Sunday 30th November- Lunch in town

The sun was blazing down as we awoke this morning and so we went for our usual walk down the beach and then called in to the cake shop in Taipa, as the neighbours are coming for afternoon tea.

Due to the butchers being closed on Saturday afternoon we had decided to have lunch in town and therefore went to the Waterside Café which, strangely enough, overlooks the water.

We both had the Blue Nose fish which was pan fried and served with a salad and a compote of vegetables and sat and watched the sea

And people wander by. The Café was virtually empty as we arrived at 1215 but it filled up quite nicely over the next hour. It was a most enjoyable and tasty lunch

Later in the afternoon, the neighbours came around and we had a pleasant afternoon discussing local events and generally whiling away the time. The neighbours also brought some cake and so we had enough to feed quite a few people in the end. It was a nice way to spend the day overlooking the bay and putting on sun protection cream.

Tomorrow we have to chase up the builders as there is a water leakage problem in the house.

Saturday 29th November- Mangonui Christmas Parade

What a complete change of weather!. The sun was shining down and the sky had no clouds at all first thing this morning as we headed off to Mangonui Town which is about 5 miles away.

There were quite a few people there when we arrived and there were plenty of activities including a cooking demonstration by a chef from the upmarket Carrington Hotel who demonstrated making a chocolate desert. The bad news was that the sun was shining and it was warm, neigh! Hot, and the chocolate desert melted on the plate making it looked more like an oil slick than a chocolate desert.

They were cooking sausages and also hot lamb sandwiches which were very popular. The event opened with the Mangonui school children singing traditional native songs and also a ‘Haka’

The Red Hat ladies were there in their purple dresses and red hats along with the emergency services who also led the parade though the town and back again. There was a local marching band, floats from schools and old cars including our friend Robin’s Lancia.

The main ‘Haka’ was performed by the crew of the Waka,(a maori canoe) and they were very good but no doubt the hit of the day was the free ice cream donated by the local launderette. Needless to say there was a long queue of children who waited 10 minutes for their ice cream and then ate it quickly and rejoined the queue, we think at least three or four times.

Most of the event was finished by 1.30 pm and so we headed back to do some shopping and then found that the butcher had closed at one pm. I am sure Jennifer planned this so we could go out for dinner tomorrow evening.

Dillon came round from next door to go fishing with Noel but we think he overdid the sun a bit today and perhaps not enough water and so he declined. Perhaps another day!.

The sun was good today and we also got a call from Brian in Buenos Aires

To see all the Parade photographs go to

http://albums.phanfare.com/5194780/2944783_3342938#imageID=54001734

Friday 28th November – An easy day again

We did our usual walk this morning and then in the afternoon we went to see friends Robin and Lorraine for afternoon tea, cheese and biscuits, sweet biscuits and some delicious home made scones. As previously mentioned Robin was a set designer and producer for Thames TV and he spent some years behind the scenes of ‘The Bill’ a popular police drama. It would also appear that Mike our friend from Wey Road also knows somebody from the same show.
Anyway, first thing in the morning we were disturbed to receive the following email from Mike with regard to him taking our Land Cruiser for a drive

Hi Folks
Joanne dropped the keys round today. As we had to go to the Woking branch of Travis Perkins anyway, we gave her a spin.
I must say, it's a superb vehicle, and we were delighted with the amount of bricks and bags of cement we could stuff into the back. Pauline says that colour-back will get the scratches off, and we can chip the hardened cement off when it dries.
Overdid it a tad though - we had to force the back flap down a bit, but Autoscreen does a good job these days. I'll give them a call tomorrow.
Found getting back into the garage a bit tight. Did you say your maintenance man was coming back sometime? There's a little bit of brickwork that needs to be put back.

We believe he was joking, well we hope so anyway.

Boy did it rain hard again tonight and we hope that it is better tomorrow as we are going to the Mangonui Christmas Parade.

