Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Biplane flight
                                                                  Karangahake Gorge
                                                   View from the top of Mount Maunganui

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

June update

Well it’s been a while but with the blog site updating I needed to spend some time figuring it out and reluctant to use 3G internet access for problem solving. That’s the excuse anyway but maybe I am just being a bit lazy.

We have been in Tauranga now 5 months and finding the weather very appealing. Work is going well for me and it’s nice being near family for a while.  It was surprising to find how little we knew about Tauranga despite visiting here over many years. We are enjoying exploring locally finding local cycle tracks and beaches. We have even climbed The Mount.  Last weekend we cycled the Waikino to Paeroa portion of the Hauraki cycle trail and will go back to complete the Thames and Te Aroha portion sometime soon. But the biggest change for us has been the purchase of a camper van. Yes, a Nissan Homy which will allow us to get about on the weekends to those spots that DREEEM won’t get to. It still needs a bit of work but Warren is busy now fitting it out for camping. 

We attended the Motorhome rally at Mount Maunaganui at Easter weekend and enjoyed the 4 days and in particular the 4 nights of live entertainment. There were 1600 people there in 800+ vans so it was really well supported. While there we were interviewed by Robyn Dallimore from RV Lifestyle magazine. Watch out for the July/August edition for a story on us!

Warren enjoyed a flight in a bi-plane for his birthday in May and then when Robin and Pete visited us and stayed over, he was able to take them back to see the Classic aircraft museum.  

If I manage to get this loaded I’ll update more soon and add some photos as well.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Monday, March 5, 2012

Settling in



It’s the start of another work week and life is settling down to a pattern.  Five days of work then 2 days to explore the Bay of Plenty. We have visited Tauranga many times over the years on a reasonably regular basis but we are still amazed at how little we know of the area.  We spent one weekend with Sue and Peter camping at Pikowai, or should I say glamping – we took our motorhome down so had all the home comforts.  Sadly the fishing was not great but we enjoyed the weekend as the weather was mild and of course the beach spectacular. It is a lovely long sandy beach sparsely populated and great for walks.

Pikowai is on the way to Whakatane and neither of us had been to Whakatane for many years so we took advantage of a work opportunity to visit briefly one afternoon. It is nothing like either of us remember, far more developed and attractive.  We will have to return to have a better look around.

We have discovered some nice cycle pathways around the city, (Tauranga and the Mount) which we have spent some time on and I have the pleasure of a waterside walkway as part of the walk to work each morning. Our exploration of the mount was during the three days that we were based there while we had an awning built to fit DREEEM. The awning has been tweaked a bit by Warren to make it a firm fitting and it certainly proved stable in the winds that we had last Friday and Saturday. To top it off we now have a plywood flooring in the awning as well so we are really very well set up for winter when it comes.

Yesterday we visited the Motorhome show in Hamilton and came back with a backing camera for DREEEM and a solution to the high pressure toilet flush that tends to wash your feet when flushing. We found it quite a different experience visiting the show as full time motorhomers rather than potential buyers. The show was great with lots of interesting stalls and a large number of motorhomes and campers to view.  We are still very pleased with our own, there is none better in our mind.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Tauranga

Our plans changed, as they can and we made an earlier than planned trip to Tauranga. Mum toppled to the floor and needed help so with that being the priority we left Invercargill on Friday 6th January and headed north. Luckily we were able to meet up with Tony and Claire in Oamaru, along with Claire's dad and Jane and we spent a lovely evening together. Saturday saw us up to the Riverlands Roadhouse at Blenheim, then we crossed the strait on Sunday and came up as far as Wairaki before arriving in Tauranga on Monday morning.
We are currently based in the Tauranga Tourist Park and will probably stay here as the location suits us well. Just 5kms to Mum's and probably a 10 minute walk to the hospital for work.
As the sudden departure from Invercargill didn't allow time for hand over or goodbyes I will be returning there for a few days before starting the new job and although the mid 20's is a pleasant temperature, the desire to go back to Invercargill remains there. For now that will be satisfied with a short trip but I'm sure we will be back down that way some time in the future.
DREEEM went well, we had no problems apart from Warren's moment of alarm as we pulled our ears in and ducked our head going through the 4.25m tunnel at Kaikoura. We measure 4.2m so really we had room to spare! Tomorrow we are going to get a spare room. The awning on the side is going to be closed in which will give us an outdoor space. It will be nice in summer but really we want it for the winters. An outdoor space to change from wet coats and boots will be very useful. We managed well last winter despite 3 snowfalls but plan to be living in DREEEM for a long while yet so will get the job done now.