Dog sitting

The kids have all gone away to Bali and we are the proud grandparents of their little dog, Duke.  We are happy to have him, especially as it helps my daughter so much and means she will enjoy her holiday more.

Duke is an excellent little dog.  He isn't yappy and doesn't bark at all when here.  The only time he does bark is when we go to his house and he hears us arriving. He's totally house trained and behaves beautifully.  He's a good boy when we take him for walks and loves being around us.  I'm saying all of this because while he's a lovely wee dog, we don't want a dog ourselves.  Having the tie and responsibility of a pet is not for us. We will be very happy to give him back when the family comes home :)

One positive from having Duke is that it has motivated me to get out walking again.  I don't walk from my home due to fear of roaming dogs (goes back to a bad situation years ago) but love to walk around places that are safe.  We have the most amazing place just up the road, Cornwall Park/One Tree Hill, so we are driving there and then walking.  I should have been doing this a long time ago but will continue this when Duke goes home.  My overall fitness is pretty bad at the moment so increasing my walking will certainly help with that.

~ Lynda

This is the villa my daughter and family are staying at in Bali... they have the entire place to themselves!

Stu walking Duke at Cornwall Park.

My daughter enjoying the private pool in Bali.

The guys are all loving the pool, I love the the entire family has gone away... such a special time for them all.

Home alone

We took the boys back at the weekend and we're now 'alone'.  After 5 weeks away on the road and then four days with boys it's nice to just sit back and relax for awhile.  Stu has done loads of jobs outside and I've been busy doing what I usually do—washing, cooking, sewing (alterations, fixing etc), cleaning and a bit of gardening.  

With regard to gardening, I find weeding to be much more difficult now due to back issues and my knee.  Yes, it's nearly time to go back to my knee doctor because I'm pretty sure a second knee replacement will be needed.  I'm quietly terrified of that. 

At the end of the week we will be dog sitting our granddog Duke.  My daughter and her family are all off to Bali for a week... it will be so much fun for them all and much needed family time.  I just hope they don't get sick.  My daughter has them all of probiotics to build up their gut and is taking all kinds of electrolytes and other stuff just in case.  

After that we are taking the motorhome in to get it's annual habitation check, electrical warrant, the fridge and stovetop gas fittings cleaned and serviced plus a few other minor tweaks.  

Following that Stu will be going over to get his father (my favourite father-in-law... hehe, when you know you know) to stay with us for a couple of days while he visits some old friends in Auckland.  I'm sure that will be fun having him here (cough, cough).  To be fair he has been kind to me lately but I can only take him in small doses so Stu will have to suffer the brunt of his continual talking. 

Thank goodness for having an electric car, especially as it's a round trip of about 380 kms. 

~ Lynda

I made a massive pot of bacon hock/vegetable soup and the boys loved it! We had it for three meals (two lunches, one dinner) and not one complaint.  

More happy boys.  We love that they are getting along better.

They decided to use buckets for seats on their e-scooters and literally had hours of fun. 

Charlie on my e-bike.  Now that I'm not riding at least the boys love it when they visit. 

Cole even helped Stu wash the motorhome... he was actually a good help too so got $20 for his efforts.

Home

Phew.  That trip down south and then the memorial for my friend etc was a lot.  We were glad to get back home that's for sure.  

So home to family straight away... everyone came for dinner and then the two younger boys are staying for goodness knows how long.  They have missed us and we missed them.  I love that they want to be here with us :)

I had lent my car to F while he was in the process of buying a new one (his was written off in a smash, not his fault and luckily no one was hurt).  My daughter brought it back last week but left a light on inside the car so it was as dead as a dodo ... even the remote wouldn't unlock the door it was that dead.  Never mind, AA to the rescue and all is well.  

We have loads of jobs to do but lots of time to work through them.  In a couple of weeks my daughter and her family are going on holiday to Bali and we will take over our duties as grandparents to their dog... he is our granddog so what can we do?  Not sure how I'll cope with about 10 nights of him wanting to snuggle in bed with us though.  

~ Lynda

Poppa with the boys.

Look at this... two brothers actually getting along! They do have separate bedrooms of course but it's just so lovely to see them playing together instead of fighting.

Sad Goodbye and staying safe

Yesterday was my friend's memorial service in Havelock North. The weather was lovely as the storm was not due to hit until last night/today.  We parked up at my friend's house and will stay here until we leave for home... when it's safe to drive which will probably be tomorrow.  We need to get home and see our boys, they are waiting patiently for Nana and Poppa to come home so that they can come and stay.

On Friday night, our first night here, we met up with a few old friends who I'd not seen for a long time.  These were not so much close friends but shared friends with Anna.  One in particular had been part of our 'gang' of ladies back in the early days and it was wonderful to talk about those times.

At the memorial service itself I found myself recognising people I had not seen for about 25 years!  I was pulling names out of my brain that had not been mentioned or thought about for all that time, a truly weird sensation. There was another woman there who had been a very, very close friend of mine from around 1984 to 1988.  Things happened back then that broke the close friendship but we always remained in contact.  

