Whitianga and Omokoroa

Well I knew I hadn't been on the blog for a while, but I didn't realize how long. Sorry about that Chief, as Maxwell Smart used to say.

Where to start.
We enjoyed our stay at Whitianga. Friends Peter and Josie came to stay for a week or so. We went to Otama beach near Opito beach one lovely day (there haven't been many)and put out Peter's long line. It was the first day of the scallop season and there were a few boats dredging as well as a pod of dolphins in the bay, so needless to say, the fishing was terrible. It didn't matter as it was good to be out in the sun for a change.

Josie waiting for the fish that never came

Lovely people at the camp at Whitianga. They all made us welcome and we all got together several times with them at different caravans. There are a few permanent sites there with tiny houses on them and caravans set up for permanent living.

We lived in Whitianga many years ago when we had a fishing boat. It is amazing how the town has grown in the interim. It now has 2 supermarkets, warehouse, placemakers and other large stores. We went for a drive to find the house we lived in. We found the section, but the house has been rebuilt so it looks quite different now. It was a bit old when we lived in it with a sloping floor in the kitchen.

To pass the time on wet days we went to the movies 3 times.
"Dunkirk" Very tense, but it gave a good insight into what the soldiers and the rescuers went through.
"Hampstead" funny and delightful. Based on a true story.
"Victoria and Abdul" Also funny and delightful. Based on a true story (mostly) is how the movie described itself.

memorial of Cook's observations, Whitianga

Cooks Beach near Whitianga

Eddie at Cooks Beach

We bought a Ford 250 truck to tow the caravan with. Eddie went to Christchurch to collect it. He had a long drive home up the centre of the South Island, because of road works. He finally got to Picton in time to see the ramp go up on the ferry, so he had to wait until the 7 pm crossing.

To put money back in the bank, he tried to get work at the local quarry, but that didn't happen and there was no where to park as the grounds we were staying in wasn't taking any more full time people. A few phone calls to Swap Contractors and he had a job at the quarry near Kati Kati. ( we thought), so we moved to Omokoroa on the 16th September. The quarry job didn't quite work out either, so he is back driving and oversize piloting instead. He is having to drive over the hill, which puts another 2 hours on to his day, so we are going to move back to Matamata in a few weeks time.

Unfortunately the perfect truck and I had an accident on our way to Omokoroa. We got to Paeroa and filled up with fuel and then I took a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of the Kaimai Ranges. I took the Poripori Rd and just before the last bend at Wairoa Rd I slipped in some diesel and went around the corner on the wrong side of the road. As I tried to correct I did a 180 degree turn and the truck slipped into a culvert. I was very lucky and only had 4 stitches in my elbow, where I connected with the window. People stopped and helped me out through the windscreen. We found out yesterday that it has been written off, so now Eddie is looking for a new one.

Just to add to the excitement we have been having, Eddie had a kidney stone on Sunday morning. I called the ambulance and he spent Sunday night in Tauranga Hospital. I had to put suppository pain relief up his bottom, but he didn't seem to be feeling any better. If anything he was worse, so on Wednesday night I took him back to the hospital. After some time a doctor decided to admit him as he wasn't sure what was going on. He did do a CT scan and we saw the stone in the bladder. It has to come out of there at sometime, so that will be painful. It is 6 mm in size. I got home at 1 am and had a snack and a drink, crawled into bed only to be woken a few minutes later by Eddie phoning to say he was allowed home. A second doctor had realized what the problem was. The suppository pain relief has side effects for some people, which affects the kidneys. Eddie was effectively going into renal failure. All a bit scary, but a relief they got on to it in time. He is so much better today (Friday) and more like himself.  They are going to do a scan again in a month to see what is going on and make sure the kidneys are happy again. We rather wish they would blast the stone and get it over with.