30th May,

Today is the last day for our friends Pete and Mel from England, so it was a pack up day for them and time to do some housework oursleves.  Dropped off their van at the Apollo depot then decided to go and see a couple of shopping centres to fill in the time.

Went to the Lonestar resturant for tea in Manakau. Pete wanted to have a good steak before he left for home. After seeing the  menu he decided that the chicken meal looked too good so the steak was passed. Mel and John had a rather large steak each and I had stuffed roast pork with a lovely apple sauce, yummy. If you have never been to a Lonestar resturant do go, the food is great and the price is good. Your plate sure is full up with meat and veggies. Quite a struggle to eat it all.

John and Marg      Mel and Pete

                                                                            

31st May,

Last night we parked up at a free site Western Springs ( NZMCA ) It is right next door to the Auckalnd Zoo. John and I decided it was time to re visit the zoo as it had been quite a few years when we last went there. We spent over 3 hours walking around and It was great seeing the different animals that they have there and talk to the staff .

                                                                                

                                                                            

                                                                             

From there we went to Maungaturoto and visited Steve and Heidi and stayed the night them.

From here we made our way to Whangarei via Johns country tour of Paparoa and Taipuha.

Stayed at Iwrin and Jills on Wednesday night enjoying a few gin & Tonics. Around morning tea time we made our way to Grant & Jan Harrisons. Sad to say Jan was not home. It was great being able to see Grant and sample some of his home cooking, freshly caught snapper for lunch. Thanks Grant.

We look forward to seeing you all again in September when we are back in Whangarei.
From here we went and visited our friend Robin Pennel . He has just moved to the north shore. The gps was great helping us find him otherwise it would of taken us a lot longer.

3rd June,
Made our way quietly down to Taupo were we were lucky enough to see our freinds Pete and Barbara before they took off for a weekend away in their van. Looking forward to seeing them in Hastings soon.
Then it was onto Link and Dale`s place for  fish & chips and a park over for the night.
This is where the adventure started ??
John was reversing the van to park it out of the way on there drive way when  thump the van got stuck. Heres me thinking we had hit a child bike for some wood. The bus would not move forward or back. We got out of the van and found that the drivers rear tyre had gone into a toemo hole. Apparently these are quite common in Taupo area because of the pumice. The correct name for them (toemos ngti tanawha wanted u 4 dinner), this is what Barabara said. There was a meter wide hole at the rear of our van. This is caused when pumice breaks down after a heavy rain. It can cause a rather large hole to appear under ground. Our rear tyre went into the hole and covered 3/4 of it.   John and Link dug around the rear tyre and then a neighbour came with his 4 wheel drive and pulled the bus out.
This hole went down 5 meters deep and the same or more in length along the side of the house. Christine, Dales mum was very eager to go down into the hole so Link and Sean both held onto her legs and lowered her into it. With her arms out stretched in the hole she did not touch the end.
This made Link do a bit of thinking especially with it being so close to the house.
The only damage done was to the pipe underneath the bus that holds our dump hose. A bracket broke. John is going to put the van up on blocks and check it all when we get to Hastings. A silent prayer was said in thanking that no more damage was done and we were all ok. It could of been a lot worse.

tyre resting on top of the hole



Rear of bus sitting on the ground





Bus resting on waste hose container

Entrance to toemo hole once van was removed from the top of it

Christine being lowered into the hole

Christine in hole being held by Link and Sean still not at the bottom with her arms extended

                                                                                 
4th June,
Hastings here we come. Had a lovely drive through from Taupo to and it rained off and on. Stopped to see a waterfall and as the view was pleasant it was time for lunch.
It sure is great being able to have a boil up anytime you want a cuppa.

6th June,

John took off to Wellington to collect the car from Ross and our trailer from Waikanae.
While John was away I started to quietly learn what I had to do in looking after the Hastings Top 10 .