The Godwits fly North in the Winter

 The grass is always greener on the other side. All those old sayings  - meant that when we were forecast to have very wet conditions for a week in Gisborne, we hitched up the caravan and headed over to Ohiwa. I was trying to get pictures of the flooding etc on our way out, but it wasn't very spectacular. Once we got over Traffords Hill and into the gorge it looked very tame.

Reckon you could still fly fish in this

As each tributary joined it got a little bit murkier

Small waterfall

OK, down by Tauranga Bridge it might not have been to pleasant doing the bit where you had to hold the wire.

It doesn't take us long to get the caravan set up on T12 and get the BBQ going.

It's a lovely evening and much warmer than we had expected

We sat our for ages outside watching the sky.

And then it was inside to play scrabble. I won, due to getting Zulu on a double letter score, and triple word score (69) but Duncan got me back the next night with Dinners as his opening word, using all his letters (68).

The next day we took it pretty easy, I really enjoyed my swim, Duncan went for a run along the beach, and a cycle ride, and we went for a walk, read and relaxed.

A very serene sky.

Sunday we were up bright and early to go to Katikati to see Harbourside Macadamias. They also do kiwifruit and Avocadoes, but very helpful to run some ideas past Wyn. Then onto Paul and Chris Edginton in Katikati for lunch. Paul was an optometrist from Duncan's year, but has had a long battle  with muscular dystrophy. They are good friends with John and Bev Watt - who have decided to move to Christchurch! as they are finding the infrastructure in Tauranga so chaotic. It was quite a long drive, but we felt it was worthwhile.

Monday was another easy day, but we went along for a walk up the road, and read the historic boards.

The estuary has changed a lot, with shifting sands, and when it got too shallow near the wharf, they used to just drop the cows into the water using a sling, and they were expected to swim ashore!!! I've heard of horses doing a bit of swimming, but not cows!!

Thunderous skies down to East Cape

Looking towards E Block

And another lovely sunset for us.

Next day it was an uneventful trip home.

A bit boggy by the Waipaoa River

Just a Little Trip

 We were regretting not being able to get away in the caravan this summer, so when Duncan mentioned that Veterans Golf was in Mahia I suggested a few days away. The weather forecast was not great - but how bad could it be?? The answer to that was pretty bad. Cold, strong, gusty wind and squalls of rain.

We set up after Duncan had played golf on Saturday. It never takes us long to set up on these short trips, and it wasn't long before we earned a beer, and had the BBQ heating for chops. "Where's the wire brush?" I asked - for cleaning the BBQ plates. Oh no, we must have left it behind, I tried to clean it with the dishwasher brush. Soon there was an acrid smell, and something caught alight in the bowl of the BBQ. Yes you guessed it - the plastic handle of the wire brush. (Bad as me putting my glasses through the washing machine)

View from the camping ground

The berries on the Pohutukawa trees are so prolific this year, following that spectacular flowering.

Next morning I had a zoom meeting for the Macadamia Society which used up the last of my months data, so I had the rest of the day without the internet. It seemed that I couldn't log on to buy more data and in the end I had to buy $5 worth from the camp store to log on to buy some more. I think more daily Wordle and Nerdle habit must be pushing up my usage.

After lunch we went on a drive to Mahanga. It's quite a compact little seaside village with no shops.

Grassy reserve

Couldn't work out how to get a selfie of ourselves in these two conveniently  placed chairs.

I'm not flying in this wind. C'mon, we're walking.

Alright, just wait for me....

Excellent sedimentary rocks on the shoreline.

Then we went to Blue Bay (where we took our first tent). A developer tried to turn it into the Pauanui of the East Coast - but not all that successfully.

The 'highlight' of the day was going to the Sunset Bar for dinner. I couldn't decide between the nachos or the spaghetti bolognaise but it didn't really matter as the mince mixture was the same for both.

Golden Sky at Dusk.. is there a rhyme for this??

That little cloud seems to be mimicking the cliff

Unfortunately they had added extra salt to this meal. Maybe the way they do things in Mahia.

On Monday we went for our drive before lunch - this time to Mahia, as opposed to Mahia Beach where we are camping. The coastline is weirdly rugged, with tilted, eroded layers of sedimentary rock. It must have really hampered any early settlers who would need ocean transport.

Looking back towards Gisborne

Looking South

So many rock faces popping up from behind the line of defence.

The weather was pretty miserable that afternoon, so it was puzzles and reading, and an ear to the cricket, and later on a game of scrabble - Duncan won this time.

I could hear the rumble in the clouds above the hills, and all next day the sky was black and blue.

Our actual campsite was reasonably protected from the winds.

I made a start on a couple of walks, but both times it started to rain and blow. Duncan was out on the golf course. A good turn-out from Poverty Bay golf club, maybe they got word of the crayfish and salad that was to follow the golf. Duncan won $5!  He was very proud of the fact that he didn't loose a golfball as the course is very scrubby. One of his group lost 6!

