Laser nats

We arrived in Nelson Wednesday afternoon and after a cup of tea called in to the yacht club to see if we could find anyone we knew. We had not walked half way along the car park when Doug McKee stopped us and asked if we would like to park there and watch the boats at night. So there we stuck for six nights. Met heaps of people. On Sunday Mike went out on a 17 metre fishing boat and watched the racing. On Monday Lorna went out on that boat while Mike helped the regatta orgnisers by working the flags on the start boat. Lewis I have found out how to make the font easier to read. After the racing had finished we spent the night at Derek and Sandra Green's in Mapua. The Nelson Yacht Club have asked Mike to do some coaching this week after school, so we will be in Nelson for the rest of the week - tough eh! We are spending two nights at the Tahunanui Motor camp. Then we don't know.

Nelson

Sorry all and Carolyn about spelling and grammar. Please the rest of you remember that you can add your comments to the blog.
When the washing was dry we moved on to Rye Valley where we found a lovely spot by the river. Actually a guy in the pub told me about it! We spent the night in the company of a couple of other motor homes on the bank of a river. In the morning we drove along the French Pass road to Okiwi Bay. See picture. We continue to be amazed at how easily the bus handles steep hills. After lunch on the shore at Okiwi Bay we drove back to Highway 6 and then through to Nelson. We spent some time in the center of the city at the information centre getting info about the region. Nelson has caught the pay and display disease so we had a little walk to get to the city centre. We then drove to Tahunanui Park for afternoon tea. Refreshed we headed back to find a place to stay. On the way we stopped at the yacht club - as you do - and met an ex Opti parent who is helping withthe running of the Laser nationals. He grabbed us and asked if we would stay in the car park and be security for the boats. So here we are. Today was very windy, but the wind died down in the late afternoon. Racing starts tomorrow afternoon. Sorry about double photo don't know how it happened of how to fix it.

On to Picton

With the wahing dry we left Mana and headed down to the Wellington waterfront to watch the start of the Volvo Ocean race fourth leg. It seems to be a lot of fuss for six boats however they do move fast. We then drove round to Petone to suss out where we were to have the tyres fitted on Monday morning. I managed to get driving up steep narrow roads through a residential suburb - as you do in Wellington! We eventually stopped, asked a man watering his garden for directions and were put on the right track. We then rested on the Petone foreshore for the afternoon, cooked and ate dinner. I went for a walk along a reserve and found another motor home parked in a parking area by the shore. This was our spot for the night too. Monday morning saw us up early and collecting our new tyres at 8AM. Firestone Commercial fitted these and after an hour wandering the streets of Petone we were on our way round to the ferry. Petone is an interesting place. Old and slightly run down, but not derelict. With us on the ferry were the Busses and house trucks of the Gypsy Fair who were crossing to the South Island for eleven weeks.
While we were sitting down Jon Olds joined us and by the time we had finished talking about yachting and children we were nearly in Picton. As we were waiting to get off I phoned Tiri Manahi, a topdressing pilot friend from way back. Tiri and his wife Fran allowed us to park on their drive for the night and we had a great catch up! We left in the morning and headed off round Queen Charlotte Drive and have now stopped for lunch at Ngakuta Bay.

Waikanae & Mana

An interesting night at Te Horo. We had dinner and watched a bit of tele and were just preparing for bed when there was a knock on the door of the bus. A local parks ranger informed us that we could not spend the night there. He had had a complaint from an "awkward Local"(his words) and we must move on. He pointed his torch 500 metres down the beach and said we would be all right down there. At least we were not asleep like the English couple in a van next to us!
Next morning we moved on and found a delightful spot at Waikanae Beach called Waimuangu lagoons reserve. Here we set up and did three loads of washing in the little machine and hung it all out on lines under the awning. The day was spent lazily watching the washing dry. A local kitesurfing enthusiast and motor homer came by and chatted for quite a while. He told a story of a goose on the lagoons who was left behind in a cleanout and befriended a swan with a broken wing. The two became inseparable. The swan mated with another swan and the goose took over the task of raising their cygnets. This has happened over several clutches of eggs and the goose is now a permanent part of the family. As we had used all of our on board water washing clothes we left to fill up with the intention of returning for the night However we turned right onto highway one and by the time we found a shop to buy milk we had come 10 ks down the road so we carried on to Natitoa Domain at Mana. We filled with water at the Mana Cruising Club hard stand and spent the night beside onther motor home in the car park of the sports ground. We have moved this morning to a grass area alonside the Paremata river wher we are continuuing to dry the clothes. Hand wrung washing takes a while to dry.

Another B Blowout

Last night was spent at a lovely spot at Acacia Bay, Lake Taupo. Mike had some measuring to do and the people offered us space to park with power. We left at about 8.30 this morning and had a shower in town before setting off south - aiming for Palmerston North to check up on Fieldair whom Mike used to work for. We had morning tea on the southern shores of the lake and lunch just south of Taihape. We were driving up a hill 10ks north of Hunterville when we heard the all too familiar bang- shudder- thump,- shake of a blowout on the right front. This is where we have just had some damage repaired from a previous blowout. Luckily this time the panel damage is very slight. This tyre was a second hand one we bought in October. On Monday we are having two NEW tyres fitted to the front. Hopefully this will be the last time we have this problem.
As we approached Palmerston North we were amazed to see the wind farms on the Ruahine ranges. These windmills, looking like so many helicopters on their sides, totally dominate the skyline each side of the Manawatu Gorge. We have stopped for the night at Te Horo Beach and will move on towards Wellington tomorrow.

On the road again

Monday 13th was the Architect's regatta in Auckland and Mike sailed with Ian Woodhouse again. a great day on the water. We finished 4th in our division. As the bopat is now kept at Pine Harbour it was midnight before we arrived home. Tuesday was spent cleaning the house, recovering and getting the bus ready for travel. Ron, Maureen, Frank and Rita got home at 2am Wednesday morning. Zen did not bark!
Wednesday we had a faulty gas detector replaced and moved on to Phil's section. We went t o dinner with Kathie and Keith at a food hall in Ponsonby.
Thursday morning has us actually on the road to Taupo. This is actually being written while we stop for lunch at Gordonton.

Trial photo

The bus at Oakura near New Pymouth in November 2005. This is just a trial to see how photos go on this blog. The kayak has since been retuned to its owner and Mike will be buying a new one later this year.

At Howick Feb 06

Here we are at Ron and Maureen's House and dog sitting. Zen is lying on the floor recovring from our walk in the hot sun. There is not a cloud in the sky and no wind. We had Struan, Phil, Erin and Carolyn over for dinner last night. This is a great house for entertaining with heaps of space. We are preparing to go South next week after having had OWRYOT serviced and tidied up last week.