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Published: April 21st 2010
Monday, April 19th
We left Takapuna at 10am and drove to Albany Mall where we bought tickets to Alice in Wonderland 3D before doing a bit of shopping. At 12:15 we watched the movie, but we weren't very impressed. The acting was pretty bad and the story and characters were not gripping at all. Visually it's a stunning film, but if you're looking for an engaging experience we wouldn't recommend it.
Back in the van we checked our email and got some bad news concerning our hopes for NZ. In a dark and confused mood we drove to Shakespeare Regional Park at the tip of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. We needed time in nature to reflect and re-group. On the way we stopped for wine and chocolate to cheer us up.
At camp we had a glass of wine and a nap. We woke feeling a smidge better so we made dinner and spent the evening reading in bed. Altogether it wasn't a very good day.
Today's highlights:
1. Wine and chocolate to cheer us up.
Thought for the day:
Just when we thought we finally knew what direction you should take, the rug was unceremoniously pulled from beneath us. So, back to the drawing board.
Tuesday, April 20th
We woke to a windy morning, but then it's apparently pretty much always windy here. It seems to be a favourite spot for kite-surfers and with good reason. How lucky are these Aucklanders? Less than an hour west of the city they can surf in Piha. Half an hour north they can kite-surf to their hearts content. Five hours south and they have the choice of skiing or snowboarding three different ski-fields. And right on their doorstep is all the sailing, beaches and fun that they could wish for. Amazing!
We were still struggling with residual feelings of anger and confusion, but these dissipated as the day wore on. After a lazy morning we drove to the shops to get some supplies and returned home for a lunch of toasted samies.
We spent an hour reading before having a nap, followed by more reading. At 5pm our bodies cried for exercise so we went for a nice hike around the hills, getting a spectacular view of the Hauraki Gulf with its many islands. We also saw lots of Eastern Rosellas, Pukekos, California Quail, Pheasants and Finches.
Slowly we were starting to feel like our old selves again.
We had a bath from the bucket and made dinner before spending the rest of the night reading.
Today's highlights:
1. Afternoon nap.
2. Nice afternoon hike.
Thought for the day:
The Lord sure works in mysterious ways. Wednesday, April 21st
We woke to our first wind still day here at Shakespear Park. The sun was shining and there was a calm about the place that just made us feel happy and relaxed. Surrendering on a day like today was easy. We had French toast for breakfast then sat in the sun reading our Bible and playing a bit of guitar. Later we walked down to the bay to see what the weather looked like over there. It was calm and beautiful and we decided to take the new and improved Birdsy for a paddle.
To our delight the new seats did not only look the part but turned out to be extremely comfortable, far more so than the old canvas ones. We paddled across Te Haruhi Bay into Okoromai Bay to the west, then back across Haruhi and into the Whangaparaoa Passage with
Tirtiri Matangi Island dead ahead. We were very tempted to row out there. We estimate it's only 4km to the island, but since we'd need a permit to go there we decided against it. Also, we had not let anyone know we were out here so we decided to play it safe and return to camp. The water was wonderfully clear and we saw a big school of good sized fish. Ferdi wished he'd brought his fishing gear. Just before entering Te Haruhi Bay again we spotted a huge Yellowfin Tuna. It was easily more than a meter in length and didn't seem too concerned with our presence.
On shore we gave Birdsy a freshwater rinse before loading her on the Boesman. We had a delicious lunch to the tune of a few Bellbirds, then set off for the highway, intent on finding Boesman's missing hubcap. We trawled the side of the highway where we thought we'd lost it, but had no luck. Poor Boesman looks like a forgotten stepchild without his hubcap!
We took the scenic way back and stopped in Orewa where Talita phoned Kerry to hear how Paddy's doing. While she was on the phone
with Kerry we had a missed call. Seeing the code was from Karamea Talita felt it was Paddy trying to reach us. Soon the phone rang again and sure enough it was Paddy. They had a nice chat and Paddy filled us in on what's been happening on his side of the world. It was great to hear from him again!
We drove on to Long Bay, hoping to spend the night there, but when we arrived we found that the park brochure was wrong and that there was no camping allowed. It was 5pm already and we struggled to find a spot nearby where we could camp. In the end we decided to just drive north again. We checked out a few side roads hoping to find a secluded spot where we could camp, but there was none to be had. We ended up back in Orewa and paid another kings ransom to spend the night at a holiday park. This is an annoying habit we'll have to break. At least it gave us the opportunity to have a hot shower and wash our clothes.
Today's highlights:
1. Paddling Birdsy on the waters of the Hauraki Gulf.
2. Chatting to Kerry and Paddy again.
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Cecille
non-member comment
WONDERFUL
Excellent job. WONDERFUL . . .