞.
It arrived!! But didn't fit!! Another two weeks before it was finally fitted and Bill can eat normally once again.🦷

Easter also brought daylight saving to an end and the feeling summer is over with the evenings getting dark so much earlier now. The autumn tints are full on in our area - the reds are amazing.🍁🍂. 

Joan enjoying
Happy Hour

Our concerns for Joan while we were away were unfounded with her coping quite well especially with her Companion Hilary. She made such a difference. Unfortunately soon after our return she had another fall at night leaving her a lot more confused and meals becoming a challenge, it was time to move her into more care. It was a hard decision for her Boys  but choosing the Ernest Rutherford Resthome was the best decision. She accepted the change very well, letting go of most of her possessions. At least she could have all her paintings she did years ago, on the walls in her bedroom. The Carers are amazing and are wonderful with all the Residents, which you can imagine all have different needs. For now she is quite settled and getting into the activities that keep their days quite busy. 

Our renovations have been moving along with the completion of painting in the  lounge / dining and kitchen area, which has made such a difference to the place. Feels very spacious. And finishing off tiling the old fireplace which we have kept as it was installed only 10 years ago to meet the Council Clean Air Regulations. We will be so much warmer this year with the double glazing and extra insulation in ceiling and walls.

Last Winter

Old bricks removed 

The stairwell was next which is like a two story open space - Bill cleverly built a floor out from the top hallway to make a platform to work from while he replaced the old window with a new double glazed one. Finished plastering and painting. 

Don't Jump Bill!
Stairwell

I painted the lower half once the floor was removed and Bill had finished plastering. It was also at this stage we removed the last of the old carpet off the stairs which we knew was the cause of a lot of the smell in the lower half of the house. To complete this section of the house was the beautiful $5 bargain light from the recycling centre. 😄

Busy day on Totaranui Beach 😍

We managed to take a week off in the middle of May and head over to Golden Bay to join up with friends / fellow Motor Homer's Sam & Pauline down from Hahei (Coromandel) who were spending 6 weeks in the top of the South. 

It wasn't easy to find firewood at Totaranui

Apart from the gale force winds when we first went over, we had amazing autumn weather. Pauline being the younger of us, was the only one to have a swim 🏊😁. S&P hadn't been over to Golden Bay before, so it was lovely to show off the region looking it's best. Totaranui had 10 other camp sites occupied (Holds 850 campers at it's peak!) - perfect time of year to visit. We even  made it out to Patarau River Mouth - a lovely remote spot Bill & I enjoy on the west coast of Golden Bay. Fires on the beach at both these spots - the Boys were in their element.🔥

Patarau River Mouth

Lovely evening Patarau

Stunning sunset Port Tarakohe

Returning once again to the renovations, we planned the new kitchen and ordered it through Mitre10 - Bill having installed a few of their units over the years with good results, thought they were good value. We would sort the bench top through a Christchurch company AGB Stone. So a plan was made to do a quick trip to Christchurch for a couple of nights and have a day shopping for stove / induction hob / rangehood / vinyl plank flooring / benchtop and a few other smaller items. And not least of all - my new gumboots after my old ones fell to bits. It was a very productive trip plus a catch up with good friends Marg (whom we stayed with) and Helen & Ralph when we all went to Formaggio's for dinner.

Fireplace finished waiting on TV (Not by us 😏)

The kitchen units arrived in good time (we had expected delays due to the high demand of building materials since Covid began) and now there was no holding Bill back. With the flooring in the kitchen / dining area now done, we will be ready for the benchtop that is due in the next two weeks.

We've also had the house measured up for carpet through friend Karen from The Flooring Room  and that is due to be laid a fortnight after the bench top arrives. So no pressure Bill - to remove the old kitchen and finish what will be a fourth bedroom / study. 

