All fixed and we're off...

Well off tomorrow.  We got the motorhome back today and it is fully repaired!  We are off tomorrow to see Stu's Dad so a holiday in Coromandel it will be.  I think we'll also stay at Hahai and finally do Cathedral Cove.  Yes, ashamed to say that we have travelled to the Coromandel for years and years and neither of us has ever been to Cathedral Cove.  We did try to go once but couldn't get a park then my knee went bad and I couldn't have done the walk in.

Before that though, first thing in the morning, I have a scan on a lump on my upper thigh.  It's a lump that's been kind of there for years and I was told it was just a fatty deposit or something but now it's become a lot bigger - about the size of very big grape.  It's now bothering me and I suppose with all the covid lockdowns and doctors being busy etc I just never got around to getting it seen to.  Now I'm a little worried. After the scan they will hopefully have a better idea of what it is and then I'll be seeing a surgeon to get it removed.  I only hope it's nothing!

I also got all my bloods done today and am pleased to say that it's all good.  My HbA1c (blood sugar) is still normal after being pre-diabetic in 2011.   That's now 11 years of normal blood sugar through cutting most sugar and a lot of carbs.  If I'd not done that I'm sure I'd be a diabetic by now.  I need still be careful though and only have treats occasionally as there is no way I want to add diabetic to my list of wows.

My daughter popped in after work with the boys to get my help filling in passport forms for her and the two boys for our holiday in September.  I've been on at her to do it NOW as the passport office is swamped with requests.  It was lovely as usual to see the boys and we are looking forward to taking them away in the motorhome soon.  Charlie just loves it and I'm sure Cole will too once we get on the road.

OK bedtime for me.

~ Lynda

 

Things are happening...

Tomorrow we are taking the motorhome in for repair! Yes, the part has arrived from the UK so we'll have a fully operational vehicle by the end of the week (hopefully).  The parts for the Tesla have also finally arrived so that goes in for repair too.  I'm not sure when we get the motorhome back but hopefully before the weekend so we can go over and visit Stu's father who hasn't yet see it.

We did a few more things to it last week - Stu has been brilliant at making more shelving - and then we thought why not go away again for a couple of nights so yesterday we went over to Omana Regional Park for a night and today we are back at the Ardmore NZMCA.  We've done lots of walking and relaxing and right now Stu is watching planes land and take off... his happy place.

Poor Cole has been off school all last week with a cold/flu and still has a cough.  We looked after him for a couple of days so his Mum could work.  We also had both him and Charlie stay the night.  It's always lovely to have them while they still like us :) Long may that last!!

So not much news except we are getting a plumber in next week to fix a leaking shower and at the same time we'll get advice on getting two new toilets.  Ours are 20 years old and not functioning as they should.  Time to update.  

We can't wait until we have the freedom to really get away but we are still locked in by other constraints so just smaller trips for now.

~ Lynda

Our overnight park at Omana Regional Park

Rangitoto Island as seen on our walk

Lots of walking... averaging 7 to 8 kms a day

Sunset over Omana Beach

Stu taking photos of the sunset

Night time... nice and safe here, they lock the gates at night.

Our walk this morning around to Maraetai Beach

Lovely time...

We are still 'on the road'... not driving far but staying awhile at each place.  We went from Ray's Rest to Miranda Holiday Park for three nights where we enjoyed the hot mineral pool and some great walks.  Yesterday we walked all the way to a bird lookout by the sea - all up yesterday I walked around 12 kilometres so pleased with that!  

Today we have moved on to an NZMCA park at Kaiaua which seems very friendly indeed... lots of chats to others and happy hour at 4 pm.  Stu is just off for a walk right now.  We had a light lunch at the local pub which is only a few steps away so I'm sure we'll be back there for dinner tonight or tomorrow!  There is also an amazing fish and chip shop next door so that's food sorted for the next two days.

We have driven past this area many times but have never stopped but that is exactly why we wanted to get a motorhome... to actually experience all of these cute little towns.

So that's us for the next few days, we'll go home early next week.  So far so good though with everything.

~ Lynda

The hot pool at the holiday park

Our spot at the park... and a rainbow!

The big walk yesterday to the bird sanctuary.

This place was fantastic, little hide outs to watch birds.  We had a picnic lunch here before heading back.

The Pink Shop at Kaiaua... there's not much else here other than a petrol station and a pub!

Our home for a couple of nights

Across the road.  There is a cycle trail that literally goes for miles and miles - great for walking too obviously.

The Storm!!

We left Ardmore and had to head back to where we bought the motorhome due to our electric table not working (you put it down to lower the bed).  Thankfully they were able to fix it straight away.  From there we did a little shopping in Pukekohe and then set off for the Seabird Coast and specifically Ray's Rest Reserve for a night of freedom camping and wild weather.  

There was severe winds all over the place last night but the forecast was for them to drop by evening.  We were also on the western side of the island so presumably more sheltered... yeah right.  The wind blew something awful/fantastic... seriously there was no danger but it sure was exciting.  Then there was the most amazing lightning followed instantly by loud claps of thunder directly overhead.  Stu was in his element, his dream motorhome experience has always been thunder and lightning :)

This morning was much calmer and we had a lovely walk along the shore and chatted to another lovely couple who had also spent the night in the wind.  Today we are off to a holiday park for three nights of shelter and hot pools.  

We are LOVING motorhome life.  It really is everything we'd hoped for and more.  

Other news today is my sister is definitely getting her foot amputated.  I know I said this before but they thought it could be saved last time.  Very sad for her, diabetes really is a bastard that can get you in the end.

