NZ day 25

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NZ Day 25.
So, it started raining yesterday on our way back from Cape Reinga- about 2ish. Well it did stop a couple of times overnight, but pretty much continuous rain since then. We rang the national highway phone this morning to check if the highway we wanted to travel on was open. They had no reports of closures so off we set for the east coast & the Bay of Islands & a town called Paihai. Struth...has there been some rain. At first there was some puddles in the paddocks & a bit in the drains alongside the road. Then there were small lakes & then there was water everywhere....& I do mean everywhere!! I have never seen so much flamin’ water.....some of the creeks had burst their banks & it was going in every which way. We kept heading south & there was still traffic heading north, so we figured the road was still open. It was a pretty slow journey, so we stopped off at Mangapui I think, where they reportedly have the best fush n chups around. 10-30 is a little early for that, so coffee it was.
We got to talking to a couple from nth of Auckland who were revisiting their honeymoon trip from over 20 years ago....could have been 40- can’t remember. Anyway, they asked about where we had come from & we swapped stories for awhile before continuing on in the rain. They had forecast heavy rain, but man was there some water about. All you’ll see from todays photos is water, water & more water. There was water across the road in one town, but the policeman behind us wasn’t trying to stop us so we very cautiously moved forward through the water....& kept on going...slowly.... there were a few more instances where the water was over the road, but not as bad as what we had been through.
Eventually we made it to our destination of Paihai in the Bay of Islands. The park is situated on a gentle little stream that you can swim & kayak on........well on some days you can, but definitely NOT today. It is a raging torrent...a rather scary raging torrent that has risen over 2 metres today! Needless to say we are parked on the highest point, as far away from the water as you can get. For the first time ever I have seen brown seas.....the water emptying into it is just brown mud & so for hundreds of meters out it is brown as. Pretty impressive to look at.
We went to have a look at the Haruru Falls which are in a horse shoe shape & about 20m high. Pretty specky on a normal day, but today they too, were full on. Took a couple of photos.......then into town & fush n chups for lunch. They were very nice, but I think I may have overdosed on them (had more in the last 3 weeks than the last 3 years), cause tonight I am feeling rather nauseous......can’t even stomach any wine, so I must be bloody crook! So instead of lamb steaks for tea I might have some toast....better for the waist line too I guess. Did a bit more retail therapy too....found a couple of bargains...I love bargains.
Not too sure where we are going to finish up tomorrow night. Will try to get pretty close to Auckland so that Sat we can head on in & spend a couple of days there enjoying the sites....oh & maybe some shopping...before we fly home on Tues. OMG- can’t believe our 4 weeks are nearly up. How come time doesn’t go this fast when you are at work eh????
Hope you are all fit & well. Love to all
Ray & Terri xoxoxoxo

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