Week 15

Sunday 26th February. Lazy morning. Played cards with Jonny. Left at 12pm to go for lunch at Mangawhai Tavern. Not too impressed with the food or the service this time. Shame as its a nice setting and close to home. Then time to take Jonny back home. I went with them, to keep Rob company. A lot of traffic. Back home at 4.30pm. It will be easier and less driving when Rob gets settled nearer Warkworth. It's quite a hail, there and back from here. Monday 27th February. Went down to the beach in the afternoon and sat round the corner from the surf beach by the estuary. Finally I went into the water! Played bridge in the evening Cullen Street Cullen Street . Gail, who I have played with for the last two weeks hopes to visit Weston Super Mare next year! Small world!. Tuesday 28th February. Set off, after lunch, to go to the lake near the campsite where we stayed in 2011. Beautiful day so hoping to have a swim there. Gravel road so a slow journey. Went to Te Arai point and beach first. Memories of being there with Rob and the children. There is a rock pool there, empty this time as low tide, where we sat and swam several times. Such a beautiful, unspoilt beach. No signs of housing or shops. Just a beautiful sandy beach. Set off to the lake but we couldn't find it! Ah well, another day! Wednesday 1st March. Another beautiful day. Played cards in the afternoon. I was partnered with Ray husband of Aileen who was partnered with Jill and were our opponents. Another afternoon of fun and laughs. I asked if anyone knew what the fireworks had been for last Thursday Sunset at Cullen Street Sunset at Cullen Street . Apparently they were to celebrate the marriage, at the weekend, of the daughter of an American billionaire. They were set off from a boat off shore. Jill told us that two horses had had to be put down afterwards. The very loud noises must have panicked them. Because of this another display programmed for Saturday night was cancelled. I did a bit of digging, on Google, to find out more. The American billionaire is Rick Kayne who has an interest in a golf course, Tara Iti, and development in the Mangawhai forest and Pacific Beach at the northern end of Te Arai beach. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11675923 There has been a lot of local opposition to this development which is understandable given the beauty and seclusion of the area. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11749267 Thursday 2nd March I was unable to get to sleep last night Snells Beach Snells Beach Story! . Got up and finished my book before retiring at 3am! Consequently wasn't on my best form! Slept for a couple of hours in the afternoon. There have been some beautiful sunsets these last few evenings. Friday 3rd March. Rob going up to Pahia this afternoon for the weekend. We were up quite early and decided to have a day out. Weather looking good. Clear blue skies. Drove to Matakana via the Matakana Valley Road, not a road I have used before. Apparently it has only recently been sealed, quite glad about that as it is very steep in places with hairpin bends. We parked in Matakana and had a look in the op shop before going over to the Black Dog for a coffee. Then onto Snells Beach. Had a looked round The Warehouse but nothing took my eye. Spent a lot of hours in there on previous trips and there are often bargains to be had so a bit disappointed this time. Then down to the beach where we parked up and got the chairs out to sit in the shade of a tree by the beach. It was high tide. There was a large group of pre- school children escorted by several adults and they were picking up litter! Each child had a plastic glove on one hand and carried a large carrier bag in which to put the litter. Thankfully there wasn't too much for them to pick up but so good to see them learning this at such a young age. Also it was good to see that all of them were wearing hats to protect them from the sun Litter Pickers Litter Pickers . Back to the shopping centre where we had lunch at Chairs cafe. Can't remember what it was called previously but I have visited it many times in the past. We sat and watched the world go by whilst we waited and waited and waited for out order to appear! It must have taken a good half hour, and the place wasn't that busy, but it was worth it in the end! A short drive then to what is my favourite beach (I think, so many of them), Martins Bay. Although there is a camp site at one end of the beach the other end is quiet and lined with Pohutakawa trees. I have spent many hours there, swimming, walking along the beach looking for shells and just generally enjoying the beauty of the place. I wasn't disappointed, the sun was shining, the sea was blue and all was perfect. Installing ourselves again in the shade of a tree we read and let our large lunch settle. After an hour or so I went into the sea which was warm and walked out until I got to a depth where I could swim Martin's Bay Martin's Bay . Bliss! I went in twice during the afternoon but couldn't persuade Nigel to go in. At one point we saw a large, motor yacht sail out from Kawau island and go out to sea. I suspect it belongs to the wealthy American, Ric Kayne as we saw it anchored off Te Arai last week. We finally managed to drag ourselves away from this little corner of paradise but we shall return! Stopped on the way back for an ice cream at Charlie's gelato garden, http://www.charliesgelato.co.nz The best ice cream ever! Saturday 4th March A bit cloudy and blustery today but still warm. Went into market in the morning. Still battling with the latest jigsaw. It's proving to be quite a difficult one.