Thursday 27th November- On the rack

Noel was back to the physiotherapist this morning and Genna put him on the rack which gave his calf muscles a really good stretch however it did not hurt this time.

The visits to the physio are really worth while and the exercises that Noel has been given have made a big difference to his walking, but enough of that.

We did our usual afternoon walk along the beach and then headed back as we saw some rain clouds approaching and we did not want to get caught again in the rain (the shoes are still drying!!) and so we went home and watched TV for the rest of the evening.

Wednesday 26th November -2008- A wander around Kaitai

We had agreed to meet Robin in the café in Kaitaia and we were a little late due to some road construction and repairs, for the want of a better word.

Road repairs here consist of ripping up the old surface and sort of getting it level, then dumping hard core on and waiting for the traffic to bed it down whilst spraying it with water to keep the dust down and once it is sort of flat they spray on a thin coating of tarmac. It all seems a bit haphazard and I think they could find a better way. However, they don’t seem to care about the roads importance as they just close it and you just wait. Road signs abound telling you to slow down which they leave there for months afterwards and so you end up slowing down on many occasions only because the ‘road sign removal executive’ has not been along as he has been delayed in the café.

Anyway we spent a very pleasant morning wandering around the town and found a fascinating antique shop with a huge selection of old phones. We also went in one of the second hand shops which sold everything including the kitchen sink.

The Hospital where Robin's wife works in the town has just been upgraded with quite a chunk of money being spent on it and there is a vast improvement but it's still a bit too small for the summer tourist rush.

We stopped for an ice cream on the way back home and whilst we were standing outside the shop eating our ice creams a couple arrived and he purchased what you might call a triple stacker as he amazingly drove off with this huge ice cream in front of him and it was so large it must have blocked some, if not all, of his view. I did get a quick photo shot of the event.

The rest of the day was spent taking Robin home and we met the two dogs. Then we came back home and cooked some pork chops we had got from the local butcher, they were really excellent.

Watched an episode of ‘Life on Mars’ which was good and then hit the hay.

Tuesday 25th November 2008 – Recovering from the storm

On Monday night in the height of the storm, unfortunately there was a rainwater leak in the roof of the house and with the strong winds and heavy rain we suddenly noticed a nice waterfall just behind the TV and Video

We called the builder who is aware of the problem and he spent some time here evaluating the matter and we agreed a course of action. This took a little while and also as our walking shoes and some of our clothes were still wet from our previous days walk we decided to have a slow day doing not to much but catching up on essential reading.

Robin the male half of the couple that came to dinner last Saturday phoned and we agreed to meet him on Wednesday morning in Kaitaia. A little TV then off to bed

Monday 24th November- Boy did it rain

Well I guess it’s to be expected that if you live in the Tropical North of NZ that you will, from time to time, have tropical storms and we sure did.
In the morning we went to the local Waste Transfer Station, incidentally the signpost for this is just above the sign for the cemetery, any connection we wondered? Then we did some meat and fish shopping for the next couple of days. On the way back we went to look at the Doubtful Bay Villas. http://www.doubtlessbayvillas.co.nz/
We thought these villas were for sale but in fact they are for rent, great view although they look a little stark on the outside but it is a new development.
It was raining the complete day however by mid afternoon we decided to brave the weather and put on our rain jackets and trousers and then proceeded to get blown to bits.
We did our usual walk but on the way back we had to try and miss the very strong winds and squally rain which lashed down. It was not cold but just very wet and it was at this point we discovered that our trousers and jackets are perhaps not quite rainwear but more suitable for lesser weather.
We had Blue Nose fish and chips for dinner with a bottle of wine, very pleasant and tried to watch the TV but the wind in the evening was so strong we kept losing some of the satellite signals and we nearly had to watch Coronation Street. Uh!
I was very disappointed, nay shocked, by the English Rugby Teams terrible defeat in the hands of the South Africans, appalling and somebody should get kicked or next time we should spike the opponent’s drinks.
We have started listening to BBC radio on the web, and yesterday evening we were listening to Chris Evans last Friday 21 November Drive time show and of course the traffic news. As usual the M25 was a car park. Well on Sunday when with Steve and Mary for afternoon tea we were talking about traffic, there really is none here, and the most exiting thing to happen recently was on Taipa Bridge
which has a priority one way system as it only wide enough for one car. The following happened. A lady in a hurry in a sports car should have waited at the end of the bridge but she barged down the road only to be met by oncoming traffic. She should have reversed to resolve the problem but during the ensuing discussion for her to reverse she got very upset and got back in to her car, took out the ignition keys and threw them in the river. Needless to say this created quite a problem and caused a really major traffic jam, for here that is, eight cars on one side of the bridge and twelve on the other side and it was also reported in the local paper due to the serious jam it caused. And this event was also talked about for months afterwards. Wow!
Let’s hope the tropical depression moves on quickly.

