Blogs from Whakatane, Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

27th February – late on Saturday evening there was a violent thunder storm in the area with some heavy rain and a spectacular lightning display. But on the Sunday morning it was dry again. We had decided to explore the coastline a bit so set off towards Opotiki about 45 kilometers away. We were in no hurry and stopped a couple of times by beaches where the sea was a stunning colour. People were fishing, some were jogging or walking, a couple were surfing and one or two swimming. But the length of the beaches made it seem as though they were virtually deserted. At each location we had a splendid view of White Island and, perhaps because of the rain during the night, the volcano was giving off a huge plume of steam which was ... read more

Thursday 24th – today we are off on our special ‘holiday’ so Graham was up at about 6.15 to prepare Sweetie for her “rest period”. I followed as soon as the alarm went off at 6.30am. There were a few other people about but generally most people were still asleep so we had to be as quiet as possible although when you are “putting a caravan away” it’s practically impossible not to make some noise. Legs have to be raised, the awning put away, the elevating roof put down, water hoses dis-connected and all the additional camping paraphernalia stored inside. Anyway, we were ready to go at 7.40, ten minutes later than planned. So we said a sad farewell to Sweetie hoping she would be alright for the next 11 days. We were flying to New ... read more

We visited Whakatane at the weekend to catch up with Dad and Aunty Bubbles. On the way down we visited Evans at Karipiro. Evans garden is looking fantastic, the roses are looking very healthy. Whakatane has had a number of nasty winter storms this year one dropping 90mm of rain in one hour. There was considerable damage done to the town. Down at the 'Heads' at the river mouth, during one of the big floods, the river cut another channel through the sandbank out to the ocean. Behind some very expensive houses a massive slip came down causing huge damage. Luckily no one was hurt, but all the residants of a number of houses have been evacuated as the remainder of the cliff is unstable and will probably come down in the next storm. On the ... read more

What a wonderful weekend we had celebrating Bill's 85th birthday. Chelle, Joel, Tayla and Jamie flew down from Auckland for the weekend. The family stayed over at Ohope Beach at a wonderful Motel called Jodies on the Beach. We all went out on the Saturday night to the Fig Restaurant in Whakatane. We had a great evening and the food was lovely. Aunty Bubbles joined us for the evening. The girls enjoyed themselves at the beach and at the parks in Whakatane. We had many laughs, when it was suggested that Graham piggy back Tayla she considered it very carefully and then said' Graham might collapse if he piggy backed her' She also suggested to Grandad that if he straightened his back he would be taller!!!!! We also saw where all the Monarch Butterflies go to ... read more

Hello all We arrived in Rotorua on Monday by plane from Wellington Airport. The plane we were on had a maximum capacity of 50 seats, it was tiny so we felt every bump! Rotorua is one of the world’s most concentrated geothermal areas, with geysers, areas of bubbling mud and old volcanoes. However due to this it is very smelly, due to the Hydrogen Sulphide rising up from the area’s thin crust! The smell is like rotten eggs, but it is weird you can smell it really bad at first but then get used to it! It means that I can fart in front of Anne and she is none the wiser, hee hee!! We arrived about 4.30 on Monday, so just picked up our hire car, found the hotel then went for an India! They ... read more