1st Janurary 2016
New Year day brought us a beautiful sunny day in Waikanae and in Wellington .
We decided to go for a ride on the BMW and visit Tania on our way to see Ross in Wellington. Tania ended up going in to see Ross on the bike and Marg had a relaxing half a day chilling out with Riley .
2nd Janurary onwards John helped Gary out with putting more gib board in the laundry and toilet in getting the ceiling finished.
6th Janurary we decided to pack up the bus and go to Levin for the night and visit Val and Jan . From here we made our way to Havelock North , but called in to Ashhurst and visit our ex work mate and friends Morris and Liz . After a couple of hours it was time to get moving north. We pulled into Anzac reserve just north of Norsewood for the night. Not a sole was here parked up , so it looks to be a quiet night parked amongst the trees. Towards dark we ended up having two other vehicles parked up .
7th Janurary
On our way to Hastings we met Peter and Lexie in Otaki and collected from them an Oscar Schmidt Autoharp that we purchased off Trade Me. What a beautiful instrument it is and the sound is so different. It sounds like a cross between a guitar and a banjo and Marg is going to teach herself how to play it. Mmm watch this space .
Today brought another beautiful day . We made our way up to our friends in Havelock North Richard and Juilia . We had a great evening of catching up with all the news.
Saturday morning Richard took John to have a look where he works and show him a carbon fibre body of a car . It is light as a feather and strong as steel.
I stayed back with Julia and had some fun with our new Autoharp .
Saturday afternoon we went out to Te Awanga reserve in Hasting and decided to park up at the beach for the night . This area is very popular with NZMCA members . Here we met up with Wayne and Wendy ODonnell . It was great to finally met them in person, a enjoyable happy hour was had .
After our stay at the beach we made our way back to Havelock North to spend another night with
Julia and Richard. Another fabulous night we had.
Monday morning, we headed off for Palmerston North with a pit stop at Dannieverke to have alook around. We got into Palmerston North around 4.30 pm and made our way to our friends Morris and Liz Gilberd to stay the night in there drive way and have another good catch up. Another fabulous evening.
13th Janurary
Today we have an appointment the Wellington hospital to hopefully see when Marg's knee replacement will be happening. After spending a hour at the hospital and all the normal tests done, which were all good. We were told yes you are on the list and hopefully it will happening within the next month or two.
After visiting the hospital we head off to New Plymouth to our friends at Uriti Jack and June. Their farm had been sold. John and Jack started packing up the shearing shed and getting machinery ready to be moved to the other farm 40 minutes away. Marg's been helping June pack up the house and relax at the same time.
17th Janurary ,
To day it was time to have some time away from the farm .We went to Whangamomona Hotel for lunch
With Jack and June . A very relaxing day was had by all.
The view from the kitchen window on the farm at a lovely single Totara tree ( One tree Hill )
We have been at the farm now for two weeks. We leave for home tomorrow , time to go and catch up with Ross and Tania .
2nd Februrary 2016
Today brought another visit to the doctor for pain killers and to see if he could write a letter to the surgeon for me to try and get my operation date brought forward, so fingers crossed it will help.
Marg's feeling a little bit down today , she has been trying to contact her friend Debbie O'Hagan via text but sadly got told she had passed away last Thursday 28th Janurary and only found out last night. With us not buying the local paper we seem to not see the death notices of several people we have known , plus staying where there is not a signal range for the phone .
4 th February,
It is Waitangi weekend this weekend . Lexie and Peter are going up to Waiinu beach just north of Wanganui.
What a wonderful weekend we had Bryan & Brenda friends of Lexie and Peter also came up In their Motorhome. We went fishing in Friday evening at High tide. Yes we did catch a small ground shark and released it. Saturday brought another lovely day but a little more wind so it was a good day to walk along the beach to snapper point.
There were 3 guys trying to catch some fish for the fishing contest that was running this weekend, but no luck they said. Sunday brought a very windy day and the surf was a little rough to go fishing . So we decided to have a rest day and chill out with a few card games and of course a happy hour .
Monday was a beautiful day with very little wind. Once again to thought we would give it a go and try fishing again. There was surposed to be a 3 mitre tide . We set off at 9.30 am in hoping to catch the big one , yah right another sand shark caught and released . We decided to put it out one more time before heading back for lunch , this we should not of done. When we tried to wind it in , the sand grabber got caught in a small rock shelf , you guessed it . It refused to let go so John cut the line and tied the line to a large tree roots that were sticking out on the sand so he could go back and hopefully get it at low tide. Yes John and Lexie manage to retrieve it by walking out about 60 meters from high tide marker and got it. Thank you Bryan for lending us the sand grabber and we were pleased to be able to return it back to you. The sand grabbers are very handy to use when fishing off a sandy beach. Another lovely happy hour was had at the end of a beautiful relaxing day with friends.
Marg's a baby sand shark she caught at Waiinu beach
Bryan and Brenda Shepard relaxing by their surf casting rod waiting for the big fish
Beautiful Sunset at Waiinu Beach 6.02.2016
9th Februrary
Time to go back to Waikanae and hopefully hear this week from the hospital re my surgery.
Another week of helping Gary with plastering the walls and ceiling getting easy for painting. A job well done John and Gary.
10 th Februrary we heard from the hospital yah. My surgery date is now 2nd March all going well in Wellington Hospital. It was quite funny apon reading my letter from the hospital it said at the top of the letter I was going to have a full hip replacement on my left hip this was news to me. I rang them and informed them of the error they made, and said it was my right knee that was being replaced but if they wanted to check it out at the same time they were most welcome too as my left side was taking the pressure off my right side when I did a lot of walking. As if that would happen not.
On Tuesday 9th February my dear friend in England passed away Ada Moffat she was 101 years old. We had a lovely visit with her when we visited England in 2014. A wonderful lady now at peace.
Tonight we parked up at Raumati Beach for the evening. Friends of ours Chris , Megan and Jasmine Cooke came down to the van for tea and a catch up . A wonderfull evening was had, with the weather being so warm and a very gentle breeze.
John, Chris , Jasmine (back) and Megan
Friday 12 th February another lovely day here in Kapiti Coast. We decided it was time for fish and chips and a park over at the Waikanae Reserve. Maureen my cousin brought her fish and chips around also , a great night was had with Sheryl turning up for a cuppa also.
Waikanae Reserve inlet looking over to Kapiti Island
The Estuary at Waikanae Beach
Local wild birds roosting for the night . (Shags)
What a day we have had . The start of the day was great . John managed to get the lean too 3/4 finished. Late afternoon we got a phone call from the hospital saying they had to cancel my operation date due to my surgeon going on leave . He told the hospital but they had not written it down great. Now I am booked in for the 30 th March , fingers crossed it happens then as I am so over the pain and not getting a decent sleep at night.
24 th Februrary
Time for a change of scenery . We decided to go and park up at Ngati Toa domain which is in Paramata. Lovely view
25th February,
We had a very quiet night parked up at the Domain . Would recommend it to anyone .
Today was another day running around getting medical certificates etc ? Bus now booked in for a service at Wilmac Porirua for next week. Once back home in Waikanae John put concrete down in front of the lean too and put the new lock on it. We have put also started storing stuff from the garage in there now . Looking good .
Tonight we spent another night at our favourite spot on the Waikanae river reserve . Our friends Val and Jan Windleburn came down for fish and chips and Lexie and Peter Clark joined us also for tea. A Lovely evening was had.
