Happy New Year

 From our four days at Ohiwa Habour we came to a place called Tirohanga, which is just south of Opotiki  in the bay of Plenty. We really liked Tirohanga. It is an old style camping ground with a nice safe beach. The sea was nice and warm, so swimming was lovely.

There is a pool too, so we swam in that a couple of times when we didn't feel like walking all the way to the beach.

We biked into Opotiki one day on the bike track that goes past the camp ground. We came to a soft sand spot which I tried to bike  through and fell off. I hurt my left hip and shoulder. I was in quite a bit of pain at first but it is much better now. I still can't walk as fast as normal, which is very frustrating. My hip seems to catch somehow when I move my  leg forward. I am beginning to think a trip to the doctor might be the go before we move on again.  I knew I should have walked through it before I started to pedal through. Listen to your  inner voice Kay!!! 

I am not sure if I mentioned that there was no power at Ohope, so we were totally off grid. We were very pleased with how the solar panels and the batteries  worked, especially as it was a bit cloudy for one day . One of the hazards of living in the Land of the Long White Cloud I guess. 

After our week at Tirhanga we came back to Thornton, where we have been working over the last week. We are doing the cleaning of the ablution blocks. It takes us a couple of hours in the morning. In the afternoon we go down and check that there are toilet rolls and do any tidying up. We are not sure why people leave paper on the floors all the time. It's not hard to pick it up!!

Can you believe it is 2025 today. I can remember, when I was little, working out how old I would be in 2025. It seemed like an age away. But it isn’t is it? Time just goes on by. Our eldest grandson will be 30 next year! I am not sure how that happened either.

We found another nice beach just up from Tirhanga called Opape. We went and visited friends who were camping there the other day. It's pretty laid back camping ground with a nice safe beach too. We think we will go and spend a week there when we leave here on the 10th.

Brakes done at last.

We thought we were all set for the brakes last Monday night. Eddie took it in and brought it home again as the hubs were the wrong size. Barry, ( the mechanic) rang the supplier on Tuesday morning and told them exactly what he thought of them. The storeman said we sold them all to Jayco, so Barry rang Jayco. Surprise, surprise they had them. The supplier boss came to see Barry about 2 hours after he had had words with them. Barry told him if his employee had rung Jayco to see if they still had them, none of this would have happened. The brakes finally arrived last Saturday, so Barry did the work on Sunday.  

It was a gorgeous day and we spent most of it with friends who live in Ohope. We went and had lunch at a local cafe with David and Leone. When we got back to their place, I had a swim and the water was beautiful.Their house is right across the road from the beach. Very convenient.  Eddie thought it would have been too cold, but it wasn’t. I enjoyed my swim, as it’s the first sea swim I have had for a couple of years. Last summer we had river swims when we were at Featherston.

We left David and Leone's place at about 3: 30 as they were going out. We sat at the Whakatane heads for a while and read, then we bought burgers for our tea and ate them outside the garage while he finished off the last bits.
We were on the road at 6. We didn’t go too far, just to Ohope which is over the hill from Whakatane. We are camped up at a freedom camping place for a couple of nights. We thought it might have been full, but we managed to get a spot. It’s quite popular with campers. I guess because it’s free.

We had a lovely sunset yesterday. The estuary isn't so calm this evening.

We were going to move on to Opotiki today, but it has been very windy and Eddie wasn't keen to tow the van with a wind warning in place. It was supposed to calm down this afternoon, but it is still windy. With luck we will be on our way to Opotiki tomorrow. 

Summer is here.

 Summer has arrived. We have had some lovely days up to the high 20’s and the wind is warmer too. The pohutukawa flowers are starting to come out. The tuis and the bees are enjoying the flowers. I tried to get a bee in the photo, so it isn't the best picture I have taken. Unfortunately, the bee was shy and she didn't stay for the photo.

We are still waiting for the brake parts for the caravan, so we aren’t very happy. We just want to get going. Apparently they are in a container in Auckland. Not very helpful. Hub auto has told the supplier he isn’t impressed with the service. Neither are we.

Louise has started to decorate the camping ground with Christmas decorations. The little lit up reindeer amuses me, so I took his photo. He looks a little spooky in the dark. I am not sure why he looks so startled.