Tea break with new kitchen being installed

And for those of you who are wondering what I have been doing while Bill is working - besides my online part time job, he does need feeding etc. And luckily for Bill my culinary skills have improved, plus a little help from Google.  I have assisted with painting too. And still working on the patio area out the end of the house. I've moved a few Ute loads of gravel and white stones. But I've also needed Bill's help with building a small block wall to help with retention of the corner of the area, so I have had to wait till he has the time to spare me. I also had a couple of days work back at Austin Transport assisting Sheryl who took over my administration role there 8 years ago - good to see the company had grown quite a bit since I started with Bryan when he only had 3 trucks - now nearly 30! During school holidays I was honoured to be asked to babysit my 6 yr old Great-niece - fun to get to see a children's movie once again. Unfortunately Daisy had already seen Peter Rabbit so we made do with Raya & the last Dragon. Which was still enjoyable 👏

Making concrete for the block wall 💪

So we are on a roll with renovations, a little bit of pressure and now that we have had the shortest day (longest night) - roll on Summer 🌞🌻

Flooring going down

Looking good
(Cooker on loan from friends V&T)

Summer in Northland

Friedensreich Hundertwasser Memorial in Kawakawa

Lunch at Anakiwa - waiting to meet the Ferry

 On the 18 February we had a smooth crossing over to Wellington, although delayed for 2 hours by bad weather two days earlier - where it took 9 hours to cross into Picton! With no Shannon and AC in town we headed up the coast to Waitarere Beach and caught up with John and Sarah. It was lovely to catch up as it had been a while and nice sitting around the Brazier.

Waitarere Beach with Sarah & John

Onto Turangi under a cloudless beautiful blue sky jutted magnificent Ruapehu/Tongariro mountains. We cycled the Tongariro River Trail (18km return) the next morning. A beautiful ride through the bush thankfully is it was pretty warm.

Second Night at Snells Beach

We continued on to Taupo up the western side without much traffic and on to Whakaipo Bay, a lovely Doc camp that we have stayed at before. We had a swim in the lake but it was not as warm as it was 2 years earlier when we were last here.

Cheers 🍷 Wendy, Claire & I starting 
the trip off well with Bubbles

Moving on to Waihi Beach for a couple of nights before starting our third adventure for the Fab Five now Fab five and a half with Wendy's dog Starla. On our earlier adventures G&C borrowed a caravan (bit of a disaster, regularly losing them on the road & difficulties setting up etc). Next was an older Bus (better but not quite there) and this time hiring a 6 berth camper from Maui (almost perfect).
Made our first night together just out of Warkworth at the Golf Course, a lovely spot to park over except for those bloody mozzies! We thought we had them bad but G&C had them far worse. We realised the next day they hadn't put the insect screens across the wide open hatches leaving themselves very attractive to the mozzies! It's a wonder we had any at all when they had sacrifice themselves so openly.

Whangarei City Cycle Trail

We didn't all meet up on our first night as planned. Wendy departed Waihi Beach a bit later in  the day than us and got a blowout just out of Paeroa, where she ended up returning for the night after an AA call out.  Two new tyres at Manukau the next day and we were all able to meet up that night at Snells Beach - a lovely reserve but squashed in like sardines, all 5 vans. The local council has a policy allowing Freedom Camping but only in allocated spots so even though at this time of year there was plenty of parking we all had to park together in one corner, very cosy. Still it was a very beautiful location.

The Pohutukawa's up North are magnificent

On to Mangawhai Heads, where we had a lovely swim on the incoming tide into the Estuary. The water temperature was perfect.

" No, not all the way out to the point!"

Over our two weeks on the road together we stayed at various campsites from Clubs /Car Parks / Pops (places allowing park overs for the night) and CAPs (people charging to park over) and Doc Camps. We are fortunate living in this country in these times with so many options allowing over night parking, along with the NZMCA providing many of our own sites as well to park in.
Moving northward the next day after checking the coastline around Waipu Cove etc, we arrived at our first Doc Camp on this trip at Uretiti. Unfortunately Wendy couldn't stay with us with having her dog (DOC Camps mostly prohibit dogs). But we only did the one night apart as we can hardly be called the Fab Five with only four of us!