Sunday 23rd November- And the weather changed

We awoke to heavy rain and strong winds, great! So we decided to take it easy and have a quiet day reading and hopefully watch some football later.

Along came the appointed hour of 1pm and NO football appeared on TV-great.

Later in the afternoon we went for afternoon tea and cake at other friends and spent a nice couple of hours chatting away at Steve and Mary’s house which has a large and beautiful garden in valley and looking down to Cable Bay.

The rest of the day was spent reading as we had decided it was so windy and wet that a walk would not be pleasant at all. This reminded us of the weather we are missing back home,

Saturday 22nd November- Guest's are coming tonight

We did our early morning walk, I say early as it was more like 0930, and then headed back to the house for a big English style breakfast. We noticed that some shell diggers were out and no doubt looking for all sorts of live encrustations for later enjoyment.

In the interim we had learnt that the Police who do the alcohol testing have a great life travelling all over the North Island and staying in nice hotels and then spending a few hours doing some testing. They then head back to the hotel for a few beers.

Anyway, after breakfast we started working on preparation for some friends of Brian & Sheila’s we had previously met Robin and Lorraine. Robin is a Brit and used to work at Thames TV in London whilst Lorraine is a trained nurse and they met in London some years ago but have returned to NZ.

Anyway we enjoyed the evening very much and Jennifer made a Lancashire Hot pot with real new Zealand mutton and that went down very well indeed as did the wine.

We have been thinking about driving up to Cape Reina, the northernmost part of New Zealand, but we have been advised that and organised coach trip on the sand it by far the best way to appreciate the journey as the main road is being repaired NZ style. So we will plan this for when the weather is better.

Friday 21st November- The “Million Dollar View” Highway

We have tried in the past two weeks to travel on the above tourist route and take some photos of the stunning scenery only when we got there the weather was unkind, but not today.

We had noticed that it is sunny first thing in the morning and then it clouds over by mid morning but by late afternoon the clouds disappear.

So we left after lunch and headed in the general direction of Kerikeri and then followed the signs for the Twin Coast Discovery Highway and off we went. At first it’s quite hilly and then eventually you come to the top of the hill which overlooks some of the Bay of Islands and also again later there is another viewing point. It’s a 25 mile drive up and down the hills and very pleasant indeed.

On one small beach we saw what we think was the start of a photo shoot with two young ladies in bridesmaids dresses and also a brides dress, hiking up their skirts and crossing the beach and through pools filled with water. I quickly changed lenses and the results you can see on the Photo blog.

The views over the Islands are pretty dramatic and with the sun shining and the sea a gorgeous colour it was well worth coming back again. There are a few shanty places where there is low cost housing. We have also noticed that in certain places where the poorer Maoris live it’s a bit like the middle part of America where they just dump cars when they stop and in some garden you can see as many as eight cars covered in grass and rotting away.

After we finished the tourist drive we headed to Kerikeri for some New World shopping as we have some friends coming for dinner tomorrow night.