Awning Improvements

I was in the office since last Wednesday until Sunday, as Louise has been away for a few days. It went well. We were living in the house. We had hoped that the caravan wheel bearings would have been done while we were there.

Unfortunately the wheel bearing parts weren’t right for the  caravan and so it hasn’t been fixed yet. We are very frustrated. It is going in on Monday to have the work done. Now the toyota has a warning light coming up, so Eddie took it in to find out what it was. It is something to do with a manifold with valves in it. Instead of being open or closed they are flapping open and shut, so that has to be fixed. That is happening on Thursday and Friday. It is very frustrating, as we can’t go anywhere until it is sorted out. 

Eddie has done some modifications to the awning and now it isn’t flapping and lifting up like it was. The guttering was lifting up and down in the wind, so that there was a lot of pressure on the part of the awning that runs the arms up and down when we put it out.  The poles were from an extension cleaning brush. He cut the heads off the top and made a plate to attach them to the guttering. They work very well. They were on special at Bunnings, so a bonus. 

Above is the attachment Eddie made to attach the pole to the edge of the guttering.

The pole from further back. Noodles holding the fabric more firmly.

A closer view of the noodles on the rafters.

The wifi stopped working properly while we were at Louise's house, so Wireless Nation sent us a new one. We were able to get everything hooked up to it except the printer for some reason. Luckily we have the cord that goes from computer to printer, so all is not lost. We were very impressed with the speed that the new router came. It was only 2 days from ordering until it arrived. It comes via rural delivery too and that is usually a bit slower than normal deliveries

Bikes and Kayaks

We are back at Thornton for a few weeks now that we have left the Mount. We aren't missing the wind, that is for sure.

I don't think I have put a photo of our new bikes on to this blog; so here they are.

Eddie was taking the kayak off the roof when we got back here and broke the high stop brake light on the truck. We went into supercheap and got some tape to repair to keep the water out until we can get a new one. Probably from a wrecker, but he hasn't had any luck so far. We may have to pay about $400 to get a new one at this rate. Today he got a roller to help him get the kayak on and off without breaking anything else.

Above is the kayak he bought to go fishing on.

The Ulysses motorcycle club came out on Sunday after a ride and had a bbq lunch. They were raising funds for the St Johns Ambulance this year. They do a charity event every year. Mike and Linda Mexted were there. We went to their place afterwards and had a drink with them and some of their Ulysses friends. We had a nice afternoon. We came home with some leftover sausages and some of Mike and Linda’s eggs from their hens. 

Cruise Ships at Night

 It has been windy over the past few days and we are fed up with it. It has gone to the north on Tuesday, so it wasn't so bad for a change. It is nice today too with hardly any wind at all. We are starting to think it is as windy as the Wairarapa is.

Some friends came to visit on Sunday and we went to the fishing club for lunch. Eddie and I joined last week. We had a nice meal. I had an Asian smoked duck salad. Eddie had fish and chips; Allan had chicken satay and Jeaneen had a chicken burger. The restaurant has lovely views out over the harbour. We could see some P class yachts zipping about across the other side.

Later, Eddie's sister and her husband arrived to stay for a few nights. They are on the other side of the camping ground, so won’t get wind unless it comes from the north, like today. 

A cruise ship went out last night and looked very pretty in the dark. It was the Diamond Princess.

She looks like a floating city.

I went up to the top of Mount Maunganui during the week. It is a steep climb, so I took my time and rested on a bench half way up.

A vew of Matakana Island from half way up.

View from the top out to Motiti Island in the distance.

Tooth Repair

It wasn’t so windy yesterday or today, which is a relief. We are very much over the wind that’s for sure. We have been putting the awning up and down for a few days now, but we have left it up today. When the southerly blows it isn't very pleasant at all.

I have had a missing filling for a while now and yesterday a bit more came out, so I went to the dentist on Tuesday and had it refilled. $375 thanks very much. Sigh, but it has to be done. He said it had a lot of decay in it and was close to the nerve, so he hopes it will  be ok. I think I got there just in time. Eddie had to go to radiation on his own as our appointments were at the same time. 

