Getting Bike Fit in the Bay and Omicron is here, dammit!

 We are staying in Waimarama with Willie and Chris.

David with his friend Carlos who doesn't move far from Willie ...

This is what I can see in the mirror in these tall people's house ...

And while we have been here, we have

• dropped our bikes off at The Hub in Hastings for their check ups (we love The Hub - absolutely wonderful customer service)
  
• had lunch at Janneke and Nico's (cheese scones made by me and tomatoes grown by J&N)
  
• have been out for two bike rides with W&C,
• the first was an 18km circular route from Taradale to Puketapu, out on one side of the river and back on the other - with lunch at the Puketapu Tavern 
• the second was 36kms return from Awatoto to Bay View - with lunch at the cafe in the campground at Bay View
• made the decision that we will have a day off biking tomorrow ...
• eaten yummy food - Willie is a great cook.

The whole group - Chris did the selfie because he is tallest and has the longest arms ...

At Awatoto almost ready to head off on our ride to Bayview.

 

Not the best photo, but that is a marlin caught by those two young men.

On our way back from Bayview, we could see the northern side of the port and Bluff Hill.

I raced ahead (at about 22kph) looking to minimise the amount of time I was seated. So I stopped in the shade after I'd passed the port buildings, then I waited for the others. Chris came first - I was too slow to get a photo of him. Here comes David.

And Willie coming through the shady patch.

We both have new more comfortable bike seats from The Hub, and I have had a riser fitted to the handlebar column (by Robert at The Hub) so now my bike looks very Dutch - like a sit up and beg bike! And it's very comfortable to ride.

Dinner last night was pizza, built by Willie and me, cooked by Chris in the Weber BBQ. Yummy!

Chris is cutting up David's and my pizza - all got consumed, and to be honest, David had 5/8 of it ...

This morning, for Lisa on What A Lark, I took photos of Willie and Chris's garden - Willie loves her garden and even though they have had no rain for a couple of months, with none predicted for at least two more weeks, she has trained her plants to cope without constant watering. Of course, they use rinse water for spot watering.

Dahlias

Tomatoes by the garage have gone crazy!

 

Petunias looking fabulous!

Our next stop is going to be Waipukarau for a bike ride on our way back to Waikanae.

These plans may be disrupted by the news that with at least 10 cases of Omicron now in the community we are going into RED on our Traffic Light System. That means masks always in indoor settings and outdoors where physical distancing cannot be maintained, limits of 100 people at venues where all are vaccinated, 25 where they are not. There is guidance about duration of isolation if infected or a close contact, which I have to study a bit more.

The government planning is based on scenario planning for up to 50,000 cases - hard to imagine here in NZ where we have successfully pretty much kept covid at bay for the last 2 years.

And our World Famous amazing Prime Minister has postponed her wedding which was due to happen in the next week or so. When asked how she felt about it, she said 'That's life. Of course I am sad. But other people have had a lot more to deal with when unable to see loved ones before they passed away or when they have been very sick.' She truly is an amazing person. We are so lucky to have her.

OK, now it's a question of wait and see what happens over the next 24 hours re accommodation availability - that will determine whether we travel directly home or whether we stay in Waipukurau - motel owners may be a bit chary about having people coming to stay right now. A phone call will determine that though.

We have been chatting with Willie and Chris this evening about whether we will still go to the South Island in March - they are due to go a couple of weeks before us. We have all decided that we will play the wait and see game really. And we agreed also that deciding whether or not we can go on holiday is a very first world problem ...

Back to the previous post about being in Tongaporutu:

While we were in Tongaporutu, we visited the old bach. It looks very, very different. Kelly and Peter have stripped it out and changed where the bedroom is - that was part of the lounge for us. They have opened out the bedroom and the dining area into one large room - it's very empty in the summer because they have also extended the deck and have transparent plastic walls and pretty much live in it constantly. 

They have relined the walls and ceiling with ply which looks cool and is easy maintenance. They lifted the carpet (very old, tired, worn), uncovered a large amount of sand from over the years ..., and then they have sanded and polyurethaned the matai floor boards. It looks wonderful!

The bedroom - I love the photo of two of the sisters with Taranaki in the background.

The new lounge which has incorporated the bedroom.

The kitchen has been refurbished - it needed it...

And a lovely job has been made of the bathroom!

 It is great to see the bach being used and loved, and it does lessen the loss of part of our family history. Rather than seeing it as a loss, I'm viewing it as a change of direction - and the fact that Kelly and Peter are enjoying it does assuage the pangs of that change.