The journey home takes about fifty minutes and we were just entering Mangonui area and a car coming towards us flashed his headlights at us which either means, turn your lights on, which we had or they are focused to high, which they were not or the Police are ahead, which they were. There were about six police cars and approximately eight or nine policemen and at first we though there might have been and accident but no, it was breath testing time at just before seven pm. I guess they are looking for the people having a few drinks on a Friday night before going home to their loved ones or wives as the case may be.

Jennifer was driving and so she was the lucky person and of course not having had any alcohol for a couple of days she sailed though the test. However when we got home Jennifer hit the bottle so as to make up for it.

A pleasant evening was had watching UK-TV with ‘Grumpy old women’ and then ‘New Tricks’. Tomorrow we have decided to go for a walk along the beach before breakfast which will be turned into a brunch when we get back with egg and bacon and anything else we can find to throw in the frying pan.

Thursday 20th November- Kaitai and Maitai Bay

We had some minor jobs to do today in Kaitai and so we headed off to find the post office and also the library. A quick walk around the shops and noel bought some cheap slippers to wear about the house as he forgot to bring his.
On the way back we stopped at a large roadside shop selling vegetables which always seem to be busy and then another important technical stop at Anui Junction for an ice cream.
Maitai bay we have visited before when we were here last time and it’s a very beautiful bay and very quiet and relaxing. We met a couple of retired folks on Maitai beach who had been at the camp site there for two weeks to get away from the crowded city of Pahia??? And they said that there was a very warm summer ahead with temperatures due to hit around 32 degrees, sounds good Aye?
We were there for about an hour walking around and taking some photos and then headed back to Taipa where Noel left the car and walked the last mile home and took some photos enroute of the flowers. Thank heavens his left leg is getting better after all the exercises and compared to when we were in Auckland its much better.
The sun was burning down all afternoon and the temp is quite warm and a quiet evening ahead was planned. In the meantime it looks like we may have solved the broadband capacity challenge as thanks to Brian phoning this morning I have been able to increase the capacity and this should take effect within the next day or so and that this should allow us to get back on line with our Phanfare photo blog again

Wednesday 19th November- A day of calm and nothing else

We decided today to have a quiet day not doing much other than read, eat and go for our usual walk. we watched a bit of TV in the evening and generally lolled about.

Excellent day!!

Tuesday 18th November- A trip to Pahia in the Bay of Islands

We left for the Million Dollar Road and the plan was to go on to Pahia.
It started getting cloudy again and so photos were limited and we will have to go back again to get some photos overlooking the islands, it must be great in the sun.
Pahia is the so called centre of the Bay of Islands and last time we visited here it was on our way up to see Brian and Shelia in the house in which we are currently staying. At that time Pahia was buzzing with people however then it was early March. Now in November it’s quite deserted apart from about three bus loads of tourists that turned up. It’s quite a small place and survives off the ferry services to the islands and other water driven tourism. They have a fast 1600 bhp speed boat that can travel around the islands at breakneck speed down to the more relaxing type of boat rides.
Most of the shops sell food or tourist type products and the only thing missing was the ‘Pahia Rock’
We left Pahia and headed back to Kerikeri for some food shopping and stopped off to get petrol for the car and give it a wash. Kerikeri is a real small town with a good variety of nice shops and even one selling what they term as UK products with large jars of Marmite and packs of Jammy Dodgers etc, not quite our style. The last time we visited Kerikeri was on market Sunday when all the shops are closed but this time they were all open and there are some nice clothes shops and several restaurants which we may try given the time. This town seemed quite busy and even the McDonalds was being renovated. New World Supermarkets run special offers of wine from time to time and this time they had bottles of Oxford Landing Sauvingnon Blanc for NZ 6.95 which is about £ 2.60 per bottle and so not a bad price. In fact we notice that our shopping costs are much lower here than the UK with prices we guess around 20 to 25% cheaper than the UK although perhaps you don’t have quite as much choice.
It took us about 50 minutes to get back home, it could have been faster , but there was a police car following an old car at well below the speed limit and of course nobody would overtake. The speed limit here is variable but on the main roads its 100 kph or about 62 mph. It’s strange but in road works they never seem to use self controlling light system but two or three people using walkie talkies and a STOP and GO boards. Here, just like UK, there is perhaps only 20 percent of the workers doing something whilst the rest look on.
By the time we got back at about 5pm the sun was out and it was quite warm.
We tested the Oxford Landing and it wash fine-hic.

