Wet days and bad back = a book

Well a number of wet days and a back that still prefers to be rested has resulted in us spending some time and putting together a small book of memoirs from our 1996 South Pacific cruise onboard Scot Free. Click the link below to check it out. We did it to see what it comes up like as there are potentially more stories to follow. The link does go to an ebook store (but it's free) and we have been able to download the book to ibooks to read.

http://store.blurb.com/ebooks/486632-scot-free

Coromandel weekend

We spent last weekend revisiting some favourite spots on the Coromandel Peninsular and also discovering places that we had not been to before. We left Tauranga on Friday and spent our first night at the Wentworth Valley DOC camp, a place we have been to before. Its lovely and quiet, tucked up at the end of the valley amongst the bush and we were there on our own.  On Saturday we headed north through Hikuai, Pauanui and Tairua then Hahei and Hot Water Beach before stopping for the night in a motor camp in Whitianga. Sunday we checked out Matapouri and Whangapoua then headed over the hill to Coromandel where we stopped for lunch and a quiet time in the sun at Te Kouma harbour. The spot where we both previously kept our boats moored and had many wonderful memories of weekends there with Carey and Fausett families. We stopped the night in Coromandel after buying delicious smoked mussels and scollops from Bronwyn at Coromandel Smokehouse. We called in to see Rolly and Jeanette on our way through Te Puru on Monday but missed Rolly as he was out fishing.
Literally a fantastic trip, beautiful scenery, wonderful weather and Mervan (our camper) went really well.  The photos above are in order - leaving the DOC camp in the Wentworth Valley, fishermen at Tairua, Hahei beach x2, Whitianga.

Bones

Well here we are again, off work and recovering from a fractured T12 vertebrae. A compression fracture from falling off the bike nearly 4 weeks ago.  It was a slow pace gentle ride along what turned out to be a slippery board walk. Warren fell from his bike just behind me and in doing so knocked my back wheel tipping me off onto my butt. The impact produced the fracture mentioned above.  Why again? Last November I managed a multi part fracture of my proximal humerus. These are nasty fractures and often take a year to heal but I've been crowing that the recovery has been quicker than that and was back on my bike after 12 weeks. Initially being a bit timid but latterly back to my pre-fracture confidence. I'll not crow this time.

Unfortunately this injury has meant we needed to cancel the 3 week South Island holiday that we had planned to start 26 July but we think we will probably head down there sometime around Easter next year. Looking at the weather forecast we may not have achieved much mountain biking as its been cold, wet and windy but it would have been nice to catch up with family.

This weekend we will need to crack open a wine to celebrate our 20 years together. This time 20 years ago we were sailing home from a 3 month journey to Fiji not realising that our worlds were about to change in a big way. We were home less than a week when we decided to head back to the boat 'Scot Free' and then began permanent life aboard in Auckland's Westport Marina. We both managed to get work in Auckland. Warren briefly as a caretaker for a Motel in Parnell, then as a driver with the Yellow Bus Company and I scored a Charge Nurse Manager role at Auckland City Hospital.  The rest, as they say, is history!

We went mountain biking last weekend in the Woodhill Forest with Craig and Quinn. Check out the video.

Mervan

Here's Merv, (Mer-van) our weekend camper which we have had for 6 weeks now. Put the milk in the fridge and the bikes on the back and were away.  We are looking forward to a 3 week holiday in the South Island with Merv starting after work on the 25th July.

K2W

A few weeks ago we rode the K2W trail out of Kinloch, Lake Taupo. It was a 24 km loop that took us up to some impressive spots to lookout over  the lake. The trick was staying on the bike Warren!

A good place for a hot swim after mountain biking a few weeks ago. Just off the main road south of Rotorua.