After yesterdays excursions (which ended up very well) today began slowly… Most of us were coming out of hibernation at around 09:15 and gradually rousing ourselves to begin the day.. All except Lis, no she wasn't staying in bed, in fact she had already been out for a 5 mile stroll (power walk) around the town. She had been down into the valley (behind "our garden"), climbed to the top of the "hill" (visible in the distance) to the lookout point and wandered back again !! Make your own conclusions as to "mad" or not !! At the beginning of her trek she came across a shoe washing machine designed to stop people taking cantaminated dirt into the park area. She even tried a "selfie" at the top by the lookout point but maintains her lack of prowess with the iphone camera was due to the "high winds" !?!? She did, however, manage to get some pretty good photos of her walk ...

As the weather forecast has proved correct, it is precipitating profusely, and as the boat trip is cancelled we are sitting around deciding what we can do today !! In between breaks in the weather Lis & Trev went for a walk down into the valley at the end of "our garden" ! And got a few good photos ! It is impossible to show the steepness of the hill but it has a lovely stream and path at the bottom to walk along !! It must be good, as the ducks seem to like it ! For the rest of us it was down to the chores that desperately needed doing…. Pat gathered up all of the washing and went off to the laundry, Dee started to cook a spag bol (as it looked too bad to go out anywhere today) then they both popped off to the local shop for a couple of bits !! John cleared the table and got stuck into the washing up !! When everyone returned it was found that we had used up our quota of internet (can't live without it these days !) so Trev was dispatched to the reception office to "top up" ! That done we are all now sitting here looking out of the window at the wind in the trees and the rain from the sky !! (all except for John, who has now fallen asleep !! ) Oh well we have been lucky with the weather so far !!

As the afternoon went on it was obvious that it would not stop raining long enough to take a long trip anywhere. Because of this the "girls" decided to stay in and the "boys" went off to see the Whangarei Falls. It was only about a 10Km drive so didn't take long to get there. When we arrived at the car park we decide to try to sort out the rear seat in the car. Dee had complained last night that the seat was forcing her forward into a strange position and removed the headrest to stop her head being forced forward. After a few minutes of pulling and pushing and banging (men at work!) the back seat still resisted all efforts to move to a better seating position. Paul jumped in through the side door and watched on. Trev & John could still not find any way to sort the problem but Paul saw a small plastic ring on either side of the seat and pulled on one of them. Success the rear of the seat shot backwards propelling both John & Trev into the car park, both shouting "What happened there ??" When they found out what Paul had pulled Trev was heard to say, "I tried that but obviously didn't pull it hard enough !" You can imagine the replies that went with that comment !!! Our only problem now was that the back stuck out of the rear door and it would not shut ! A few tweaks later and all was well.. We had gained our "Brownie Points" for today !

Although still raining slightly we toddled off to have a look at the water. Even though the falls were not massive it was quite spectacular in it's own right. We managed to take a few photos from the top and wondered if we could get down near the bottom and also over to the other side?? As we looked over the barrier we saw a couple of people swimming in the pool at the bottom. So we wandered off to find a route down. We came upon a wooded path that seemed to wind down through the forest. We saw a man with his dog and a boy walking towards us and asked if we could get down. "You can, mate !" he said, so onward we went. It was quite a steep drop and it was made worse by the fact that it was still raining, but onwards we trudged. Eventually we got to the bottom and the sight that greeted us was well worth the hike !! The falls were not particularly wide, high or fast but were a spectacle not to be missed on our adventure. Many, many photos were taken (in between the showers of rain) at the bottom of the falls, from all angles that we could find without slipping in ! Then we decided to make our way back up the other side of the ravine back to the top, but on the opposite side of the falls. This was much harder as there were many more steps, it was much steeper and much wetter !! Even poor old John with his dodgy knees made it wearily back to the top. Once there we all stopped to get our breath back and recover some composure then walked across a small bridge just behind the falls that was only about 3 feet wide, had no rails and was made of a slippery metal grid…. There was also a sign that said 'people should not walk across the bridge if the level of water was above the walkway' ??? A BIT OBVIOUS WE THOUGHT !!! A last look at the falls then back to the car and the short drive "home" !! Still raining, Paul reversed the car back up the drive, John voiced that he knew what was happening as the "front door" was now on the drivers side and Trev ran off so as not to get wet. That left Paul and John to pickup the coats and camera bags and get in as quickly as possible without getting soaked !! Everyone had a good laugh at that !!

This evening it is intended to stay in as there is an early start in the morning, load the new car, check out of the "house" and start the drive back towards Auckland where we are due to stay with friends of Dee & Trev (Ranee & Billy). We will probably stop on the way and may visit a honey factory and possibly a cheese factory !!

At least this time we won't be jammed in like sardines with the bags taking up most of the room and humans squeezing in where possible !!!! We actually have room for the luggage and for us all to have leg room and the ability to at least move from one bum check to the other when numbness sets in !! Unlike the highly uncomfortable journey up!! Also as this car is designed to take more weight the rear suspension will be able to keep the bodywork off the axle stops meaning that every time go over a bump there will not be shrieks of severe pain as coccyx bones meet the ribs !!! Paul obviously could not see what the problem was as he had a nice drivers seat !! Tee Hee !!! But thankfully we now have a comfortable vehicle to continue our travels around North Island, across the Straits to the South Island by ferry and then travel around South Island ending up at Christchurch to fly back to Sydney, change planes and pop over to Hobart, Tasmania…..

The adventure of a lifetime rolls on !!!