NOT THE MAIN HIGHWAY

Cossy Club

Picture to right is from Stormy Point lookout where you can see a very small vehicle several kilometres down the hill.

Our trip south took us down SH32 on the western side of Lake Taupo eventually ending up in Raetihi where we stayed at the local Cosmopolitan club for the night. It was then onto Tangiwai to look at the results of the recent lahar and from there to the Army Museum where we browsed for a couple of hours before heading for Palmerston North where we parked in the RSA carpark for the night.

FAREWELL FRIENDS & FAMILY

We did a trip up around the North saying bye,bye for now to friends and family. Several meals were shared accompanied by numerous glasses of wine. We did have an unscheduled extra night in Kaitaia when our first attempt at heading South to Whangarei was thwarted by floods. We took this opportunity to take mother for a quick trip out to Ahipara and then had a meal and stayed the night at the local RSA ready for an early start the following day.

It was two nights in Whangarei catching up and bidding farewell and then onto Auckland to finalise the last of those things that needed finalising which included "my love" getting her Class 2 drivers licence before heading to Hamilton to spend a couple of nights with the last of the North Island family before starting off on some serious touring as we head for the ferry in Wellington.

A LITTLE TOUR IN "TOWA"

"Truck Inn Too" had a day in at Traillite getting a few minor things tweaked and changed before we head North and then move down to the South Island.

We took advantage of this by setting off in "Towa" (the car) and visiting Awhitu Regional Park and then driving on out to the recently restored South Head Signal Station. On the way back to Pukekohe we called into Orua Bay, and also Wattle Bay with the last stop being Grahams Beach. Orua easily took the prize of being the best beach.

We then stayed the night onsite in the truck at Traillite as there was still a little more work to do the following day.

UNINVITED BUT WELCOME VISITORS

One still warm sunny recent summers morning there was a faint roaring sound from above and looking skyward there was one very large hot air balloon manouvering above and then completing a successful landing in one of the paddocks on the 10 acre block we are presently residing on.

After a chat to interested onlookers the half dozen or so occupants packed the balloon and basket into the support vehicle that arrived on the property soon after the landing and then were off to a nearby cafe for a champagne breakfast.

Coincidentally this was the same balloon that we had flown in at Easter last year.

TEN ACRES & THREE CATS

We are in the last phase of first part of our "big adventure" as we are now in our last housesit job before we start on our travels around the country in "Truck Inn Too" which if all goes according to plan will have us moving on about mid February.

Our only responsibility here as far as livestock goes is to keep Sox, Bear and Jasper, the three resident cats happy as any of the animals on the lifestyle block are looked after by the people who own the property and live in the prime dwelling whereas we live in the second dwelling and just have to maintain the gardens surrounding it.

MURIWAI VALLEY (without the internet)

Well it has been a little while since the last post but sometimes with rural living even with the best technology the internet just can't be found so as a consequence no blog postings. My Love had to pick up and send emails from school each day.

We spent three weeks here while the owners were having a family holiday on the Gold Coast.

Our responsibilities on the 10 acres ranged from looking after free range chooks, hence eggs that tasted like eggs, to keeping an eye on the last of of a flock of pregnant ewes (see new arrival above). Fortunately birthing assistance was not required by me!!

Last weekend we moved to our last housesit, again on 10 acres which lasts for 3 months before heading up to the Far North to catch up on family and friends after which we will head to the South Island to work when neccesary and play until we get sick of it.

In the meantime Julie, the best tenant in the world, has decided to move on from our bach at Snells Beach so we have taken the opportunity to spend the odd weekend up there doing a bit of repairs and mantainence before new tenants move in.

You can look foward to hearing about our last Auckland domicile before the great South Island adventure begins on my next post.

ESPECIALLY SPECIFIED SPECIFICATIONS

Among all the other bells and whistles that came with our new motorhome there were only two things that I had on my must have also list these being a Coleman Road Trip BBQ and a separate, full size shower.