Spring is in the air.

 It’s nearly September. How did that happen? 

I saw a sparrow with a piece of grass in her beak the other day, so I think spring is starting to move the birds. I have seen blackbirds “discussing” territory too. I always find them quite amusing to watch.

On Sunday we took the drone along the coast a bit further to try some fishing. It’s been so long since he used it that Eddie had a bit of trouble remembering what to do. We got it out ok and back again, so that was good. He had set up the drone before getting the line ready, so that the drone started to tell us that it's battery was getting flat. So I think the moral of that story is to set up the drone last. No fish as we didn’t leave the line out for very long. It started to rain with a cold wind, so we came home again to the sunshine. Weird as we were only about 10 km from home. Better luck next time.

We have decided to be back on the road in November for a few weeks and then park up at Matamata for the summer break. Camping grounds are very expensive at that time of the year, so we try to avoid them if we can.

A pretty bush in flower at the moment. 
I have no idea what it is called.

A quiet week.

 We have a lovely day today, although the wind is cool. There has been a lot of snow around the country over the past few days. There was a little frost this morning. There was one yesterday too and Eddie hadn’t put the cover over the windscreen. He put a bucket of water over it and when he got in he realized he had only cleared the passenger side. Another bucket of water in the right place and he was off.

On Saturday we went and visited friends who have just bought a home in a  retirement village in Mt Maunganui. It’s a nice little house and they seem very happy with it. We went to the little cafe on the site for our lunch.

On Sunday, Eddie changed the seal that is between the truck tray and the canopy. It’s had bits of rubber hanging out since we bought it. It didn’t take him long. A camper helped him get it off and one of the permanent residents helped to put it back on. 

I looked after the reception on Monday, but I don’t have to be there all day as not a lot is happening. I just go up and check the emails and the answer phone a few times a day. 

My vacuum cleaner seems to have lost its suck. It’s never been the same since we had to clean out all the fire extinguisher dust back in January. I think a new one might be the order of the day. There’s always something, even in a caravan.

Planting on the dunes

 We are having dry weather at the moment, which is nice. It may not last though. There was a very pink sunrise yesterday morning.

On Saturday we went and helped with planting plants on the back dunes at the beach. There is a council run organization called Coastal Care and they do a lot of replanting around the coast line of the Bay of Plenty. They use a lot of volunteers otherwise I don’t suppose it would happen. A lot of schools do it. Thornton school has been doing it for 30 years and the organization has been going for 35. 

Last month they sprayed all the weeds and then came back and did some spot spraying which is where we planted the plants. We did 170 plants all together. There was us, Louise, another lady from the camp and the lady from coastal care with her daughter. None of the permanent residents came which we all thought was a bit rude. It is their beach after all. We had chocolate biscuits and hot drinks when we were done. The roots of the grass were pretty hard to dig through.  Eddie and I were tired when we got home, so we both had a nap after lunch.

We planted Taupata, Karo, Ngaio, Ti Kouka (Cabbage tree), Harakeke (Flax), Coastal Mahoe and a threatened species called Euphorbia Glauca. Its Maori name is Waiu-Atua or Waiu-o-Kauhukura. The first name is the more common.

Taupata

Karo

Euphorbia Glauca

Ngaio

Coastal Mahoe