Fras had gone to bed at 11.30pm the night before but Di and Wilma didn’t crawl into the sack until 1.30am so the 8.00am start was just a tad difficult to handle. Wilma spends all her spare time renovating older run down homes that she purchases and does them up herself. She does it on a shoestring budget but gets the highest quality as she puts the time into the workmanship. She does everything from the tiling to the plastering. She also has great design ability. Should have got photos of her house.
We fitted in a bit more of a natter time before Di’s sister Paula arrived to take us back to Tauranga. By now the weather had turned dull, grey, raining and typical New Zealand Autumn weather. We have arranged to catch up with Wilma for a couple of days of camping up the Coromandel Peninsula later in the week.
After leaving Wilma’s we went to meet Lance an old friend of Di’s father. He was a lovely chap with a great sense of humour and very genuine. He did look very unwell though and said he had just been diagnosed with cancer, so Di is very pleased she has had the opportunity to meet him. By now the weather is getting worse as we are about to take the drive to Tauranga over the Kaimai’s which at the best of times is a hideous route.
For those not in the know, New Zealand place names are very difficult to pronounce as a lot of them are in Maori. You will see throughout the New Zealand blog a lot of unprounceable names and total tongue twisters.
We got in Tauranga at 5.30pm and Dex, Paula’smhusbane had the most beautiful dinner on for us with apple, peach and rhubarb crumble. Our two week stay here is not going to do our waistlines any favours.
We are both getting our doggy fix as Dex and Paula have a girl called Kasey who is the same age as Toque. She has taught herself to pick up her metal bowl and then annoy the hell out of everyone by dropping it in front of you with a clang. This continues until she has your total and undivided attention. She also wants to be put in bed at dead on 8.30pm in her cage with her blanket over the top of her.
We spent the evening by teaching a new card game to one another which made for a fun evening.
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