Kia Ora Guys

Well guys as my regular readers will be aware there hasn't been a blog for quite a few weeks,as I decided to take a break until there was some news to report. Before I tell you all about our trip to the Bay of Islands I will just update you on where we are at the minute.

The last several weeks have been really busy for us with lots to sort out including finding somewhere new to live. We had narrowed our search down for a new rental property and after viewing a couple we managed to find one we liked and will be sewing up the finer details next week with a view to moving on 30th October. It will be really sad to leave this place behind but our new place is a little bigger and we have Cheltenham beach right across the road from us, so it's not all bad...

I have settled in well to my job and love walking around chatting to people, Mel has been putting in some hard work and will be interviewed for her job in the next couple of weeks to see if she can stay in that role or whether she will be moving to pastures new. Needless to say we are looking forward to getting a few personal items out of storage to make the new place more homely too.

Anyway I digress the real reason I am on here is to tell you about our weekend up in Paihia and Russell. Both Mel and I finished early on Friday and as I rode home in the sunshine I was looking forward to heading North ,and the weather looked like it would be better than when we were here 2 years earlier and were barricaded in the motel as the rain fell and the winds ripped up the trees.

We got out of Auckland before the traffic got heavy and the drive up was lovely with us arriving at 6pm and just in time to catch the last of the sunshine. Although it was just a weekend away it was Mel's first break since she had started work in February so it was much needed.

We walked along the beach and stopped for a nice cold beer at the Mako bar while watching the tide slowly creep in and the sunset for the evening before heading into town for dinner.There were no firm plans tonight and we stumbled across a nice little Indian restaurant right by the water which was excellent and really relaxing.

As usual we were up early Saturday and decided to head to Keri Keri about 20kms away for coffee and breakfast,on the way we detoured to have a look at Haruru Falls althouh not very high they are quite unusual for NZ. After coffee in Keri Keri we drove back to Paihia and went for the ferry which would take us across the water to Russell,which used to be an old whaling port as well as the capital of NZ way back in the 1840's.

Our main reason for visiting was to look around the small town but also visit the Kamakura restaurant where my sister's boyfriends brother is head chef so we called in to say hello. we got a lovely table by the beach and although it was a little blustery we had a fantastic lunch. As Russell is old by NZ standards it has some interesting buildings one of which is ChristChurch, the oldest church in NZ and also the Duke of Marlborough pub also the oldest licensed pub in NZ. We payed a visit to both for a look around and for views the pub takes some beating right on the waterfront.

Now the weather had been kind to us but we could sense it changing as the day drew on,and mid afternoon the rain came which made for an entertaining ferry crossing back to Paihia!!!!

No sooner were we back on land the sun broke through and the rain stopped as quickly as it had started. We made our way to 35 degrees for our dinner and we had booked a table which sat out over the water. They have a 60,000 litre aquarium inside the restaurant which was full of snapper and various other species from the area. The meal turned out to be a cracker between us we had homemade breads,calamari followed by belly pork and navarin of lamb washed down with a good sauvignon blanc.

It was nice to be out of the city and we were feeling relaxed as Saturday drew to a close. We checked out early on Sunday and after breakfast we took the short drive to KawaKawa to visit the Hundertwasser toilets and luckily they were open as the last time we visited 2 years ago they were shut due to flooding!!!

We had a good look around and got some good photos before heading back on the road.Instead of heading straight back home we took a small detour and stopped at Langs Beach for a look around. There were only 9 other people on the beach and it was just glorious to sit and enjoy the sunshine and watch the waves for a while.

It was then a 2 hour drive back to Auckland and back to the house where we have less than 2 weeks left before we start the next chapter of our life here in NZ.

Lots of Love

M & M

xxx