Monday 17th November- Ouch that hurt!

Jennifer keeps on complaining that I keep on writing negative comments about the weather in this Blog and perhaps she is right and I promise not to do it anymore.

Anyway, we awoke this morning and it was pouring with rain and grey skies and quite windy but I understand it should improve during the day. Whoops, sorry love.

Anyway, it was time to revisit the physiotherapist who did a great job last time I visited. Anyway, Genna is her name and she is a very nice young lady to whom I put my trust and also my left leg. So after lying down comfortably on the treatment bed she immediately changed all her clothes in front of me from that nice Mrs Jekyll into a certain Mr Hyde in one fell swoop. She kneaded the muscles in my calf whilst I hid my tears and pretended I was enjoying myself. Twenty minutes later it was all over and I did feel a little better but later on I discovered there was a bruise developing on the back of my leg, thank god she was not a werewolf as well. Boy that hurt!!

The rest of the day was spent partly recovering and then we went for a walk along the beach in the strong winds and grey skies and with a chance of rain but hoping that it would get better tomorrow…..

Sunday 16th November – West Brom 0-3 Chelsea

We awoke latish and had a brunch and then did a few household chores. Noel caught up to date with Blogs and photos and Jen read her Bourne Supremacy Book which can be a difficult read, I know as I have read it.

Around one pm Noel turned on the TV to see if there was any UK football and blow me, starting in two minutes was the West Bromwich Albion against Chelsea, the full match. So that was the afternoon gone. Anelka scored twice and suddenly he appears to have regained his form as earlier in the season he missed so many open goals you could not believe. It was quite a good game but Chelsea sealed the game in the first half with three good goals and from then on WBA could not do much whilst Chelsea sat back and just contained them until the end of the match.

This was followed by the beach walk in the wind again but always enjoyable. It’s quite noticeable that the exercises from the physiotherapist are beginning to have a positive effect on Noel’s left leg and walking is becoming much easier. He has another appointment tomorrow so let’s see what she says this time.

It was time to have a Sunday Roast again and this time we had shoulder of Lamb which was excellent and together with a glass or two of Villa Maria Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot was most enjoyable.

They have just started showing the ‘River Cottage’ series here with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, we like this programme as it’s not an ‘in your face’ type cooking show. There is an interesting fact that if more than five families wish to do home farming and grow vegetables that they can approach the local authority who are obliged, by law to make unused land available free of charge. The next programme was a documentary on an American Airlines aircraft crashing at Little Rock Arkansas airport. Quite interesting to see how pilots get so wrapped up in trying to land when obviously the conditions are against them that they forget their landing drill. Great!

15th November. The sun has gone home for the moment

The grey weather retuned and so did the wind, but never mind.

It was an easy day, we spent a little time cleaning the car and generally mucking about.

We did our 4 kilometre walk (well that’s what Sheila told us it is) but with my gammy leg, which seems to be improving, seems a lot longer. However the wind was blowing quite a lot as we walked along the sand around the bay and somehow it was quite exhilarating.

There is a project on the beach to stop erosion where grasses have been planted to help stabilise the bank and it seems to be working. This is the local community trying to ensure that the beaches stay in good nick.