Footbridge from Pataua North looking South

Four years earlier Bill and I had stayed in this lovely camp at the end of July 2017 where we had quite a heavy frost. Certainly different this time of year when it was beautiful and warm but with that it meant a lot more campers. Unfortunately it is a bit close to Auckland so is a lovely spot for many. Thankfully we had moved on north as we heard that evening Auckland was to go into Level 3 Lockdown with another Community Covid 19 outbreak! The northern border of Auckland is Wellsford/Mangawhai Heads, so we could continue our travels. Great timing.

Oakura Bay next door to Whangaruru

Passing through Whangarei on our travels, we stopped and cycled round the loop of the town. Calling in for a beer on the way through, we enjoyed all the art along the river trail even with the tide out.
From here we continued out to Whangarei Heads with beautiful beaches and lovely walks. Unfortunately we also got a puncture at this point, much to Bill's disgust, in one of our newish tyres! Once again we will have to pay the absorbent rate one does when a bit isolated! Thankfully our insurance covers the actual road side assistance. The cost of the tyre is to come.

Whangaruru Camp Ground

On our way to Tutukaka Headlands we past many beautiful dry stone walls. Whangarei has approximately 156 km of these dry stone walls in the area built back around the 1860s as land was peppered in volcano rock from the nearby volcanoes when they erupted. Thankfully these are now protected. You could think you were travelling through Scotland.
Moving on from Tutukaka Headlands onto Whangaruru to a quaint Kiwi Camp Ground where we were to park up for a couple of nights and catch up on computer work / laundry etc. Wendy got her washing hung out and I had just got mine in the machine when the Tsunami Siren went off. This sent all the campers and batch owners in the area up the hill immediately behind us. This was made difficult initially with a fence that was hard to traverse, particularly for the elderly. Thankfully someone had wire cutters, opening it up for us all to be able to get through and up the steep hill.

Whangaruru looking into the harbour for
any sign of a Tsunami

 As we thought we only had short notice, people grabbed their children and very few bits and pieces to head up the hill. Thankfully Bill had the forethought to say take your chair, water, book, sunblock and hat as we could be there for sometime.  And what a good forethought it was as we ended up there for 5 hours! Near the end of this time, my washing was well and truly done so I went and grabbed it and hang it on the fence up the hill with us. I was ready with clean nickers to put on should disaster hit! 🤣.

Bill still dreaming of owning one of
these one day 😂

A few people had moved on with their motorhomes after a few hours and out of the area. After a late lunch of nibbles we thought we could head down safely too once the all clear was given. This was our first experience of a tsunami evacuation and the siren is very piercing as it continually went off. It certainly gets the heart racing. Thankfully New Zealand did not get hit with a tsunami after the three large earthquakes that had gone off earlier that morning.

Parked up at Bland Bay

So the rest of the afternoon was pretty relaxing sitting around ( unfortunately we weren't allowed to swim with unknown surges that may occur), I did get some computer work done while the others relaxed- someone has to keep the money coming in!!
The sky up this way is incredible with very little light pollution. The Milky Way is just amazing,  so dense. And all the satellites and the Space Station passing overhead, it is quite busy up there.

Setting out the Kontiki at Bland Bay

Next we moved on to Bland Bay just south of Russell in The Bay of Islands, out on a small peninsula. It is a beautiful wee bay, nothing bland at all about it. It was perfect for setting the long line (Kontiki) out, our first opportunity on this trip. We caught enough snapper for a small meal for us all, as the others were too small and return to the sea. Along with a Stingray which we released and sent back with a sore mouth.
The campsite was small and not many staying so we were able to park right on the beach front.  Great swimming as the water was so clear. Had a lovely evening with fresh snapper and roast veggies. Unfortunately by this time Claire had the start of a tooth ache and it was getting worse, the gin only helped so much.  A dental appointment was made for the next morning in Kerikeri so we all headed off in our own time to meet up at Paihia that night.

Walking along a very windy Promenade
at Russell

Heading through Russell, which neither Bill or I could remember visiting before, it was extremely windy. But we found a lovely sheltered cafe for lunch at Hone's Garden. Russell reminded me a bit of Akaroa with lovely old Villas from the early settlers along the waterfront.
It was then a quick trip across on the ferry from Okiato to Opua (near Paihia) - we had only just driven onto the Boat and realised we were moving across to the other side before Bill had pulled the hand break on. They didn't waste time. Excellent transport for $21 - that was the bus and ourselves. And the two ferry's were running continuously even at this time of the year.