My jaw is a bit sore because I had my mouth open for so long and I have bitten the side of my cheek and my bottom lip when I was eating dinner last night and they are a bit sore today. It's amazing how you can chew on yourself and not realize when it is numb from the anaesthetic. I kept wondering what the rubbery thing was and it was me!! Quite funny when you think about it.

The camp was full over the Labour Weekend, but it is empty again now.

Cruise ship visits

 We have had 3 cruise ships come in over the last 3 days. The Crown Princess; Royal Princess and the first one whose name I don’t know.

We were talking to a couple from the ship on Sunday as they walked past us having our lunch. They called out to ask if we were connected to sewage or not. Eddie told them that he takes our waste water to the dump station and we use the facilities here. She called the dump station the honey pot, which made us chuckle.They were from Nevada and they have a caravan at home, but they don't use it in the winter, because of the snow.

Eddie bought a kayak the other day, using the money from the sale of the blow up room we bought, but can’t use on the new awning. He went out for a fish on Monday morning, but didn’t get anything. He did see a young seal that popped up and looked at him as if to say what are you doing out here?

Below is a fair isle vest I have just finished. It seemed to take me ages as I kept running out of wool and having to get more. Very annoying.

Royal Princess in port.

.

Wind and Awnings don't mix

It was really windy on Saturday, so we took down the awning in the morning. Eddie forgot to loosen something off and it broke. Oops. He can fix it himself, so he went to get the part from Cvana on Monday morning. He tried to persuade the lady at the office that it was a warranty claim, but she laughed and said it was operator error. He came home with the part and an A4 sheet of paper with the instructions, so I don't think he was the first to make that mistake. It only took him an hour to fix, but we don't want to do it again.

We have had a few visitors this week, so that's been nice. First was a friend from Matamata with her daughters and new man in her life, who we think is very nice.

Another friend from Rotorua was working here and his car turbo stopped working, so he had a fish and chip tea with us while he waited for the AA to come and take him home with the car on the back of the truck.

Then a friend who lives in Katikati called in for morning tea while his car was being serviced. When he had gone we went for a bike ride into the Mt Maunganui shopping centre to the op shops. We were looking for a new hoodie for Eddie as he needs a new warm one. We didn't find one, but we came home with a pair of shorts for Eddie and a dress for me. Oh well, maybe next time.

Eddie went fishing the other day, but didn't catch anything, but he did enjoy sitting in the sunshine watching the boats and ships go by.

A move to Mt Maunganui

 We came to Mt Maunganui camping ground last Tuesday and settled in. We are here for a month. We got here about 12: 30, so we were very late having lunch. We were pretty hungry.

It is very windy when we got here. We are looking over Pilot Bay and the southerly wind blows right at us. We went for a stroll to the main beach on Wednesday and it was very calm over there. The difference is quite amazing

We also had a stroll along the path that goes around the bottom of the mountain to scope out some fishing spots. We were going to go all the way around, but decided it was too windy.

I was going to do some hand washing one day, but there was no plug in the sink. Most annoying. We have bought a universal plug to use. The water still leaks a bit, but at least I can use the tub.

We went for a walk around the bottom of Mt Maunganui on Friday afternoon when there was no wind. We saw a young seal playing in the water and what we think is his mother sleeping on the rocks. We didn’t take our cameras, so there are no pictures. They probably wouldn’t have been much good anyway as the little one dived down quickly and we couldn’t see the mother’s head.

It is very windy today, so I don't think we will be going to far.

Eddie had a go at fishing yesterday afternoon, but had no luck. Macaroni Cheese for tea.

Here is our caravan set up at Mt Maunganui

Our view across to the Tauranga harbour

The path that goes around the mountain. 

It is amazing how many people come and go up and down the mountain, all day and every day. It might not be as busy when school goes back next week.

New Awning

 On Wednesday we went to the NZCMA camp site in Welcome Bay near Tauranga for the night. It poured with rain over night and when Eddie stepped out of the van in the morning he was up to his ankles in water. Not a nice way to start the day. He was a bit worried we wouldn't be able to get out again, but he went slowly in four wheel drive and we had no problem.

