I woke up this morning to the sound of Zak chuntering away in the room next to me, as per the last few mornings. I'm going to miss that little nutter! I got myself up eventually and reluctantly got ready to leave. I had a cup of tea while the kids were getting dressed and Andrew was getting ready for work. I really didn't want to leave but I had people to see, places to go, you know how it is. Andrew gave me a last few words of advice, I gave everyone a hug goodbye and I was on my way. I've really enjoyed it here and I wish it was for longer.
But me and my s***box rollerskate were back on the road. I left late enough to cruise down and miss the traffic in Auckland. I then drove round and up to the Coromandel to have a look around. Took me about 3 hours to get there but driving over here isn't stressful at all, even for a biffa like me. The roads on the Coromandel reminded me a bit of that ride, but I can't remember what it's called! The one that's really windy and goes up and down?! Rattlesnake?! Either way, it made me quite dizzy and the rollerskates not all that stable round corners so I cut across half way and headed to Whangamata beach to have some lunch. I'd been grazing on fruit all morning (which is awesome, my little punnet of nz apples!) so only had a sandwich but ate that up by the beach. I also used THE most amazing toilet ever. It was a public toilet with a sliding door. It then spoke to me, telling me to push the button to lock the door and that I had 10 minutes before it unlocked by itself. Then it proceeded to play calm relaxing music until I left! Amazing! Using a public toilet has never been so enjoyable!!
Anyway, calm and content I got back on the road again down towards Tauranga where I was staying with Ben and his housemates. It only took about an hour so I pulled into the marina to chill for a bit in the sunshine (and eat another apple, did I mention how nice they were?!). I went a bit further down to Mt Maunganui where Ben lived and found myself a McDonalds - free wifi and a toilet. Never have I been so glad of both! I managed to get some blogs updated and onto the web which should keep some of you quiet for a while. Hi to the Royal Oak posse by the way, I hear you are following my soap? Get a life you saddos ;-) Hope you're looking after my dad, apparently he misses me so much he cries himself to sleep every night?! Perhaps buy him a beer next time he's in to cheer him up?
Whilst in McDonalds I text Ben and let him know I was nearby and he called and told me to head to his anyway as his housemate Hannah was in. I finally found it and sat and had a cup of tea with her and her friend from work. She seems really nice and so does her boyfriend who popped in before going off out to rugby. Kiwi people are just so friendly!
I waited for Ben to get home from work and when he got in we had a beer and a catch up. We waited for his housemate to get back from rugby and we headed out for something to eat. I shouted the guys dinner and a few drinks as they were letting me stay and then we all headed back to chill for a while.....