Sailing away...

Today we get the ferry across to the South Island!  I'm more than a little excited and I hope the weather down south is better than all the storms we've up up north.  The weather is fine with moderate wind so it will be a choppy sailing over Cook Straight but calm and fine once we head through the Marlborough Sounds to Picton.

My Nana lived in Picton and I spent many holidays there with her and always sailed there on the ferries.  There is a massive sense of nostalgia every time I go there.

We've had all the family catchups—my brother and his wife first, just for a cup of tea and a chat.  He's 84 now and not in the best of health.  Yesterday was my sister's turn and we had a lovely lunch out with her.  She is 82 and is absolutely amazing for her age.  She looks so much younger. Sadly, I forgot to get a photo with her... she'd kind of an older, smaller version of me.  To her advantage though she's never drunk alcohol which probably explains why her skin and health is so good. 

You may wonder why we had two separate catchups?  Well my sister now does not speak to my brother after falling out over an issue a couple of years ago.  To be fair he was out of line but does not accept that so I guess that they will stay estranged which is sad. 

Both nights were spent with my son and we enjoyed lovely meals out each night.  He lives alone at the moment (his partner is in Sydney but she will eventually move here I hope).  I think he really enjoyed having company to share dinner with and we had some lovely conversations.  Thankfully he has good memories of me as a mother and of his childhood... not easy when he was brought up with me being a single parent.  I think now that he's older (he's nearly 47) he realises how hard it was for me and appreciates the life we had.  

My grandson Cole never ceases to make me smile.  He phones us often for a chat and this morning phoned to say he'd read all of the travel blog.  My goodness he's such a sweetheart (when he wants to be).

OK so we're packing for the sailing... catch up on the travel blog (linked at the side) and I'll see you on the other side!

~ Lynda

Me and my son - look at that amazing view from his home right over Wellington Harbour.

Dinner out No 2 It's so lovely catching up with him.

On the road and loving it

We have made it to the Wairarapa and will head over to Wellington tomorrow.  We are having a wonderful time checking out the towns and the history etc.  I won't be updating here much because most of my updating energy is going to our travel blog (linked on the side and here).   

If I have other news (stuff I wouldn't put on a travel blog) I'll update here.  So far all is well in our world.  Cole and Charlie have covid but really these days, does it matter?  There is more flooding up in Auckland and up north so we are certainly hoping for better weather down south.  

It is much colder than I'd planned for but thankfully I do have enough warm clothes to see me through and hey, there's always shops to buy more!

~ Lynda

For more photos have a look at the travel blog :)

And we're off...

We are two days into our BIG holiday.  We left yesterday for Taupo and tonight we're in a little town called Marton before heading to the Wairarapa. No set plans for that and it's forecast to rain heavily so we'll see how we go.  If nothing else there are some lovely shops, wineries and pubs over that way.  Hopefully the weather isn't too bad for us to explore a little of the area where my father used to live.

Driving here today we were absolutely shocked at the damage to the forests due to the cyclone—massive pine trees just snapped in half by the wind and other trees completely stripped of their foliage.  

We had a lovely walk around the Marton town this afternoon, I love the little towns of New Zealand.  There is always so much history. The local church here was built in 1871 and is gorgeous but sadly you can't see inside unless there is a service.

We had the boys at the weekend and took them to the Manakau Steamers—no worries about them being too big, they had a blast!  I regret that we didn't take F though, we always took him when he was small and I did detect a little envy when we told him where we had been :) 

On other news my histology results all came back good which is a relief.  It means I can relax a little more on this holiday. My wee Charlie has covid but is happy enough... sadly it means his Mum can't go to work and it's a busy week for her but that's life.

We are due to catch the ferry across to Picton next week and both ferry companies are having a mare of a time with break downs and cancelled bookings.  Fingers crossed we make it with no issue!

Lynda

Stu and the boys on the train... fun for all ages, even I had a turn :)

Parked up at Taupo

Lunch break on the Desert Road on our way south

Cyclone and tragedy

Well after the dreadful floods that hit Auckland the other week the weather Gods decided to follow that up with a bloody cyclone... cyclone Gabrielle.  Yes, it's the summer that just keeps on giving here in New Zealand.  There was widespread flooding and destruction up north and in Auckland but the worse hit area has been the east coast from Gisborne down to Hastings.  There are such dreadful stories emerging and loss of life—there will be more reports of deaths, the authorities can't even reach some of the worst hit areas yet.

Water was up to the roof in many houses and people had to be rescued by helicopter.  A house slipped down a bank and buried/killed a fire fighter.  People have drowned, sheep and cattle dead, crops ruined and thousands displaced from their homes.  It's just harrowing.  

We were meant to be driving that way next week but have now changed our plans and will drive down through the centre of the country.  There are so many roads and bridges damaged that it will be a long time before travel gets back to normal.  Many of the main roads are gone.  Then on top of all of this there was just a 6.3 earthquake in Wellington but thankfully no reports of damage.  Our Prime Minister is now wondering when the plague of locusts will arrive!

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I had my dentist appointment this week to get my tooth ready for a crown.  They put a temporary crown on and for the last three days I've not been about to eat properly due to biting my inner cheek with the new tooth!  Talk about painful.  Today I went back the the dentist sanded off the tooth and now it's fine.  I will also have to get that done when I get the finished crown but at least that problem is sorted.

I'm now in planning and packing mode, getting ready for our big trip next week!  It's very exciting, we will be going to so many amazing places... I can't wait!

~ Lynda

Concert and weather

Last night we went to the Ed Sheeran concert at Eden Park... it was amazing.  It was just so exciting to go to a big stadium event again—we were meant to go to Elton John the other week but as you know, that was flooded out.  Prior to that it was Queen back in February 2020, just before covid hit.  