On Thursday morning we took the van to Cvana awnings. We had to be there by 7 30. It was all in place just after 4 that afternoon. We were very impressed with the work ethics and workmanship there. At 4 two of the workers came and said good bye to the owner and they all shook hands and wished each other a good night. How good is that?

On the outside edge there is a guttering like a house roof and a hose connection at each end, so we can take the water away from the van or even put it into our water tanks. 

As you can see, it is very roomy. The van is 26 feet long, and the awning is almost as long, so we have doubled our living area.

We had a fishing competition here last weekend. They started at 3 pm and fished all night. They caught some good size fish. One person was disqualified as he used a drone when it was a surf casting compition. We were pleased he got found out. Very rude behaviour. 

New Bikes

 It was our 53rd wedding anniversary last Thursday.

We bought a LED light to replace the ordinary light bulb above the kitchen sink and now we can’t find it. Eddie has looked in every cupboard at least twice. He found it the other day and can’t remember where he put it. We will have to buy a new one, that will make the lost one reappear ha ha.

Eddie has been busy putting the new towing mirrors on to the toyota and a monsoon shield on his window. The old mirrors were quite small and he likes to be able to see all the way down the side of the van when he is towing.

On Sunday it was supposed to be wet, but it was fine all day and didn’t rain until after tea. Rain shouild only be allowed to happen at night. How convenient would that be. 

We went for a bike ride on Sunday morning. It was the first ride we have been on since we bought our new fold up bikes. We went through Thornton village and a bit further on West Bank Rd. My bike speedo said we had done 14.8 ks and Eddie’s said 17 ks, so goodness knows what it really was. I didn’t set the GPS on my watch, so we didn’t have that for a comparison. Next time. I was really pleased with how my bike went. It is a lot easier to ride than Harriet was. I think it is the bigger tyres. I have decided my bike’s name is Esther. It came to me when I was biking along and not thinking of very much at all.

We took the Toyota in for a full service on Tuesday We did the shopping and came home in the loan car and realized we had left the caravan key on the car key ring. We had to go back in and collect it. The office lady laughed. She said we weren’t the first and won’t be the last. We did feel a bit silly all the same. We are going to get another key cut so we can have one hidden outside the caravan. He is also getting a new car key cut. It isn’t going to have the remote opening on it as that will cost over $300. It will still have a central lock, but with the key in the lock to use it. That is about $180 dollars, which is dear enough.

It got really windy yesterday afternoon. Eddie added some more tie downs to our awning as it isn’t very windproof. We are getting a new dometic awning like we had on the 5th wheeler. Clint will be back later in the week to put it on. We will be pleased to get rid of the wobbly one.

I haven't taken a photo of our bikes yet, but here is a picture of some pied stilts in flight. They were trying to fend me off from their nest one day last week. I saw a chick running along the side of the path, but it was moving too quickly to get a photo.

A New Car

 It was a beautiful day on Wednesday and we were in our shorts and t-shirts all day. At one point it was 25 degrees. According to the weather report on the TV, Whakatane was the warmest in the country at 18 degrees. I think Thornton won.

We got the next lot of money through on Wednesday afternoon, so we have paid Graham the last of his money. Dave is coming up to collect the 5th wheeler on Saturday, so it will be the end of an era for us.

In the afternoon, Mike took us across to Kawerau to pick up the toyota landcruiser. Eddie is very pleased with the way it drives. We had to put in fuel as there wasn’t a lot in it. While Eddie was filling I looked into the glove box between the seats and found all Graham’s  fuel cards, so we had to take them back to him. Eddie jokingly told him we had used them to fill up with.

We have had a man working on our van to put in the new batteries that we bought. We have replaced the 2 acid batteries for 4 lithium. They are lighter than the old ones and don't take up too much more space. We are also going to take out the airconditioning and replace it with a motorized fan system that will open the vent and close it again if it is raining. We are going to get a dometic awning rather than the one that is one it. The one we have is lighter than the dometic and won't stand up to a lot of wind.

Below is some photos of the Toyota that we have bought as the tow vehicle.

