Caravan Show

Unfortunately, the brakes were still not right with the new linings, so the wheel will have to come off again. Uncle Eddie is going to get the brake linings skimmed and put in new magnets. Fingers crossed.

We did have a nice time at the caravan show with Sheaffs (friends from way back) and Janice and John. We were all parked together, which was nice.

We decided to go on Thursday night and spent the night at the reserve called Little Waipa on the shore of the Waikato River. It was very peaceful and we enjoyed the time there.

We were quite surprised how many caravans that were there. I am not sure how many, but there seemed to be thousands.

On Friday, once we were settled and had drunk a cup of tea, we went over to the show and had a look around. At lunch time, we went back to the caravan for lunch and then back again for another look. We repeated the exercise again on Saturday. We went with a shopping list, but didn't end up buying anything there. 

So many lovely caravans. When we win lotto we are going to buy a new one. We won't be holding our breath though.

Early morning mists at the show.

A Walk up Mt Kakepuku

Eddie has changed the brake linings. We will be taking the caravan back for it's recheck on Thursday, as we are going to go to the caravan show on Friday in it. We are staying at Mystery Creek with a lot of the caravaners.

I went on a hike up Mt Kakepuku near Te Awamutu. (about 40 ks away). Near the top there are 400 steps to climb.They took us half an hour to to up  and 15 minutes to come back down. There were quite a few tuis about enjoying the kowhai trees. No dive bombing this week though. There is a bit of predator being done, so there are baby trees growing and quite a bit of bird life on the mountain.

DOC sign at  the beginning of the track

The beginning of the track is a bit deceptive. It gets steeper

View a little way up

Pungas lining the path

View higher up

some of the 400 steps

a little gateway near the top

almost at the top of the steps whew!

On Friday night we went and saw the local dramatic society's performance of “'Allo 'Allo”. It was very funny and we both enjoyed it.

We are going to Wellington in October for my mother's birthday, so we have booked ourselves into the top 10 in Petone for Labour weekend. We are going to take the bikes again and do a bike ride or 2.

10 K walk at Kinloch

Janice and I had a good walk in Kinloch on Saturday. It was fine, but a cold wind, especially when we were walking along the lake front. I felt sorry for the marshals as they were standing in it all day. We think we took a bit longer than last year, but we finished, no injuries and we weren't last. They had no cups at the aid station and hadn't told us that there would be none. We had to slurp out of our hands. Not very satisfactory. I can understand the cutting back on plastic cups, but it would have been nice to be informed. I am going to mention it when they ask for the survey on the race. There was beer at the end for participants, but nothing for the non drinkers and when I went to get a drink of water. Guess what. They had run out of cups. In the end, I went to the coffee truck and had a hot water.

We were back to rain again on Sunday for coming home.

ready for the off

Eddie took the wheel off the caravan and found that the linings need replacing, so they are on order. He got very dizzy with vertigo by the time he had finished checking everything out. He also sprayed the ceiling of the awning which is covered in a red mould. He read the instructions yesterday and realized he should have been wearing a mask. No wonder he wasn't feeling very well. He has been home today, having a quiet day, but he is back at work today

A Sunny Weekend

We actually had a sunny weekend, which was lovely. Today is going to be fine too, if the fog lifts.It's starting to clear at last. 

On Saturday we went to the Plywood Man in Tauranga to get the last of the bits we need for our repair. Now all we need is the fine, slightly warmer, weather for a week.

I went up Mt Maunganui, in Tauranga, yesterday with the tramping club. We had a lovely day. Heaps of people out and about enjoying the sunshine.

Eddie cleaned the caravan and checked the brakes ready for the certificate of fitness on Wednesday. 

We are going to the caravan show on the 20^th September and taking our house with us and staying there for the weekend. Some friends and Eddie's sister Janice and John are coming too. It should be a nice weekend.