At the service the Vicar asked for Anna's friends to say something but I simply didn't have the courage.  My memories and feelings are very personal to me and getting up in front of everyone scared the living daylight out of me!  Later on though, at the house, people were asked to speak and all the people who mattered where there so I made my 'speech' then.  I recounted a few funny times and how special our friendship had been over the last 48 or so years.  It was wonderful and got a fantastic response from everyone and they all knew then how close our friendship had been.

So many faces and people who also remembered me and how close my relationship had been to Anna.  I was treated like family, not just another guest, and that felt very special. Anna's husband was thrilled when we said we'd stay on for a couple of days and all the children and family personally thanked us for being there.  Very special and very loved.

The storm/cyclone is nearly upon us but we are not travelling in this wind.  Hopefully it will just pass over with no damage and we will be on our way tomorrow.  We will wait to travel until it is safe.

I took this photo at the end of the evening.  That candle had been lit earlier in the day and was about to go out, it had burned right down.  I put my hand on Anna's ashes and said a final goodbye x

What to do?

We are now back in the North Island and will be going to my friend's memorial service on Saturday at Hawkes Bay.  The problem is .... there is a massive cyclone headed that way!  It should be OK on the Saturday but we had planned on travelling home on Sunday and by the look of the predicted track of the cyclone we would be crazy to be in that area!

The only other option is to just go home and not attend the service.  Obviously that would be the safe thing to do, especially as being in a motorhome in a bad storm is not a great idea. Of course, we can't do that... so we will just have to take all the care we can to shelter and not drive until it is safe. 

I think that means we will be home even later than first thought and I have a hair appointment I'll have to cancel plus three grandsons who are already counting down the days until we get back.  We are getting calls every day asking when we'll be back.  

This entire trip away has been odd.  First the uncertainty of fuel availability and then the cost which has now risen 240% and we estimate just driving home will cost us over $600.  Then there was the decision to cancel the second part of our holiday and come home now.  There have been other factors that have affected the holiday—my inability to ride my bike well along with lack of confidence.  Then there was the freezing, rainy weather at the Warbirds Over Wanaka and the cancelled planes due to the fuel crisis.  

I feel a little cheated with it all and now a looming cyclone?  

I also have another issue—the back of my right leg is getting more painful.  My doctor did check it when I went for my bad back last year and she thought it was a hamstring or similar.  I thought it would magically get better but no, it's pretty bad now.  I can walk fine once I stretch the leg out but it's the getting going from a seated position.  More bloody medical stuff to sort when we get back :(

Anyway that's where I'm at, kind of feeling a little flat especially as our next stop if for my friend's memorial. 

~ Lynda

As fate would have it...

As I mentioned before we have changed our holiday plans due to the global fuel situation (price and availability) and will now be going home sooner.  The good news is that my friend's funeral will be held on 11 April and we will be on the North Island then and can divert to that area on our way home.  It means we get home a little later than planned but I'm so happy and relieved that I can be and my friend's final goodbye.  

I don't have any 'funeral clothes' with me but then people don't dress like they used to.  I have some dressy jeans and a nice top so I'm sure that will be fine.  I have no idea who will be speaking or sharing memories but most of my memories of her are just 'our' memories that I don't think others would understand. She was a nurse and I know there will be many of her nurse friends attending.

We are now at the Warbirds airshow parked up for three days.  Sadly the weather forecast isn't great so all we can hope is that they have got it wrong and the sun will shine.

Lynda

Hundreds of caravans and motorhomes waiting to drive up to the area overlooking the airfield.

Flying displays while waiting giving us a taste of what's to come.

Looking down over the airfield where all the action will be over the next three days.

Weekly update

Hello all, we are having a great time away in the motorhome and so far have had amazing weather.  We are cutting our holiday short though due to the fuel issue and it seems many others are doing the same.  It's a long way to get back home so we will be travelling back as soon as the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow is over.

We have had three fantastic nights at a holiday park on the shores of Lake Wanaka.  It is stunning here and tomorrow to spend three days up at a place called Criffel Station overlooking the Wanaka airport for the airshow.  The weather isn't looking too great so fingers crossed they've got it wrong and we'll get some good weather for the flying.

We are missing our boys and especially Cole because he is the one who contacts us the most.  My daughter said he is really missing us which is pretty sweet.  It won't be long before we get to see them. Once we get home it will be awhile before we go away far again.  

We've met some lovely people along the way on this trip, there are so many others out there doing exactly what we are! There are caravans and motorhomes everywhere down here plus thousands of overseas tourists.  Some places you go to you literally don't hear English spoken.  Everyone seems to be loving their visit to New Zealand and I have to admit to feeling very lucky to call it home.

Our diesel has now more than doubled in price since we left for this holiday and seems to go up more every day.  We can cope with that but I really feel for families and those who can't absorb the extra cost of fuel.  What a shit show of a world at the moment and you never know what's around the corner.  Every morning we wake up and think what has he done or said now.  

~ Lynda

Here are a few photos of Glendhu Bay where we have spent the last three days.