~ Lynda

Yesterday during the storm, in my happy place (yes, that's a rum and coke).

My view, this was the calm side

Stormy weather - this was during the worst of it.

Our morning walk, hot and calm

So many shells here!

This morning's Wordle and coffee... I got it in two!!! I've blurred the answer in case it might spoil it if you've not done it today (if you do this, I do it every day).

Gone...

We are finally away in Big Tess!!  Not far, we can't go too many kilometres away but who cares right now?  It's all about testing things out and seeing if everything we've organised works for us.  So far it's all perfect.  The shelves, the drawers, the kitchen setup, everything.  Even the bed is comfortable - one thing we really didn't know before buying.  I put an extra foam topping on under the mattress protector just to add a little more comfort and it works well.

So we have only come as far as Ardmore Airport NZMCA park so far (two nights).  The weather wasn't too good so we thought we'd stay here until the weather improved.  Tomorrow we are off to Miranda Holiday Park where there are hot pools and some good walks.  After a few nights there we'll make our way up the coast to some freedom parks and then home.

We are loving everything so far!  I think I was born to motorhome and there are some lovely people at the parks... all friendly and with the same interest.  I've got a book on the go plus have been watching a few favourite TV programs.  Today we went for a 6 km walk and had lunch at the local airport cafe.

We have no word yet on when the motorhome will be repaired so we are keeping the kilometres low so we can get one more short distance trip in!

~ Lynda

Parked up at the Ardmore NZMCA Park

That's us on the left

Our view... aeroplanes.  Stu is in his happy place.

Out for walk with the runway behind me.

Stu with our camp behind us.

A lovely party

Stu's father had a lovely day on Sunday when we all got together to celebrate his 86th birthday.  His actual birthday is next week and he is partying again but with local friends.  He had the family party last weekend as it was a long weekend here so easier for everyone to travel to him..

Our motel was very nice, an older style but immaculately clean.  Stu and I ate out on Saturday night at a curry place and on Sunday morning I wandered the shops and bought a couple of things for the motorhome.  I think we are done now, it's all ready to go! 

The party was a low key, family affair with afternoon nibbles and cake.  In the evening we went to a nieces place and played cards - well I chatted to some others while those that could fit around the table played cards.  

So we are home now and just prepping to go on a little holiday in the motorhome on Friday after Stu finishes a training job on Thursday.  I've sorted out all the meals we'll be eating and only taking the food needed for those.  There won't be much chance of eating out so we'll have to be organised.  We are doing a week long holiday on a route of about 200 km.  We can travel a total of about 600 km before the sensor stops us moving so we might even get another mini break in at a later date.  Still no word on when the part to fix the engine will arrive.

That's it for today, hopefully my next post will be from somewhere in our motorhome!

~ Lynda

A very happy man.

Candle time... with Stu and his sister on the right

Looking through old photos... Stu, his Dad and his brother.

Away

Not in the motorhome yet but we are away.  Over at Whitianga for Stu's fathers birthday tomorrow.  Today was a party for a one year old which was pleasant.  I ate too much food of course but hey, it was party food!

We are staying in a local motel, it's basic but clean and very central so we can walk to a restaurant for dinner.

We've done heaps of stuff to the motorhome -- shelves mainly but lots of organising and figuring out where everything will go.  We are both loving it and can't wait to get away.  We can go for a short trip fairly local so will make the most of our time away in a week or so.

We had a mouse in the house and finally caught it last night after buying a better trap -- the first trap didn't work and little mouse had a feed and moved on!

Charlie needs to have a poem to read out at school next week so I decided to write one for him.  He was to choose a poem, not write one so I thought why not?  Here is my poem, it's a true story:

Poem: The Mouse, written by Nana

There is a mouse inside the house

I don’t like a mouse inside my house!

If only I had a big fat cat

But I never really thought of that

I heard it scratching in the night

Which made me wake with a terrible fright!

I saw it run behind the TV

I think that mouse is laughing at me

I put out a trap with lots of cheese

But mouse just ate it and said ‘more please’

I tried to catch it but it ran away

So here it hides for another day 

I do hope mouse finds a new home soon

Because I really don’t like it in my room

Please little mouse be on your way

So I can sleep, relax and play.

Today I wrote another verse... not to be used by Charlie at school :)

Mouse didn’t leave so we bought a new trap

In the middle of the night we heard a loud snap

Little mouse lay dead on the lounge room floor

My saga is over, the mouse is no more.

I leave you with photos of the interior of our motorhome so far.

~ Lynda

The lounge area, our bed comes down over this to form the bedroom.

Our kitchen

Drawers we have added for our clothing

Drawers we have added for all our bits and pieces

The outdoor locker.  Stu put that shelf there so that we can store loads more in the upper part.

Two new shelves up the top in the bathroom.

Feeling better...

We have our motorhome back at our place.  It's not fixed but it can be driven for a few hundred kilometres before the problem (Adblue warning that stops the vehicle running) will arise so we might be able to get away for few days (close by) later next week. We cleared this with the mechanic first.

In the meantime we have booked in a motel for this weekend for the family event in Whitianga which means the Tesla gets another long run!

I have a mouse in the house but strangely it's not freaking me out too much.  We have set traps around and it might just run outside again the same way it came in.  I'm just happy it's not a great big fat rat like we had outside the other day!  It was wobbling down the driveway in broad daylight clearly in its death throw after feasting on the rat bat we have outside (in a safe bait station).  

We are picking up the boys from school today, always lovely to see them :)

~ Lynda

Big Tess at home in the special spot we made for her! It's working out well :)