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.

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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.