Week 10.5+

Monday, February 22, 2010

We just had a quiet day at home. We leave Feilding on Saturday; so it is time to sort through our stuff and get packed. Although I tried not to accumulate too much stuff, we left with three suitcases and will come home with four!

Tuesday, February 23, 2020

Robyn's birthday. We have talked to her and sent her messages. She is working hard at school.

It is a glorious, sunny day. Got all the laundry done and went to Himitangi Beach with Cathy and Max for a late afternoon walk and picnic supper. When we lived here, they had a bach (beach house pronounced "batch") at Himitangi. We celebrated Kate and Laura's second birthday there among other good times. You can drive all the way (about 10km) from HimitangiBeach to Foxton Beach on the beach itself. We didn't do that this time. Today we just walked in the shallows, collected some shells, watched two guys drag a net for flounder to no avail, and basked in the late day sunshine as we ate our picnic supper.

Wedneday, February 24, 2010

My brother's birthday. We'll drink a birthday toast with him in California in a few weeks. It is another beautiful day. We visited the Feilding Artists Association Gallery and the Coach House museum this afternoon. The latter is really a history of transport and agricultural machinery in this area from the earliest European settlement in the early 1800s to the Model-T Ford. We didn't even know it existed. There is a great deal to read about the early settlers and lots of horse drawn vehicles to admire. As late as 1960 a local greengrocer was still driving a horse drawn fruit and veggie cart. I was the cook tonight: chicken marsala, garlic mash, broccoli & carrots, and a bottle of Viognier. They have the most delicious carrots in NZ to say nothing of the wine! After dinner we continued with the sorting of our stuff. There is a huge pile for the rubbish tin.

Thursday February 25, 2010

Buzz had planned to go on a hike with Max this morning, but it was raining. Max still went, but Buzz declined. We took a ride up the Pohongina Valley - the area tat Buzz covered when he did large animal practice here. It is a beautiful area, and the road climbs steeply in places allowing for wonderful vistas of the valley. On the hills, we saw poplars beginning to change color and shed their leaves...the first signs of autumn approaching.

Tonight we went out to dinner with our dear friends Howard and Jackie Williamson and Roger and Doris Berry. We ate at Sage - a small restaurant in Feilding - the food was delicious and the company sterling. We closed the place at 10:30pm with promises to keep in touch and visit again.

Friday, February 26, 2010

We're packed...except for throwing in the last few things. Four suitcases to take home vs. the three we had when we arrived, but there is room to spare in each of them. Of course we have another week here and ten days in California! This morning we went into town for a few things. It was "all go" from the farmer's market to the sheep and cattle market at the Sale Yards and car racing at Manfield Track which can be heard all over town. We even stopped in Fairview Avenue to take a photo of #21, our home for 2.5 years. At the grocery store, we ran into Doris and Roger. That is one of the best things about visiting where you know people in town. In the evening we had dinner with Ron &bJoy Boyes. He cooked fish...delicious.

Saturday, 27 February 2010

We packed up the car, had breakfast with Cathy and Max, and left our home away from home on the last leg of our New Zealand journey. We called in to see Lyn and David Broad before leaving Feilding, and then we were on our way northeast. We drove over the Saddle Road to Woodville and stopped along the way to take some photos. It was a clear day, and Mt. Ruapehu was visible in the distance. We also stopped at the wind farm to admire the turbines. They are very appealing to us, and the soft whooshing sound they make as the blades go around is very pleasant. We cannot understand people who are opposed to having wind farms nearby. We stopped for our picnic lunch at the White Pine Bush reserve near Tangoio and walked the short loop track through the reserve. The track is paved or boardwalk and is accessible enough for someone in a wheelchair. There were many more stops before we arrived in Wairoa at 6:00 pm. We had perhaps the worst Chinese takeout meal of our lives and settled into the Vista Motel for the night.

Sunday, 28 February 2010

We took the inland road to Gisborne through Frasertown, Te Reinga (where we stopped to take a short walk to view the falls), Tiniroto, and Waerengaokuri. It is an easy drive. At the highest points, the poplars have all either turned yellow or lost their leaves altogether.

There has been a tsunami warning for the entire country today. We had planned to stay in a motel on the beach, but when we arrived in Gisborne, the roads to the beach were closed, guarded by police. At the i-site we booked into the Pacific Harbor Motel across from the marina. We checked in and drove to Kaiti Hill to do what everyone else was doing…watch for the big tsunami surge. What we saw were all the boats making haste for the shore. Later, when the warning had been downgraded to an advisory, we took a walk along the seafront. The lifeguards said the tidal changes had been quite substantial, but the danger had passed. I took a photo of Buzz standing with Captain Cook who landed at Gisborne on his ship Endeavour. Gisborne is the first city in the world to see the sun each day. We won't see the sunrise, but it is nice to know.

Monday, 1 March 2010

We had a look around the CBD of Gisborne and then left to drive along the Pacific Coast Highway to Hicks Bay. If one stopped at each beautiful beach and vista along the way it would take days to drive the 180 km! We stopped at Tologa Bay to take a walk along the historic wharf – also a Cook landing site and at Tikitiki to visit St. Mary’s church, a small simple clapboard building from the outside that is redolent with Maori carving and artistry within. We arrived at the Hicks Bay Motel around 3:30 pm. We have stayed here twice before in 1971 and in 1994. It hasn’t changed much.


Tuesday, 2 March 2010

We got up at 4:30 this morning, drove the 30km to the East Cape, and climbed the 700 steps (in the dark with our torch [flashlight]) to see the sunrise from the East Cape Lighthouse. This is the most easterly lighthouse on earth. We got to the top at 6am as the first pink streaks were peeping through the clouds. We were joined by a Swedish couple, and the four of us reveled in the changing light until the sun was fully up at 6:50am. For me, this was one of the highlights of our trip. I was, frankly, unsure I would be able to climb to the top. At about two thirds of the way up, I was feeling a bit queasy, but Buzz kept encouraging me and the view from the top was worth every step. There is the feeling of accomplishment and the knowing that you are among the first people on earth to see the sunrise…very satisfactory.

Back at Hicks Bay, we had breakfast, packed up the car and headed to Whakatane along the Pacific Coast Highway. We stopped at Pacific Coast Macadamias at Whanarua Bay for coffee and the view. Buzz bought some nuts. You can also buy the entire property, a going concern with 400 mature macadamia trees for NZ$1.6million. We continued on to Whakatane with a stop in Opotiki, admiring the sea and scenery as we drove. There wasn’t a room to be had in Whakatane due to some sort of Engineers conference; so we booked in to the Awakeri Springs Holiday Park. The park has thermal pools, and we had a good long soak.

The park shop sells Maketu Pies, which are reputed to be the best in the country. Meat pies are the ubiquitous NZ fast food: pastry filled with meat, smoked fish, chili, etc. We got some and a bag of chips. I made a salad and voila! Dinner. I had planned to read for the evening but was asleep by 8pm.

Wednesday, 3 March 2010

We had an uneventful drive from Awakeri to Tauranga and arrived around 11 am. Audrey welcomed us home, and we settled in for the day.

Thursday, 4 March 2010

This morning I accepted the offer of Audrey’s neighbor and used his Internet connection to check my email after three days. It is amazing what collects in my inbox! I also spoke to Robyn and things are fine at home. We had a look around the Tauranga area antiques and second hand shops, and in the late afternoon I baked a cheesecake for the dinner party we are having tomorrow evening.