Bob's 26th birthday dawned spectacularly and with my sunburn glowing we set off to run around the treaty grounds at Waitangi, up onto the golf course where the view of the bay allowed Bob to choose which cruise liner she would soon be joining as she was now over half way to her Saga membership.
Eager to boost my man points I assembled the rather confusing wheel changing apparatus and spent a lovely 20 minutes swearing at the spare wheel until it eventually came free. It had marginally more tread than the slick tyre on the left front so it was effortlessly changed though my efforts required a second shower.
Ship shape and bristol fashion we farted our way South, the noise from the exhaust getting louder and louder and new noises joined the chorus from the engine bay which I am steadfastly trying to ignore. We stopped for morning coffee and a shared slice of birthday carrot cake which allowed me to book bob's birthday treat. This was genuinely intended to be a night in a spa hotel but sadly the only room left in the entire town was a disabled ground floor apartment with roll in shower... Not the volcanic fed spa I had hoped for or promised. Never the less Bob was thrilled to bits with my generous gift as it meant a night off from the camper!
As a second special treat for Bob's birthday I drove the entire 486km back down through Auckland myself and after nearly 5 hours we had to refuel in Matamata. This not only left a hole in Bob's wallet but also an intense petrol smell wafting through the cab which refused to lift inspite of my best efforts.
Our new surroundings could not have been more different. Central North island appears to closely resemble Norfolk, but without the excitement of Norwich. I tell a lie, there was one cool 'town' where all of the shop signs were made artistically out of corrugated sheet metal. Other than that there were big trucks, flat fields and thin cows.
Anyway, after arriving in Rotorua the petrol infused cab was complimented by eau de rotten egg, courtesy of the local springs. After checking into our disabled motel room, doing some washing and catching up with the outside world on t'internet I played my trump birthday card, a meal out at a very exclusive bistro. Thank goodness it came up trumps and the meal was AMAZING! We spent a very happy evening making plans for the next week and our journey South to catch up with Mr. Cooper. After a Skype update with Bob's mum it was such a novelty to get into bed and not stare at the suspicious stains on the roof of the enema just inches away that I couldn't sleep, so it is now 2am and tomorrow morning I shall be grumpy, but finally the blog is up to date!