We decided to get to the show early so that we could get a park reasonable close (1.5 km away). We had a drink at a local bar then headed to the park for some food and drink while waiting. There were two acts before Ed took the stage and the time passed fairly quickly.  Then the massive screen did a countdown from 10 minutes and then 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.... screaming all round!!!  So much fun.

Anyway he did all of my favourites and then with five songs to go they had trouble with the audio and he couldn't use the loop pedals.  He tried the same song three times and each time the audio crashed.  I felt so, so bad for him!  He had to go off and while he was off a massive Mexican wave took over the park...around and around.  It was just so much fun and everyone was screaming and laughing—a really spontaneous thing you would rarely get to experience. 

Finally Ed took the stage again and said that he'd have to do the rest of the show purely acoustic... no bells and whistles, just him.  Thankfully he is a true professional and I think everyone was just happy to see him finish the set.  We all enjoyed the acoustic versions anyway but it was a bit of an anti climax because he usually builds up to a massive crescendo at the end with fireworks. They still had the fireworks and Ed jokingly said that we paid for them so we might as well have them :)

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On other news we are set to have more disastrous weather from Monday—Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle is on it's way and is bringing with it lashings of horrendous wind and rain.  Oh goody, it's just the summer that keeps on giving.  I'm sure we'll be fine as we are reasonably sheltered but there are dire warnings out for the area.  

Oh and father-in-law visit went OK.  He said the usual dicky stuff like again but I know he just thinks he is being funny.  I behaved myself (mostly) but if he'd stayed any longer things would have gone bad :). To his credit he is 87 soon and doing amazingly well.  For Stu's sake I will humour him (in short doses).  He loves my Big Tess travel blog (did you guys know I keep a separate blog just for our travels?... I've made a link to the side but it's all stuff you see here anyway just more specific to just our travel.  It might be more interesting once we leave for our big trip at the end of the month.

~ Lynda

Waiting for Ed while Maisie Peters sings - she was very good too!

Not my photo but taken at the show

Also not my photo but it's amazing... the Auckland Skytower in the background!

My photo.  The phone lights all around were spectacular!

During the show, before the audio went.

The fireworks finale

Medical matters

I had my colonoscopy and gastroscopy yesterday and it went well.  The prep (for the colonoscopy) is always shit... pardon the pun... but I managed it OK.  Thankfully it's only every three years for me.

I had a deep sedation for the procedure which was magic.  OMG, seriously it is just amazing.  They tell you what to expect and they tell you when you will fall asleep and right on queue you are gone.  I had a gastroscopy twenty years ago and it was awful—I was sedated but totally conscious of chocking.  This time they assured me that wouldn't happen and it didn't.

So I had the usual polyps removed from my bowel and my gastroscopy showed my hiatus hernia (which I knew I had) but it also now showed that I have Barrett’s Oesophagus, damn but not unexpected.  I have had reflux/GERD for well over twenty years and even though I've managed it as well as I could with medication (omeprazole), there are many times when you can't stop the acid damaging you.  

My specialist did say that it was small and didn't look at all bad—obviously I have to wait for the histology to be sure—but he wasn't worried.  There are new treatments for this too so as long as I keep the checks up and get treatment when/if needed I should avoid oesophageal cancer.

Cole started intermediate yesterday and has to get the bus all by himself which he is rather loving!  We have paid for a phone plan for him for his birthday so now he can call and text all he wants.  We all feel much safer knowing he can be contacted of more importantly, contact us if he misses a bus or something.

My daughter and her husband are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary today and are planning a holiday to Fiji.  I'm so happy they are still together and long may that last!  

We are now in final planning mode for our big South Island holiday which is only two weeks away now. I have my father-in-law coming to stay tomorrow night but I know that will go well... I think we are both over the troubles of the past.

~ Lynda

My big boy Cole waiting for the bus

We escaped :)

Yes, we did get out of Auckland for the long weekend!  So much rain and wet and damp... so sad for those badly affected but it was lovely to get away and have two days of sunshine away from the city.

First things first... we helped take our US friends to the airport for their flight home.  They needed two cars to help with all the bags - you need a fair bit of luggage when you are moving your entire life.

I also had my appointment to get my colonoscopy and gastroscopy moved forward so that happens in two days... I'm currently on the low fibre diet in preparation.  I just hope the findings of the gastroscopy are OK considering that I have had reflux (with medication) for twenty years.  Thank goodness I still have private health insurance because I sure seem to be using it lately. 

When Stu and I left on Friday in the motorhome we had no idea where we were even headed!  Many roads have been closed due to slips and flooding so we thought we'd go where there was the least amount of damage—back to the Awhitu peninsula to the Awhitu Regional Park.  We were the only ones staying at the motorhome area but you feel quite safe at night due to the entry gates shutting at 9pm.  During the day there were more people around but it was an incredibly quiet spot. 

We did all the walks... the boardwalk along the wetlands, along the beach, up to the historic Brook homestead and also out to the Kauritutaki Island when the tide was fully out! It was just lovely. Now we are home and looking forward to our next big trip at the end of the month. In the meantime it's medical appointments, dentist and jobs around the house.

~ Lynda

Our spot at Awhitu Regional Park

The boardwalk through the wetland

The Brook homestead c1878. It was totally original inside.

The walk down to the beach

We walked to that island, Kauritutaki Island, at low tide!

The biggest tree we've ever seen! Apparently it's the largest single truck tree in the world! 

On the walk out to Kauritutaki Island

On the island!

Low tide

BBQ and beer time - we were the only ones there and had the entire park to ourselves for two nights.

Stu's "and we're off" pose.

Sunrise over Awhitu Peninsula