Graeme & Starla comparing whiskers 😄

My choice of the CAP for the night in Paihia wasn't that great, but it was handy. We walked up into the town for dinner and the next day's ride from Opua to Kawakawa on the Twin Coast Cycle Trail. Poor Claire didn't join us after having a root canal done on her aching tooth the day before,  still wasn't feeling great. Sleeping the morning was probably the better option for her.

Matauri Bay on sunrise

Bill & I had ridden this part of the trail 2 years earlier after our previous Fab Five Trip, and G&C had done it another time, so it was only new for Wendy (and Starla) but pleasant enough ride for us to do again .

Since we last visited Kawakawa, they have built a beautiful Memorial/Library to the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser who had created the original toilet art work on the public toilets that now draw Tourists to this rather uncelebrated small NZ town.
After a lovely lunch at Opua we continued north to the lovely Matauri Bay Camp, where we had stayed two years earlier. Lovely for swimming but the Boys weren't going to try the Kontiki here again after nearly loosing it last time on a reef!

Lovely Tauranga Bay

Surprisingly also staying at this small camp were neighbours of ours from Nelson, Neroli & Kevin, who were also travelling around Northland for a similar period as ourselves. NZ really is a small place isn't it.
We moved onto final destination with the Fab Five to Tauranga Bay for 4 nights - to unwind, eat, drink, amazingly still have stories to share and try and catch more fish. Plenty of swims. Such a lovely camp even though we couldn't actually get beach front, we were close enough, particularly when the wind would come up in the afternoon.

Looking out over Maitai Bay
Lovely swimming

The Boys rode their bikes around to Whangaroa Harbour to check if we were going to be able to watch the America's Cup Yacht Racing at a venue around there. Thankfully the Girl's overruled and we watched one of the races in Wendy's motorhome.  Which was perfect . Great venue thank you Wendy .
The next day we said our farewells (only for a week till we caught up again!) - G&C off to Oke Bay to meet up with their family staying in a luxury Airbnb, Wendy returning to Waihi Beach via a motorhome company to check the price of her motorhome to sell and surprisingly! Bought a new one. Look forward to our next trip Wendy.

Great catch Bill

Bill and I headed off to Rangiputa for 3 nights on the Karikari Peninsula but first a night at the Doc Camp at Maitai Bay which was just beautiful - lovely swimming, water so clear. Unfortunately we didn't have great cell phone coverage so I managed to find a blog on the the Stuff news site and read this to Bill updating the drama on the water every minute. This was the race we became becalmed- I thought it was all over for Team NZ - then.......we got going and the same happened to the Italians. So much drama. Would have been great to watch.
At Rangiputa we caught up with Julie ( school friend ) & Steve for the next 3 nights. They stayed at their Bach (currently a garage with kitchen & bathroom,  but with new plans submitted to Council - watch this blog for future development.  Luxury 6 Star accommodation next time J&S?)
We stayed up the road with other motorhomers on a Doc reserve.
We had a couple of days of great fishing and swimming.  Beautiful beaches here too.

Opps! Miscalculation Bill?
(Damn - didn't have the camera ready 😏)

Our last day with J&S coincided with the final yacht race, so it was perfect to visit their friends up the road and watch it on their large screen TV. Fantastic finish to some nail biting races.
We left Rangiputa with a freezer of fresh snapper ( J&S had a vacuum packer) and started our journey southwards as we moved on toward the end of March. But not quite ready to leave this beautiful part of the country and the weather fantastic, we had to fit in 4 days on the Coromandel at Port Jackson with Pauline & Sam (ex Telecom co worker).