We got back from our walk around 5 pm and a little later headed off to Mangonui as we had a table booked at The Galley (the old post office) for dinner. The food was excellent, Noel had the Hapuka on a bed of ratatouille and Jennifer the steak. The presentation and quality of the food is extremely good and the cost is not too bad. At around £ 38.00 for two people which included two beers and a wild secret cocktail for Jennifer we believe it was really good value for money. Next time we will try the new Thai restaurant which seemed very busy.

In the restaurant was a mid thirty year old couple who ordered a bottle of Champagne and looked into each others eyes and kept kissing over the food. I am not sure but I think she was quite, how to say this politely, lets say ‘pissed as a newt’. She stumbled when she got up to leave the table, let’s hope she was not driving. On exiting Mangonui there were two young lads of around fifteen they looked, driving a car? They obviously start young around here.

It was a very nice evening indeed.

Friday 14th- And the sun has arrived at last

The sun arrived, which is quite strange as the weather forecast was for rain. Just like UK.

We went on a drive down to Taupo Bay. Once you leave the main high road and wend your way through the hills and dales to the coast it is a very nice drive. Taupo is a small town with perhaps about 40 or 50 mainly weekend and/or summer retreats on a nice safe beach of about one mile long. We walked along the beach and then back though the back street, ha, and most of the houses were unoccupied. There are many places for sale here and similar problems with regard to falling house prices and no mortgage. The newspapers and TV are comparing Oz and NZ to the Western world and sharing with us that OZ and NZ are currently faring much better than UK and other places in Europe.

We took a few photos of the area, which we hope to upload soon it’s certainly a nice place to live a quiet life.

Back in Cooper’s Beach we went to the fishman and got some Terakihi, smoked salmon pieces and scallops.

The butchers are a short way away and so a visit there for our Sunday roast lunch and then back home.

At about 6pm, the young lad, Dillon, from next door popped round to see if Noel wanted to go fishing from the headland. Well he spent almost two hours trying to tempt the fish with squid bait all to no avail. He caught a 12 inch stick from a tree but decided to throw it back as it was not long enough. When fishing here you must measure the catch to ensure it’s not too small and thus keep the wheels turning or the fish growing, whichever is the correct statement.

An evening of TV was called for on the UK TV channel and we watched New Tricks and Taggart all old BBC productions. You can also watch Coronation Street and East Enders if you wish, which we don’t.

Knowing our luck the sun will not be around tomorrow, let’s see what happens.

Thursday 13th November- Watch the waves go by

It is quite grey when we awake this morning and it looks as if it rained quite hard overnight.
A light breakfast and then a walk along the beach we thought. Then the rain arrived again and so we decided to hang in there at home and watch the waves for a while.
By mid afternoon the rain had stopped so off we went down the beach in the dark grey afternoon and then across the bay we saw a rain storm approaching and so we went back to the Taipa Bay resort for a cup of tea and a small bun whilst the rain came down. Thank heavens it did not last too long and we could set off back to the house. A quiet evening was had by all watching Television and reading before hitting the sack.
This was a nice day doing very little and let’s hope the weather improves as we would both like some sun.

12th November 2008- Time to try Mangonui famous fish & chip shop

It was a bit grey again this morning and it looked like it would rain soon, but it didn’t.

Most of the day was spent considering what we would do for our last month in NZ, would we fly to Christchurch and rent a car there or rent one in Auckland and drive to the Coramadel Peninsular (east of Auckland) then drive down to Wellington and use the ferry to Picton. Decisions, decisions. However no real decision has yet been made at the moment as its still some time before February next year.

So we took it easy for the day read books, Noel listened to his I-pod and lunch was on the balcony. Although it was greyish it was not cold and the ambient temperature is improving slowly. In fact the South Island seems to be warmer than the North Island which is a little strange as the North Island is nearer the tropics.

