Activities in Rotorua.

Simon, Jackie and the kids were having a short holiday in Rotorua so we went up on Sunday the 8th October to join them for a few days. The weather wasn't great, but we seemed to be able to dodge it coming up. Duncan had had five frantic days organising the Poverty Bay Golf Open so we left Duncan, Jackie and Claudia to have a nap and Simon, Theo and I went and caught up with Lyn. Lyn came to us to Cobb and Co.

Theo samples the delight of a traffic light Slushy

Claudia has always had a good appetite

...And seems to have perfected eating an icecream cone 

Theo has a caterpillar dessert

Right down to the very bottom.

The custard the cone was served in like a clowns hat was worth a try too

Granadad reads Miffy.

On Monday morning we split up again, with Theo, Simon and Jackie heading off to the Polynesian Pools and Duncan and I in charge of Claudia. I still have tender scabs from the ovary removal operation so was not all that keen to swim. Fortunately Hot and Water are two words in Claudia's vocabulary so a walk around Kuirau Park was the  chosen activity.

The Rhododendrons were fabulous.

Each fallen petal was greeted along the path, and great excitement caused by an ant on this one.

We had been given very clear instructions on how to put Claudia in the pushchair - this buckles with that - but we had not been told how we were to GET Claudia into the pushchair. She walked all the way, while I pushed the empty pushchair.

Eventually we arrived at the park and Claudia and another two year old fought over who would be first to get down the slide, and then who would be round the side and up to the top again. How early their competitive side begins!

Emily waits while Claudia slides

Such fun to kick Grandad while he is pushing you !!!!

A bit of morning tea before walking home.

Grandad and Claudia all worn out, so another nap after lunch before our final activity of the holiday.

Riders on the storm.

We recently got a warrant for the caravan and a few effects of aging were pointed out to us. Then our trip to Hastings highlighted a few more. So we made an appointment at Country Caravans in Mt Maunganui. Our original intention was to leave on Monday morning, but the weather forecast was so grim we decided to leave on Sunday and have a night in Ohiwa. We could see the dark clouds ahead of us all the way, but got set-up before the first of the gusty showers. Later on we could go for a walk - the ground was very damp underfoot.

Looking forward to a surf!

The swimming pool is going right next to Todd and Nolas

They've cut back quite a few of the trees at the front of our sight as the wind this year had damaged quite a few. Duncan is pointing out our very own rat trap with his umbrella.

 Our -usually - rechargeable battery in the caravan was slowly fading and we had to watch the finale of the Block on the laptop. We didn't have much in the way of lighting and no radio. Then the weather really packed up. The wind giggled the caravan all night long, except about midnight it all went quiet for a short period. Then the surf started to roar. It was quite hard to get a decent sleep!! We wondered what we were in for next day, but our trip through was OK and we left the caravan to let them see what we needed to do. We went for a walk around the mount - and saw Lianne Summerfield, a former employee of Duncan's who is an Optical Dispenser in Tauranga. After a swim in the Hot Pools we met up with Lianne for lunch.

Looking across the bar to Matakana

Looking out to sea, surfside.

 On returning to the caravan place they said they needed to keep the caravan for a while, so we headed off back home as we both had meetings on the Tuesday night. Duncan had a case of poor communication/bullying at the golf club, while I had a meeting at Supergrans. I am on the goverance side rather than the helping side. Mainly the tasks they do are not as important as the talking they do while they are baking or whatever, and the 3 employees are social workers.

So it was an early start on Wednesday when we went back to pick up the caravan - a long round trip in one day. We had quite a hefty repair bill, but asked for a valuation, (about what we'd expected) and had a look at some new caravans. This came to an abrupt halt when the sales lady said, "I've got to be honest with you - you'd struggle to tow a new caravan with the car you've got. You'll need something gruntier"
Very tiring day but a great day to travel on with blue skies ahead of us and Thunderous Black skies all around .

Lunch at Matata

Wetlands

Both a bit exhausted on Thurday, but it didn't stop Duncan getting two twos (birdies) at golf and thus getting  vouchers to the value of $250!!! We will mainly use this to buy meat.

....and Hastings Happenings

It was a leisurely pack up at Taupo  Tuesday, 5th September, as our neighbours are chatty campers. The sky is brilliantly blue and all the snow caps are glistening. As we drove down the Napier Taupo Rd a mysterious golden mist of pollen hung over the forests. My nose was twitching like Tabitha in Bewitched!
Our set up at Bridge Pa golf course is very picturesque - filled with birdsong and the occasional shout of "Fore!"

Dappled sunlight in the early evening

View from caravan

 We went in to see Fred and Leigh who attended to our optometrical needs and then went and had dinner with them. But we couldn't stay too late as Duncan had an early start in the morning.
He was refereeing the under 19 National Stoke Play Championship along with the Hawkes Bay referees. Over 150 young people had entered. What a smartly turned out bunch they were. I think Duncan had more trouble with the mothers questioning his rulings that the players! In the afternoon we went around a few wineries - and of course to a chemist to get some hayfever treatment. On Thursday he was off again very early but after they made the cut (down to 64 players) they had enough referees for the friday so we went home on Thursday afternoon.
I was feeling very stuffed up by Friday and even Duncan was sneezing and blowing his nose. But the days are lengthening and there is plenty to do outside, finishing the shed, checking on the trees, and gardening.

Hamilton Happenings

We left on Friday 1st September to head to Hamilton to catch up with Simon and Jackie. It was an uneventful  and pleasant trip and we dodged all the heavy showers. After we got ourselves set up in the caravan at the Hamilton Holiday Park we headed around to Nixon Street. Claudia seemed very interested in the clothes I had bought her - she is such a little sweetie and Theo, as usual was pleased to see us.