Photos of our new home

Graham offered us the van before we have paid for it. We said no at first and then Eddie rang back last Wednesday and said we would have the van if that was still ok. He delivered it last Thursday morning at about 10: 30. We spent the day putting things into it. I have been filling up the laundry basket and carrying it across. I had to clean the cupboards in the kitchen as they were pretty dirty before I could put in things into them. I am not sure how it’s all going to fit, but we will just have to do the best we can. We can't take as much as before weight wise either. So it's not just available space we have to think about. 

We slept in the van for the first time on Sunday night. Eddie’s feet go over the end of the bed, but he was comfortable enough as he curls up a bit. 

We have got the van looking quite cosy and comfortable and like home.

We have spent time every day putting things across. Most of it is done now.

On Saturday, we went into Bunnings and bought some plastic boxes to put under the bed to put things into that won’t go in the cupboards. I have the electronic panels and 2 wheel arches inside the cupboards I am using, which is a bit annoying as it makes the available space less. 

All the finances should be done and dusted by the end of next week. We will be pleased to get that over and done with after all this time.

Bike Ride

The Rangataiki River can have many moods. Below are 2 photos I took one day after the other. It's amazing a bit of sunshine and blue sky can make. The top photo was taken from the stop bank they have just repaired and strengthened on our road. The second one is, also on a stop bank on the other side of the bridge looking up stream towards Edgecumbe.

On Wednesday we went for a bike ride along the Whakatane River bike and walking path. It is all concreted and a nice easy bike ride. It goes from the bridge as you drive into Whakatane to the Whakatane Heads.

We had to duck around where they were doing roadworks along the stop bank. I think they are making it stronger in case of flooding in the future. They have been doing it for ages. We went to Gibbos Fish and Chip shop for lunch on our way home. We had some scallops too. It was all very delicious. The fish comes fresh off a boat, so you can’t get better than that. 

A man with a fishing charter boat moored to the wharf by the fish and chip shop spent about 20 minutes getting fishing rods off of his boat. He must have had about 30. He said he was taking them home for maintenance. We didn't think he was going to stop bringing them out.

This is a statue of Wairaka and the Whakatane Heads. She is wearing a seagull crown in this photo. I think she wears them a lot. She was one of the people who came on the first waka to the area. When the men left the boat to do some exploring it started to float back out to sea. Women were not allowed to handle the waka, but she was able to stop it floating away and saved all the lives on board. The name Whakatane is from her actions. She "acted like a man."

Two waka in a shed at the Whakatane Heads.

Eddie at the heads. Whale Island in the background.

Our bikes resting from their ride.

Spring cleaning

We have had some lovely days over the past week. Frosty mornings and sunshine. There isn't a lot of wind either, so it makes is seem very warm. We wore shorts on Saturday.

Eddie took the vents down from the ceilings last week and we got them all cleaned, and on Monday we pulled out the couch so I could clean the wall behind it and vacuum the carpet. Now the van is already for its new owner, but we are still waiting, waiting, waiting. All a bit frustrating. The man we are buying from is also wanting to purchase a new vehicle.

We have sold the Ducati. With hind sight it should never have been bought, but we live and learn. Hopefully.

On my walk the other day I took a picture of a lovely magnolia tree.

We had some surprise visitors from Matamata at the weekend. She tried to sneak in, but I heard the car entering the camp and looked up. She has a personalized plate and the name of her hair salon on the side of her car, so I knew who it was immediately. She was a bit gutted, but we had a nice weekend with her and her daughters. We went for a walk on the beach on Sunday morning.

A new appliance and pollen

We have had some cool and wet days lately. One day it got to 13 degrees at 3: 30 and that was the hottest it got. 

Louise’s granddaughter, Kaia was 6 a couple of Saturdays ago and there was a birthday party in the pavilion here. We went over and had pizza for lunch and sang happy birthday. We brought 2 pizzas home as there was so many left over. We had one for tea. I heated it in the new little oven, but  did it for a bit long so it was a bit crunchy around the edges. I did the second one for a bit less time and lower the temperature with a much better result.

The new little oven.

I made  potato and cheese souffle in my little oven one night for tea last week and it came out really well. I am definitely liking this one better than the other one we had. 