Julie & I posing - how to do it nice & dry Bill

One of the many board walks around 
South Auckland with Wayne

On our way through Auckland we managed a catch up with my other two brothers. Allan & Nicky at their Club for dinner, which is now a POP - good to stay over. And Wayne, meeting at Māngere Mountain for a bike ride. Another great location full of bike trails. Wayne has been out & about checking out new trails he can take his guests too. We met up in the morning after visiting The Trade Depot in South Auckland - one of Bill's favourite shops for supplies for our renovations. Bill normally buying on line from the Christchurch store, enjoyed this experience much more as he could touch and check out the items of interest. $500 later we headed off to meet up with Wayne and do the trail.

Last catch up for the Fab5 before we
headed south. (Also lost the Kontiki!!)

The weather held for us on the Coromandel thankfully as I had forgotten how bad the road was into there.  But the destination is well worth it. S&P had 4yr old granddaughter Zoe with them, and friends Rick & Chick (easy to remember their names).

Sunset at Port Jackson with Pauline, Sam,
Rick & Chick & Zoe

A bit of fishing,  another wine or two, delicious meals, some walking, and a couple of swims made it a very enjoyable catch up as always.
Moving on southward was a night at Waihi Beach at G&C's to check out Wendy's new home since we last saw her here at WB. Lovely Wendy, I'm sure you'll be very comfy there.

Gorgeous sunset Port Jackson

Passing through Tauranga we had an enjoyable evening/and morning bush walk with nephew Paull & Marta who had moved here from Warkworth since we last stayed with them. Oscar & Bailey growing into beautiful young adults! Makes one feel they are getting older. Might limit our visits only to people our age and older!🤣
Tauranga to Taupo where we had our last swim of this trip - a lovely evening to finish off with.
Wellington we managed to catch up with Shannon and AC who had just returned from a week's holiday in Christchurch- so it was a lovely relaxed evening with.....you guessed it....snapper for dinner.

Multi tasking while driving 😁

Arriving back in Nelson just before Easter, well rested and well fed - it is time to knuckle down now and get on with our renovations.
It was a lovely way to have spent the second half of summer.

Happy New Year 2021

Kohatu Cafe

Just before the end of 2020 brother Allan & partner Nicky called in and stayed for a few days on their way home to Auckland after having Christmas in Hanmer. It was lovely to see the new year in with them and enjoy a few days relaxing and away from the renovations.

Nelson's Maitai River Trail

They hired bikes and once again we did the Kohatu to Nelson section of the Great Taste Trail which was as good as the first time we did it back in October with Graeme, Claire & Wendy. It is a lovely way to see some of our countryside.

The Gib Lifter has been a great tool.

We also took Joan along with A&N into Nelson City on the high tide to walk the River Trail - very pleasant walk around our small city. 

Joan's pretty excited with her mode of
transport.

Soon after they left we headed over to Wellington taking Joan to see Shannon and AC's new home. When I made the booking for the ferry, Joan had been physically better back then and we thought it would be a good trip for her. But after a couple of falls, one breaking a hip, she had lost a lot of confidence and strength. So we decided to still go ahead with the trip but took Joan in a wheel chair to allow us to move quicker. Well did she get the VIP treatment from Bluebridge Ferries! They took us onto the Ferry first in Picton and organised a taxi to collect us off the ferry once we arrived at the Wellington terminal. Joan was a bit surprised with some of the mode of transport but we told her to enjoy it as it was at no extra cost 😂.

AC, Shannon and Bill chillaxing

We had 5 lovely days away - Wellington is great on a sunny day. We managed to get out for small walks everyday with Joan as well as had some quality time with S&A. Their new home has stunning views out over Evans Bay and of course watching the planes is great entertainment!

Back in Nelson it was back into the renovations - Bill had pulled down all the old ceiling in the lounge/dining areas and was now putting up the new gib,  I got out into the garden and finished sorting the grounds to get my grasses planted. Now I just need them to grow fast.

Around Evans Bay Waterfront

Bill celebrated another birthday near the end of January. Vicki & Trevor joined us at the Speights Ale House for a lovely meal and a drink or two. Most enjoyable.

My little garden project.
This was where the massive Toitoi was.

All planted out - they just need to grow.

Enjoying lunch with V&T

Who got the biggest!😏