This is the week that was - days one and two

Peace and quiet reign in our environs at the moment, now that the noisy Irene Jameison has departed. My gosh, that woman is a bit of a brat. And if you read her blog, you should believe nothing that she writes about me as being organising or getting her wet or anything derogatory, OK?

TBH, we had a wonderful week with Ian and Irene - a huge number of laughs, lots of fun and good food and wine. They are a real pleasure to travel around with, and now that they have gone - headed for the South Island today - we miss them.

They joined us at Waitara Holiday Park (the one run by my lovely sister Dee and her almost as lovely husband Murray, their son Kurt and his wife Charlotte [they are lovely too, by the way]).

They (I&I) had, at my suggestion - and not because it would put them in danger as she states
 - come down The Forgotten World Highway, stayed overnight on the Tahora Saddle right next to the road and then driven down to Stratford, with that amazing view of Mt Taranaki all the way down. We spoke on the phone while they were in Stratford and they stated their need for a camp with showers. So I said for them to get their sorry arses up to us - we were only 40 minutes away.

Accordingly we got together a day earlier than planned - that was a boon.

That evening, we headed into New Plymouth in Dee's car - she is good like that and lends me her car whenever I want it. So far though, Murray hasn't offered me the Dodge... I wonder why. 😚😜

The purpose of the journey was to view New Plymouth's annual Festival of Lights at Pukekura Park. The displays were just stunning. That park is absolutely beautiful by day, and by night it is magical. The thought and effort that goes into the FOL is a real credit to all involved, and it makes me very proud that New Plymouth is my hometown.

Irene was in charge of photography - she is a really gifted photographer, here are some of her photos on her post about it .

We chose the best night to go, as the following day it rained - what was that about!? A bit of a bummer, as we were heading for Tongaporutu. David travelled with Ian, and Irene came with me. She and I had a little food shopping to do, so it was best that the guys forged ahead.

Even in the rain, the countryside on the way north was beautiful in a gloomy sort of way. The lowering cloud cover seemed to accentuate the height of the hills as we drove through the Uriti Valley and up and over Mt Messenger.

Although there were already about 8 motorhomes/buses/caravans/5th wheelers in the parking area at Tongaporutu Domain, there was still plenty of space for our two motorhomes (well, our motorhome and I&I's campervan) on the upper side of the area so that we had the view directly out to the rivermouth. I never tire of looking out at that.

Apparently this is going to be a coffee stand and possibly a fish and chip shop. I am sure it'll do well in the summer especially if there is a sign at the main road indicating coffee is available! See what I mean about the lowering clouds? This was just before the rain actually stopped when I went out on my own.

Another change from our last time there was that the toilet block in a shipping container had been removed from the camping area. I wasn't surprised because emptying of the septic tank was costing the council a fair few dollars as the truck had to come up from New Plymouth. One fewer local job though as the guy who used to come and clean the building, the toilets and remove the waste paper no longer has that task to do. Instead there is this pair of portaloos on a trailer at the carpark. a much better and cheaper solution. Hard to see, but there is a set of steps up to them. Quite innovative, I think.

In spite of Ian's declaration that the rain was meant to stop by 1pm, yeah, nah. It continued to rain, sometimes hard sometimes soft, until about 8pm. Every time we thought it had stopped we considered going out for a walk, but then it would come down again. So the afternoon was spent playing 5 Crowns and looking out of the misted over windows - people would keep breathing!

Beer was going down nicely down Ian's throat, and judging by the bowl and red container on the table, so were nuts and homemade lavosh.

That Irene is a true guzzler!

A change from when we were last there was that there are hundreds of pied oyster catchers sitting on a sand bar. The last few times I have seen up to 6 of them scurrying across the sand and mud and calling to each other, but now there was a huge flock of them. They are noisy and beautiful.

After dinner the sky finally lightened and we went out for a stroll around the domain.

As we came back towards the motorhome, I said hello to a couple - and yay! It was Gay and Johnnie, whom I had known many years ago when my mum and dad were alive. Gay's dad, George, was a local farmer and bach owner, and he was the first person I ever saw go barefoot skiing. I think Johnnie was the second. It was no mean feat doing that on the river, as the water was almost never glass-like. And it had its dangers, as a floating stick (and they were ubiquitous on the river especially on the outgoing tide) would easily pierce a bare foot that was ploughing through the water at 40mph.

Of course, we are now all much much older, so it was wonderful that Gay and I recognised there was a familiarity about us both that had us stop to check it out. I didn't recognise Johnnie though until he took off his hat - what had been a thick thatch of dark brown hair is now still thick, but white and very distinguished indeed! It was great to catch up on their family news and to know that Tongaporutu still features strongly in their lives.

So then it was back to bed, confident that the next day would be fine and sunny. Irene told me in the morning that the sky had cleared totally and the moon was full and beautiful. I didn't see it, as I was sound asleep!