We received an email from our hosts to say that it looked like we had almost exceeded our internet data transfer capacity for a month in less than 10 days. I suppose I am used to the UK SKY broadband that we have at home which is operating at around 14 mb download and 780 mb upload, no max usage and all for £ 10.00 per month. Here in NZ it’s quite different where broadband cost is considerably higher than the UK and with much slower speeds and restricted data transfer capacity and so when I am updating my Phanfare blog with photos I pretty much blew the months usage on one days photos and so will have to restrict photos for the time being until we find an alternative process.

Early evening we headed into Mangonui to try out the ‘World famous Mangonui Fish Shop (anyway that’s what is says outside the shop) We got there at about 7 pm and they had virtually no fish left and only one type available, I asked did they have any more fish and the lady said no. Strange I thought and then ten minutes later another great pile of fresh fish arrived??(Perhaps that’s why its world famous for not having much fish). By comparison our experience with the Akaroa fish & chip shop, near Christchurch, where you had a major choice of about 8-10 types of fish and plenty of it.

Afterwards we took a walk around the village and it was pretty much deserted but really very pleasant. There is a new Thai restaurant which was open but only the staff were there, most of the other cafes and bars (about four) were also empty. I am sure it will pick up in December when the schools close. We booked a table for dinner for this coming Saturday night at the Galley Restaurant (the restaurant is located inside the old Post office building built 1876 and rebuilt in 1904) where we went the night we arrived in Mangonui as it’s very good food and also it’s nice to eat out occasionally.

Back home and a little TV, we watched Inspector Linley and Murder Most Horrid, all UK productions.

Tuesday 11th November-A trip to Kaitaia

The sun was shining but slowly fading as we left for a visit to Kaitaia which is about 25 minutes from here going north. We passed the bridge where we understand that work has been going on forever and a day and low and behold one guy was working whilst the other was asleep in his dump truck. So things are normal here then.

Kaitaia is a smallish town with a real mixture of shops and a number of Pawn shops as well. We briefly visited the bank for a moment to change some Travellers cheques and then walked around the town. We visited a retailer of sports gear they also sell tents which was the prime purpose for us visiting the shop. They appear to have everything we need for our South Island camping trip, tents and all the extra bits and pieces that you need.

The price of fuel is very cheap in NZ; see photo and this works out at the current rate of exchange as Unleaded at £0.62 per litre and Diesel at £ 0.53 per litre a little cheaper than the UK.

We left town and headed for what is called Ninety Mile Beach via the airport. The terminal is a small hut and there was actually a small aircraft there. Ninety Mile Beach stretches from Ruakawa Bay in the north all the way down to Ahipara. This is great if you have a 4x4 or any other type of all wheel drive vehicle but not for a front wheel drive Toyota Previa. Ahipara is a smallish town by the beach and most of the vehicles there were 4x4‘s.

We also visited the beach further up at Waipapakauri and also looked around the Top 10 campsite there. This was also nice and clean and well organised. Most of these areas were very quiet as the peak season for this area does not start until December when the children go on their summer holidays.

We left there and took the back roads back to Awanui Junction (crossing actually), through fields with so many cattle it was amazing, and stopped for a quick ice cream before returning home for a nice shepherds pie.

We intend to drive all the way up route one to Cape Reinga sometime soon and that will mean that during this year we will have been to the top of New Zealand at Cape Reinga and the bottom at Stewart Island.

Monday 10th November 2008- What’s up doc?