Eddie has been cleaning off rust from under the caravan and painting it with some protection. They said it would need to be done for the next COF and he told Dave he would do it. He is very pleased to get that out of the way.

Yesterday I heard a grey warbler for the first time this year. I think of it as a spring indicator. The Maori used it as a guide to start planting their crops for the new season.

grey warbler or riroriro

The grey warbler or riroriro

There is a lot of pollen on the truck and around the edges of the puddles at the moment, so another spring indicater. No wonder we feel a bit stuffy in our noses. We aren't too far from the pine forests where the paper mill in Kawerau gets its logs. With a southerly wind blowing, we get the pollen all around us. Some days the dodge looks quite yellow on the cover of the tray.

We have cleaned all the fly screens, windows and vents over the past week, so it is already for Dave.

A Change of Heart

 

We have a deal with the motorhome. Brian rang last Sunday and suggested that we split the difference between the price and Eddie's offer. Now we have to wait for Dave to come through with the money.

We went over again later on Sunday and did some more measurements. We have bought a Breville multifunction microwave. It is an air fryer, a microwave and something else that I can’t recall. It also cooks up to 6 slices of toast and Eddie thought it did slow cooking too. We will see when it arrives. It sounds more useful than the air fryer that we had before. It fits into the space where the microwave goes in, so should work out well. We won’t need our toaster either, so we will leave that for Dave. We came home with some sheets for the bed, but they aren’t very good quality ones, so I will take ours with us. 

On Monday, the rain came and it has been cool too, so it was a quiet day indoors.

Dave rang to say that he still didn’t have the money. I think he is a bit anxious that we will tell him the deal is off because the money is too slow in coming. Eddie reassured him that all was ok.

Wednesday was wet and cold. I was up at Louise’s looking after reception and it is a cold house. Usually on sunny days it’s lovely. Today I turned the heat pump after lunch. 

Eddie cleaned some rust off the chassis of the van on Wednesday He got one side done. They said at the last COF it would need to be done. He told Dave he would do it.  I don’t think he suffered from vertigo too badly today. He gets it when he has been lying on his back and looking up. He said he took his time getting up again, which helped.

The other job he did today was look up the costs of road user charges for the motorhome and got a terrible fright. It is $315 per 1000 ks, which is a lot more than the cost for the dodge and van combined. We talked about pulling out, but decided to stay with it. Once it has moved to a new site, we will be going about in the bubble.  Fingers crossed it is the right decision.

A lady came into the office today and asked if she could have some shower tokens. Her children had been playing in the sea and were sandy and cold. I said that we didn’t want sand in our showers and told her there was a shower down at the public toilets. She said they are only 9 and 7 and I thought well they have been playing in the cold sea, so a cold shower probably wouldn’t hurt. Eddie said I should have charged her a day fee of $20.  Louise laughed when I told her.

On Thursday we did a turnabout and went to Kawerau to look at the Jayco van and we are going to take it. When we looked at it before the man was away and we could only peep through the window. If we had seen it properly on the day, I doubt we would have put an offer in on the motorhome. It has been done up not so long ago and has plenty of cupboards. The place where the washing machine used to go has been made into a dirty laundry cupboard. Eddie jokingly asked if his landcruiser was for sale and Graham said it could be. Eddie asked how much and he said a price. Eddie said done. So we have a complete unit. The brakes are all done for the landcruiser, so there is no cost there. We will buy a water bladder as the water tank is only 180 litres. We might need a new awning too, but not a lot else has to be spent. Eddie keeps saying he feels relieved. 

Dave rang again on Thursday and said that the lawyer who had been doing the probate had left the firm and they were having trouble sorting out where things were at, but they hoped he would have his money tomorrow. Fingers crossed again!

The air fryer oven arrived and I used it to cook the chicken thighs for tea. We were very happy with the result. It is easier to use than the other one we had.

Wet and cool on Friday, so we have been inside all day. I was going to garden this morning before the rain came, but it beat me.

Dave’s deposit came through today and we sent it on to Graham for the Jayco caravan.

I cooked scones and a loaf of bread in the little oven. The scones were good, but I will need to put bread lower down as the top touched the elements as it rose and the loaf has 2 burnt lines on the top.