Straight into the selfies

Is that really me??

Look there's Grandma - she knitted me a nice warm cardi

Just admire that fairisle!

 It was our job to babysit while Jackie and Simon went out for dinner. Unfortunately I didn't know that, unlike Theo, she sleeps with her light off. Every time I got her settled and tried to tiptoe out of the room she got up again! Eventually I lay down on the spare bed and in about half an hour she was in a deep sleep so I could tiptoe out.

Ready for a night out with friends.

 Theo is just starting to earn pocket money.(Maybe this is why he was so good during our visit!) When Jackie and Simon were ready to leave for dinner he said to Simon "Daddy, do you need some of my money to take Mummy out?"

Next morning we headed to Hayes Common for Lunch - a cafe which I had heard several good reviews about - for brunch . The food was very good, but not the "usual"

And this is my picture - colouring in at Hayes Common.

My pancake was a crepe with grated apple, custard, swirls of Nutella and mascarpone.

 We took Theo back to caravan after this and played a little bit outside. We played catch the High Ball. "Keep your eye on the ball" I told Theo, and later he rejoined with "I think you'll have to practise your running Grandma" We played connect four, guess who, fast scrabble, and an adapted game of boggle.

Back at Nixon the tennis rackets came out. Claudia managed to escape flying balls. Notice the new fence that they have had built. Adds great value to the place as they had a scruffy hedge, and a few wires and posts here before.

"I've got this one!"

 We had Indian takeaways for tea.
Next morning we went round a bit later so that Simon could have a lie in on Fathers' Day, however Claudia had not slept well and seemed very sneezy.  Theo had swimming but we didn't go this time. After lunch we went to see Barry and Liz who are both in fine form - doing a bit of renovating in light of the probable downsizing as they get older.
Simon had prepared a beautiful roast chicken dinner, with roast potatoes and kumara, brocolli with cheese sauce and gravy to suit. We said our goodbyes as we hoped to get away on Monday morning.
It was a great surprise to hear that Lego sales had gone down - when you see the large quantities that have made their way into Nixon Street. Theo used his pocket money to buy another set.

We managed to find a few coins to add to the pocket Money jar. Denomination is not of great importance as yet.

What we've been doing on the farm in August

This month we have had our shed built. I SO sympathise with the people on The Block as tradies come and go as they try and complete an assortment of jobs for various people. The shed houses both the mowers and other equipment. We will get a concrete lip up to the shed (when the concrete man can fit us in.)  When we are harvesting we will have the bins in this shed, but when we aren't we can store the caravan in there.

 You may remember we had one nut. It duly fell off and I put it in the window ledge until the husk cracked and came off. Now just further drying until it rattles and then we will have a one nut banquet!

 Another thing we did was get a tank installed. Fortunately Bradley (in the green and white Bunnings top) is a golfer so that job was done relatively efficiently.

 And as luck would have it, it rained the next night and I was able to turn the tap on and get a trickle out of it.

 Two of our trees look pretty sick, but we will give them another couple of weeks in case they kick away again.  If they dont we will get them out and have a post mortem. With this lovely fine weather we often go for a walk and check them out. Duncan likes to keep the grass in check so I thought I'd better get to grips with the zero turn mower. It has quite sensitive controls and after a few terrifying moments I started to get going OK. I only did 4 rows (of 18) - but I didn't knock over one. Thank goodness for that hay mulch surround.

The next job was to make some shelves and a lockable cabinet from kitsets. We attempted some shelves first. Duncan triumphantly announced he had read the instructions, however the english on these sheets is not of a very high standard and we ended up with some very rickety shelves and 4 pieces left over. A little bit of back-tracking and we finally got it to a serviceable level. The cabinet seemed much easier to do.

Leaderbrand have been slow to get the cabbages out of the next hectare and still have to plough it all up and put in grass. Most of the trees show new growth and we are looking forward to spring.

Just an Old Fashioned Picnic. Friday 11th August, 2017

Our last day - and what a cracker! warm and fine.

Our first stop was the Bounty Folk Museum - jam-packed with authentic exhibits, but very poorly curated and some exhibits starting to disintergrate.

The prisoners

The prison guards

The models in need of repair - guard again

A prisoner in solitary confinement

The governor hands out punishments

Obviously a family! In need of a dust.

The original Mutineers of the Bounty. Most were murdered by the Tahitian men as each white man had a wife and the Tahitian men had three women to share!!

Huge range of artifacts, some recovered from shipwrecks 

Went into Burnt Pine and had a coffee and picked up supplies for a picnic at Emily Bay. We popped in our togs and loaded up the picnic basket supplied by Jacaranda, including a couple of bottles of cider.

The wind was strong, blowing spray up from the reef, but the sun was warm.

This is the tree that Captain Cook painted

We paddled as we walked along the beach to the salt works where they boiled the salt water to evaporate the water from the salt

Looking through a window at the salt works and out to Phillip Island.

On our way back we decided that, indeed, the water was warm enough to swim in - so we did!

Had my sunglasses on when I took a picture of Duncan swimming - he's further out than this!

Lots of buoyancy as the salt water was quite concentrated inside the reef.

Back to the unit to start our packing, sunning and reading on the deck. "Left Overs" pasta for tea tonight, following by fierce 2 handed 500. I won. A great way to end a most enjoyable holiday - a week was long enough though. Fascinating history and a real lesson on setting up the island sustainabley.