Some while ago Noel was diagnosed with Arthritis in the left knee and the Doc said, well it's your age but come back to me when it begins to hurt all the time-Great.. Anyway with all the walking up the hills of Auckland the knee has started playing up in fact it’s the muscles behind the knee that were hurting.
Brian had recommended his physiotherapist following his knee surgery and so I made an appointment to see her this morning. The practise is in a smallish house up on the hills at Cooper's Beach overlooking the sea and a great place to view the scenery from the massage table. When I arrived she asked me to fill in the details of my accident?? What accident I said, she said you must have had an accident to qualify for the low cost and so I indicated that I twisted my knee whilst going down Brian’s house drive. Great that saved me NZ 70.00.
A quick poke around in my knee and some exercise advice followed and I was up and off and to return next week for more of the same.
I went gingerly home and felt not bad and so we went for a walk along the beach and stopped at the Taipa Bay Resort, nice place this( www.taipabay.co.nz), for a cup of tea and cake. The weather was a bit grey but it did not rain and so we headed home looking at the small amount of shops in Taipa. We have also been recommended to go to the only cinema in the area which is out of Taipa by a few miles called the ‘Swamp Palace’ apparently its well known and with only 68 seats and a complete film introduction by the cinema owner, it could be an experience but unfortunately its not open again until 17 th December. It must be quite an important place as it is marked on the NZ map.
This evening Noel cooked up a couple of steaks which we had purchased from the local butcher and settled down with a glass of wine and watched the amazing sunset, see photos.
The premiership football was on tonight and so I watched the Man U game and also Chelsea beat Blackburn 2.0 It was pouring with rain and I understand that they almost stopped the game as the ref could not see the linesman on the far side of the pitch..
Tomorrow it should be warmer and 22 degrees centigrade is promised for our neck of the woods and so we are going in to Kaitaia for some shopping and then we will do some touring around.

A Noel Moan

On Saturday I set up a payment with Lloyds Bank for the final payment to the house builder. When checking on Sunday that all was Ok I received a message that I should receive a phone call within 72 hours to confirm that the details were correct. So when contacting my answer-phone on Monday I had received the call which I returned. After having given them my name, Account and Sort Code, mothers name, my security code, address, what credit cards I have with Lloyds Bank and the last transaction, the colour of my hair, the make of car and colour and registration plate and also my wife's name etc etc, they said it would be fine, all I had to do was to login after ten minutes and approve the payment which I did, only to find I was being advised that I had no access to my account and to call this number. Which I did only to find they were closed until 0800. So at o8.30 UK time I called them and gave them name, Account and Sort Code, mothers name, my security code, address, what credit cards I have with Lloyds and the last transaction, the colour of my hair, the make of car and colour and registration plate and also my wife's name etc etc they agreed to let me into my account. These phone calls cost lots of money and although I told them I was calling from New Zealand the Lloyds lady said she had been there and how nice it is in Kent!!!

9th November Keri Keri Farmers Market day

Kerikeri is about 35 miles south of Taipa where we are staying and each Sunday they have a farmers market. So we thought we would combine some shopping at New World Supermarket with a visit to the Farmers market.

The journey to Kerikeri takes about one hour and it's a very pleasant drive through the hills, and some small mountains, but all very green en route. It is a bit grey today and mostly cloud cover and little sun which is a shame and therefore not good for scenic photographs. We arrived at our destination and found the market which is actually quite small. We spent a pleasant 45 minutes exploring the stalls which were selling great looking vegetables and private wine labels. We bought some vegetables which looked nice and fresh and then had a local sausage wrap and then shared a blueberry hotcake with a touch of cream and it was excellent.

Then off to the supermarket where we found that the cost of food was cheaper than the farmers market? and proceeded to buy the rest of our requirements. We also replenished our wine stocks which had been depleted by the Friday night party.

The journey back was via the ‘Million Dollar Road’ route which runs alongside the coast with some amazing views and great beaches but due to the strong winds kicking up considerable spray there was a heavy mist no doubt combined with sand which made photos pointless. We will go back when the weather improves. Its not very cold and about 19 degrees centigrade but we hope to have better luck when we go next time.

We arrived home mid afternoon and Noel watched Southampton play Bristol City in the pouring rain, it was a good game. We had purchased a local paper where details of the Government Elections were covered in great detail and the current Prime Minister has lost her seat after I think 11 years or so.

In true British style we had a Sunday roast of New Zealand Lamb with a glass of plonk which we drank partly outside on the balcony overlooking the sea. Very pleasant until the wind got up and it started to rain. Oh well, it is still early in the year here at the moment and so the current weather is to be expected.