Oh dear! The weather could be better, to put it mildly!
Yesterday we drove to Ohiwa, on the Bay of Plenty, to visit Sandra Ball who Michael met on the riding trip in Mongolia last August. She made us very welcome at her ‘bach’ which looks out over the harbour. For those who don’t know a ‘bach’ is like a country cottage often quite rustic. We took it easy stopping for coffee at Opotiki then stopping at a picnic spot on the beach for lunch and to catch up with emails, banking etc. We had not had any comms for two days.
Once parked up at Sandra’s, which was quite a feat in itself, M and I went for a walk as Sandra was still out with her son, buying stuff for school. We had been in contact with her, so we knew it was the right house, this is trickier than you might think, with the post boxes being down on the roadside and no I.D on the gate. We had a lovely hours walk along the harbour side in between the showers.
The day could not be described as fine!
After a cuppa and a chat we all decamped to a friends house to have dinner, Sandra cooking up a storm in Courtney and Jared’s kitchen. It was very interesting to hear about Sandra’s work as a District Nurse and Lead of a Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme, the local crime scene, the poverty situation amongst some communities, and Courtney’s work training teachers in a numeracy and literacy project.
Weather: Damp to wet, occasional fine spell
Total km 106
After another wettish night we set off about 10.0am. It was wet! The visibility was poor so we decided not to go via the Rotorua area but to stick to the Pacific Coast Highway, which we have been following since Napier. We drove through Whakatane and up to Tauranga. I had set the Google Maps for a supermarket on our route, however for the first time, it took us on a wild goose chase into a residential area to a dead end and a private road! I turned around, carefully, headed out and reset the map!!! We got to the supermarket in a few minutes, back the way we had come and did our small shop. The fridge has not been functioning correctly and I had to throw the meat which was in the freezer. Not sure what the problem is and I have reset it this afternoon, according to the User Manual.
We drove to Athenree Hot Springs, we came here 8 years ago and remembered the great welcome and the hot pools. In 2010 we arrived after a very long drive in hot weather! Not so today! It was a stressful drive much of the time in pouring rain on a very busy road. However the welcome was still the same and the proprietor took a lot of care to find us a spot where we wouldn’t get bogged down and where we would not step out into a puddle. We took advantage of the hot pools, one is 35 ish degrees the other 39-40 degrees. Bliss! The water comes from a borehole and the pools are emptied, cleaned and refilled every night. We arrived about 2.30pm and as I write this at 9.15pm there have been just a few short spells of dry weather. A big depression in the Pacific and a cyclone which has hit Samoa and Tonga are responsible for the all the rain!
Good night from rather a wet NZ, no respite expected until Tuesday.
Weather.....think you know!
Total km 203
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