Back at our happy place

 

Well here we are at Pataua and settled in really well thank you very much. Nita was going away yesterday for a week, but it she had to be here for something. We will be in charge when she does go later in the week. I had an office refresher course on Monday morning.

The dogs gave us a great welcome when we got here.

We aren't in our usual spot, as Deanna's caravan (the office lady) is still parked there. It will be there until Easter, so we are at the bottom of the camp. It is quite nice and under trees, which is handy when the weather is as warm as it is at the moment. It's also close to the office, which will be convenient when Nita is away.

We had a good trip up, apart from one idiot who tried to pass on a passing lane, right at the end of it and so he had to drop back behind us again. There is always one.

We have had a few swims in the estuary. Eddie blew up the paddle board and we both had a paddle. We sit down on it and use kayak paddles. Much easier than standing. Nita had a go this afternoon, standing up, and did very well. We were quite impressed.

Off to Pataua

 

We had a bit of a storm over the weekend and the tramp was cancelled, which was a shame, as it was my last one with the group and we were going somewhere where we hadn't been before. Such is life.

The storm wasn't too bad here. It was the tail end of a cyclone that had come from the tropics. Very muggy and hot. We had strong winds, but not a lot of rain and the wind probably blew away any benefit of the rain from last week. We brought the awning in, just in case. There are a few tree branches lying around.

The power went off on Sunday morning too. No doubt as a result of the storm somewhere. It was off for about 2 hours. One of the occasions that being on solar and gas is very helpful. Jim came over with his coffee mug and we boiled the kettle for him to have his morning coffee. We used the generator so I could do a load of washing. I had just finished and the power came back on. Wouldn't you know it. I think it must be one of those Murphy's laws

This time next week we will be at Pataua. Whoop whoop! We are heading off early on Saturday morning. Today is our last day at work here in Matamata.

Thirsty Bees

We actually have rain this week. Not as much as the flooding on the West Coast and in Taranaki though, thank goodness. It started here early Sunday evening and stopped after lunch on Monday.  According to Jim we had 76 mls, which is a good amount when it has been so dry.  Now it is humid and hot. It is suppose to rain the last few days, but we have had none here in Matamata. Eddie said it was wet where he was in Bay of Plenty and down Tokoroa way.

The picture is of bees drinking. An apiarist has bees out the back of the nursery and Graeme always makes sure there is water for them in the hot weather. I found one doing back stroke in the bowl one day and had to rescue her without getting stung. The mission was accomplished. She lay on the ground on her back for a moment and then took off, none the worse for her swim. Sometimes the whole edge of the bowl is covered in bees. It's funny how I never thought of bees needing to drink water.

Nita rang on Monday and has asked us to go back to Treasure Island in 2 weeks time. The new manager has not worked out at all. We aren't sure for how long, but probably until Easter when it will be the last hurrah before the end of summer for the camping ground. We are going up on the 19^th February. We both finish work next Wednesday. The truck is going to have it's oil changed before we go. It is probably overdue, so it is good to get a prompting to do these things.

Going back North?

 

The weather is still hot and sunny. Today we have some cloud cover, so it is a bit more pleasant. We had a bit of rain earlier in the week, but it was only enough to lay the dust really.

It is Auckland Anniversary Day on Monday, so Eddie was home from work. He was cleaning the roof vents and the floor heating vents in the morning. He has sprayed outside insect killer on to the roof vents, so try and keep the spiders away for a bit longer.

I went for a short tramp on Sunday up a hill not too far from home. It was lovely under the trees, with a bit of a breeze blowing. We had a good view from the top, looking northwards.

The other photo is Eddie sitting under the awning that we got for the dodge. We thought it would be handy at a beach or river for some shelter from the sun.

We may be going back to Treasure Island camping ground. Nita put in a manager this year. She was hoping to be able to step back and perhaps get a way for a week or two. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out for her, as the man she had as a manager was pretty much useless. He really under estimated the work load and so Nita hasn't been able to have any time off at all. Her office lady was threatening to leave if the manager didn't. She sounded us out to see if we would like to come back. We said we would. The manager has until next weekend to let her know what he wants to do, so we should know the week after that. Watch this space. It has made us realize that we would rather be moving a bit more than we have been. Getting money into the bank to go to Australia for a few months is all well and good, but they way the world is at the moment, it could be a while before that happens.