So here we are trying to escape from Auckland to finally start to make our way to the North for Winter. Mind you it seems as if we are heading toward Spring without having Winter at this time. The weather may have been wet and overcast but the temperatures have been very mild. Or perhaps we are still on South Island temperature profiles.
Spotted the other day were these birds feasting on the last of the apples on the tall trees not far from our parking spot in Drury. The first one spotted was a blackbird but he/she managed to get away before the photographer was ready.
And this Sparrow decided to duck inside for a bite just as the shutter opened.
On the other hand we have newly born lambs at Ambury Park. These fellows are part of a large number of black lambs born over the past month.
Whilst these white ones are from a flock which is just starting to bear their young. They are sheltering from a keen wind in a sheltered rock nest.
At the weekend we attended Chris and Jacky's son Asa's 21st birthday. Having spent the past week preparing for the party Jacky is relaxing with a cup of tea while waiting for the first guests to appear.
Later in the evening the compulsory speeches are made. Here we have Chris, Isaac and Asa in front of the crowd.
And this one is of the birthday boy responding to the well wishers.
We are finally on the move out of Auckland to the North. Or are we? But wait, there's another hiccup! Water found on the floor Monday morning on our way to leaving Ambury, so a quick diversion back to the repairers where they replace a broken connection on the newly installed water filter.
This time, we are off.
Yes we are on the right road and almost in the right lane.
Through the tunnel under Victoria Park.
And over the top of the Harbour Bridge.
We spend the first night out of Auckland at Wenderholm just north of Waiwera. This is another of the Auckland Regional Parks and definitely one of the best. Situated at the mouth of the Puhoi River on flat land with very large Pohutukawa, it provides one of the best picnic or camping spots around.
On the inland side it lies at the mouth of the river where there are large areas of mangrove and mud flats.
The whole of the Park was once the grounds of Couldrey House the home of the original owners.
The trees provide ample resting places for birds including this pigeon pair in a Puriri waiting for the berries to develop and ripen.
In the meantime this pair decided to follow me very closely as we set up to stay for the night and even sat around for quite some time before deciding that we were miserable for not offering suitable sustenance.
Today we have undertaken a long drive, at least two hours, to Uretiti just north of Waipu. We will be here for a few days getting used to being under way again and waiting for friends returning from Auckland before continuing North in convoy.
Whangarei Heads in the distance.
And now for a little light entertainment.
What is a Doofer? What is it used for?
I had never seen one before and had no idea what it was, so finally asked.
No I'm not going to tell you now, you will have to figure it out.
Perhaps the answer in the next post.
The weekend was spent catching up with friends and doing a little shopping rather than getting on with the mundane task of cleaning. Plenty of time for that another day me thinks. Saturday we arranged to meet up with Bill & Estelle at Botany Downs, a large shopping complex. We had a few items on our list that we needed to seek out and find, which did not take long at all. So plenty of time for a coffee and a bite to eat whilst catching up. Then it was time to head out to see Bill & Linda. We decided that it would be a good opportunity to gather up some of the old crowd for dinner the following evening at the Papakura Club so a few phone calls were made. Then it was back to the van in the late afternoon to get on with some of the chores we had been putting off.
Sunday and we headed out to Paparimu to catch up with Ron & Jan and also to invite them to dinner along with everyone else. Whilst we we there, another old friend Pat came visiting with her daughter and son-in-law, turns out that Pat now lives just a few hundred meters from where we are currently parked in rural Drury! Small world. That evening, we all regrouped at the Papakura Club for an enjoyable evening of laughs and catching up. Plus the Club also has parking for motorhomes, information which we shall tuck away for future reference.
Monday morning dawned, and we had drawn up a list of things that we needed to get done, which also included a bit of shopping, particularly for those items we forgot the other day. As well, a number of appointments were for later in the week. We headed into Pukekohe to get the shopping completed before heading back to the van to complete the cleaning and the tidy up of the lockers. We are slowly decreasing the excess stuff we seem to accumulate, either that or we are managing to reshuffle it all effectively to take up less room! Ron called in for a quick visit before heading off back home.
And the reason for the title of this entry? This morning (Tuesday) we had Roy's appointment with the Urologist for the results of the scans Roy had last week as a follow up to the scare he had at the beginning of the year. We were quietly braced for the results however we got the good news that there is no change, no need for anything to be done just now, just another check scheduled for 6 months time. Phew! About time we had some good news.
You know how it goes, you think things are bad and they cannot get any worse, but they do! We took the van into Auckland Coach Builders on Monday to have the drawer replaced under the stove. Chris, the manager, took us for a tour through their building to see what they do…which is everything to do with buses, motorhomes etc from building, repairs to a full paint shop. It was very impressive. We left there and headed off over the bridge to Steve and Leslie's, battling the traffic along the way…of course it was our luck that part of the motorway was closed due to an incident the night before so instead of a 35 minute trip it was a 2 hr stop/start journey. It was not too long after that we got a call from Chris, they had done the watertight test and it seemed all was ok, but give it some time as water tends to sometimes slowly make its way through, however, that was not the reason for his call, it was to tell us that the bench top had also 'blown' from water damage and was 10mm out around the stove! So that needs replacing too. Ok, insurance should cover that as it is part of the same leak, he will sort that out.
Back at the van, they were well into the repairs with the aircon unit off the roof as well as an old UHF aerial, and they were checking around all the vents and solar units ready to reseal all the joints when they noticed a problem with the roof. The roof is covered with a rubber EPDM material which was potentially lifting from the edge in places and as well as that it was……..Well, to cut a long story short we now have to have the whole roof resealed which means removing the guttering and awning, lifting the rubber material around the edges, removing…etc etc etc which all equates to lots of $$$$! It has to be done and it is just as well they saw what was going on now, as it is preventative maintenance before anything really major occurs. But something we could do without.
Another trip back across the bridge this time in peak traffic. Sheesh, are we over this traffic business! Wednesday and the day started with another phone call from Chris, I'm beginning to think we will not answer the phone soon!, it's ok he says, there's nothing wrong, we just want to know how to open the awning……..phew, is that all.
Thursday and its back across the bridge this time to Remuera for an MRI scan for Roy's kidney problem discovered earlier this year. We have to go a hour before his appointment so he can swallow some dye. Results will be when we can get in o see the specialist in a couple of weeks time. That done its back to the van to check in on progress as Chris suggested that we should call in, seeing as though we were in the region. No more major problems, but we did tell Chris not to panic about finishing everything by Friday as we would prefer that they took their time, got everything done and made sure all was well.
Meanwhile, we are enjoying Steve & Les' company, good food, no drinking though as its "dry July" however all the above could have driven us to drink. We are happy to have a few extra days here and spend some more time together.
Oh and I forgot to mention that on Monday evening, I tripped up and had a bit of a fall (actually a spectacular face plant!) resulting in a very painful knee, hip and wrist, so painful that I thought that I had broken my hip!!! However, just bruising of body and ego and a few stretched and strained muscles. We both now limp! What a pair.