NZ Day 21

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NZ day 21
Port Waikato. Well what a lovely relaxing day it has been. No rush to get out of bed, get showered, have breakfast, do the dishes, pack up & hit the road before 10am. Nup, today we stayed in bed until about 8ish (well that is a sleep in for us), then we had brecky in our jamas.....I was going to have a jarmy day But Raymond thought we may scare the natives.......had bacon, eggs & tomato- yum! Then off to the showers, bit of housework & tried to find the park manager so that we could pay him. Talk about laid back...Colin is his name.....he wasn’t in the office so we rang the intercom- this connects to his phone. Well he had gone home to have the farm to have breakfast & if we weren’t in any hurry (he had already seen Ray in the toilets & he told him we were going to stay another night), he was sure we would catch up at some time during the day. I said that was fine, I just didn’t want him to think we might bolt on him or something......’struth no he says- she’ll be right. Dead set, the bloke could be an Aussie farmer if it wasn’t for the thick Kiwi accent. We did catch up later- he was on his way up to Auckland where his Dad has been put in hospital with fluid on the lungs- so we wished him well, paid our bill & left him to go to Auckland with the family.
We set off on a 10 minute walk to the beach.....hmmm a little more than 10 minutes, which is fine with me, but Ray’s hip has gone again.....we are going to have to find a chiro somewhere in the next day or two. We made it to the beach- a lovely long stretch of black sand & where the surfing is good....Kiwi standard.....not sure if our blokes would get out of bed for that, but if that is all you have, then you go for it. By the time we left (a couple of hours later) the surf had improved a bit & there were a number of guys out there. The local surf life saving team were also practising/training in their inflatable life craft.
As Raymond couldn’t walk far before breaking down, I left him on a rock & set off to see what I could see. It was very quiet & peaceful....until the bloody quad bikes & cars would barrel past, hang some wheelies & then leave again. There is a sign that says that quad & motorbikes are not allowed in the dunes etc, but quite obviously, no-one here can read. Not only that, but they ride the quad bikes all around the town, with seemingly no registration, certainly no helmets, but hey- no cops, what else would you do. Speaking of cops, I reckon several times a day we see cop cars- which is good. There was some excitement as we came through Hamilton- got overtaken by 2 vehicles travelling priority 1, & then a couple more & then I saw the fire trucks & an ambulance. Haven’t got any TV reception, so not sure what was happening.
So, the photos today are mainly of the beach & some shells- no surprises there. Then we went back tonight (took most of the afternoon to get Raymond home), so we took the home with us this afternoon. He was quite happily watching the first quarter of the netball grand final, but came with me & listened to Australia whoop the Kiwis on the radio- go Aussies!
The sunset wasn’t as spectacular as I would have liked (yep- no pink there), but it was lovely & very peaceful to watch & be a part of. Then back to the fush & chup shop (Kiwi)- (there are only 2 shops here & none sell food or alcohol..........its alright- we came prepared).....& back here for tea. Now just peace & quiet, bit of writing, upload some stuff, then probably off to bed to read a book........not a bad Sunday all in all.
Tomorrow we intend to brave the wilds of Auckland.....stay on highway 1 all the way through & hopefully end up at Orewa on the east coast out to the north of Auckland tomorrow night.......I will be navigating, so hopefully no scenic journeys will be had.....other than the planned route.
Seems like the Crows have done their normal thing & lost after being up, & the Power had a power failure.....good to see that some things don’t change!! Have a good day all & we will be back in touch as soon as possible- hard to believe we only have 10 days left
Love to all
Ray & Terri xoxoxoxo

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