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.