The deckchairs seemed to be damp every time I sat on them, but I managed to write a few articles for the Wrinklies Rag. By the evening it was quite pleasant and we sat out for a while, chatted to our neighbours - it was amazing to see how busy the camping ground was, as it is off the main road.

 A steep scrubby cliff at the back of the camping ground. There's always one tree that wants to stand out.

We were away by 9 next morning and got most things cleared out before our next trip away. It was very beneficial as a break away, and very pleasant despite the weather. (I had to wear my trackpants 3 days in a row).

The Long Kitchen Reno

 Our kitchen was getting a bit tired, with marks on the formica benchtops and the laminate peeling off  the draws.

I took these photos in May 2020

Examples of the laminate coming off.

I was worried about the wood underneath getting grease-spots

Fast forward - or rather slow forward to December 14th 2021. The builder was ready, but first it was the job of the painter, Hamish, who was painting the exterior of Young Nick's Head Station - which we all believe was the venue for Jacinda and Clarke's wedding, but a few wet days meant that his team could make a start. Getting out to Young Nicks is over an hours drive, so they were glad of being based closer to town.

All the drawers were removed, and the fronts taken away to be replaced

The stove was taken out. Oh no, quite a bit of debris

Fridge is gone

..but we were able to plug it in, in the lounge

Formica top to breakfast bar gone.

Taking off the fronts

It was all action and chaos, but the painters were very good. And we left for our Christmas Break on the 19th - hoping to come back to a wonderful new kitchen on our return. But there were still some things to be done by the builder.

Duncan does not like the new large square sink at all. I find it good for hiding dirty pans in. Also great for the roasting dish.

The colour scheme is still white, but with black handles this time. Phyl's Barcelona Olympics is on one wall.

My Middle Earth painting - which has a lot of Black in it is on the other wall.

This is the colour of the bench tops now. Theos feet would be a bit bigger than this now! That's his mark on the jug that Jackie made for us.

Got my cross-stitch (done by Jill) hanging above the door. A great gift, Jill.

The new rubbish bin and extra space for all the cleaners has been great

Apparently Waste disposal units aren't part of the kitchen scene now.

They put the handle on the wrong side - and then thought they could just turn the door upside down - NOT going to work!

So we had to wait a bit longer to get the pantry door done.

The carpenter wasn't nearly as good as the painter at cleaning up, so I still have some drawers to get the wood shavings out.

Just the bill to pay.

The Round Trip

 We were all set to go down on the 21^st of Jan to see Fred, but Leigh rang and said that he had been readmitted to hospital, and we weren’t able to visit him. We could tell by the crack in Leigh’s voice that things were serious and decided to go down the following week regardless, and check on how Leigh was doing too.

Fortunately Fred was now out of hospital. We arrived in Napier after lunch, only to receive a text from Leigh to say that they were at the medical centre, awaiting the results of an Xray – which had us guessing.

Fine we said, we’ll go to Trinity Hill and taste some wines.

Fred had fallen down the stairs, and twisted his ankle and hit his head – fortunately no broken bones. We enjoyed a glass of wine (Fred’s rationed by Leigh) and some nibbles together.

Nick, Cindy and their children Frankie, Oscar and Arlo have moved back from Western Australia and are living with them at present, Nick has a job at nearby Sacred Heart College.

Fred hopes to try a new medication this week which he hopes will give him a better quality of life. Let’s hope so.  We stayed in the Te Pania Hotel in Napier which was very pleasant.

Next day we travelled over the Napier Taupo Road and went to have lunch with John and Linda Tarbutt - more optometry friends. They have just bought a new home in the countryside - but in a new subdivision - close to Cambridge. It was very interesting catching up with them and looking at their retirement setting. We dropped Duncan's exercycle off for a service in Hamilton and headed out to Wren and Margaret's to stay the night.

Just picked up where we left off, even though it is so long since we were at Hahei. Wren is looking very fit for 80, and over COVID has taken to making up flat-packs of drawers and cupboards etc which he gets from Mitre 10 (the clients choose what they want and Wren makes them up).

I have long wanted to go to Zealong, the tea place which is just around the corner from Wren and Margaret's

The setting is beautiful and it was a gorgeous day

The top shelf

Just a wad of salmon left on my tower!

Here we are with our High Tea nibbles - just a stand each!!

The park-like surroundings are most enjoyable

Looking up towards the factory

There is a walk up to the Tea house with lots of brass statues to adorn the edge.

After a short nap it was off to pick up the bike, and then to my Medical Appointment with Grant Christie in Grey Street - just up the road from Duck Island Icecream Parlour that we used to take Theo to.

After that we headed over the Kaimais to Tauranga. The queues of traffic were appalling. We stayed  in a cheap motel and had some nice Turkish food, with a glass of appalling wine - we were glad to get back to our unit an open up a bottle there.

Next morning we visited John and Bev Watt - who coincidentally lived in the next block to the motel! They have a lovely view over the harbour, but are feed up with the traffic and the lack of town planning. A shift is on the cards - maybe to Christchurch.

So we got home quite late on the Saturday, but it had been a most entertaining trip away.