Change of plan or misunderstanding !

Sunday 24th January 2010

Ignore what I wrote yesterday as apparently I wasn't listening properly and the trip to Waiheke Island is planned for next Sunday, not this. We set off in two cars this morning and I was the only one that thought we were going to the beach. The weather was much improved but shortly after the sun came out, it disappeared again and threatened yet more rain. We drove to a Farmers Market in the picturesque town of Clevedon which is about 25kms (15 miles) south east of here. Disappointingly, there wasn't much going on with stalls selling honey, wine, rabbits and plants to name but a few. We wandered around the stalls but it wasn't long before we made our way back to the cars and we were soon back on the road again, with Kenny leading the way and me following. We made our way around the coast road for another 35 miles or so to Miranda Hot Springs where we paid the $12 entrance fee and joined many other families enjoying the hot waters of the springs. It was not as I imagined, bubbling hot water coming up into rock pools, no, this was a concrete swimming pool with naturally heated water at 36C and another smaller pool where the sauna water was 41C. The weather remained mostly cloudy but you could feel the sun coming through the clouds and, as we found out later in the day, we had all been slightly burned on our faces and shoulders. I had to laugh on the way out as I saw a sign for second hand towels at $5 each. The whole place gave the impression that it more concerned about making money than customer satisfaction and to sell towels that people had left behind just about summed up the place. Having said that, we had an enjoyable time for a good couple of hours. Maxine had made sandwiches and brought the left over pizza from last night, which went down well.
We then continued on our journey around the coast, enjoying some spectacular views which would have been greatly improved if there hadn't been so much grey cloud. The hills in the distance were shrouded in mist, the water was grey and the clouds were grey. We were told that the water is usually emerald coloured but there wasn't much trace of that today.
We travelled round the coast further to Kaiaua, where we stopped for a drink in a very nice bar with a lovely garden at the rear. The sun came out again and so we headed across the road to the beach and messed around playing cricket and taking photos for a while. Next to the bar is a fish and chip shop and it was decided that fish and chips was the order of the day. No haddock or cod here that we usually have in the UK but the Snapper was very nice indeed and the chips cooked to perfection. We sat outside in the sun and ate them from a newspaper which took us all back a few years to the days before they banned it at home. This led the conversation onto the children not being allowed to take toilet roll tubes to school for modelling due to health and safety issues. Aluminium foil tubes etc, yes, but toilet rolls, no. How times have changed.
We set off again with me leading the way this time, heading for ice cream at Kawakawa Bay. We nearly didn't make it as I was utilising my old advanced driving techniques from the police and cutting bends by going through them in a straight line which involves going onto the opposite side of the road if safe to do so. There was no traffic coming towards me but I hadn't counted upon the motorcyclist to my rear suddenly overtaking me. I almost forced it off the road....don't think the rider was best pleased but it was a stupid place to try to overtake me. No harm having been done, we made the ice cream parlour without further trouble before continuing on to Maraetai. By now the sun was out in force and the views across the water to Coromandel were stunning. It reminded Kath and I of the drive up the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland from Belfast to the Giants Causeway, really spectacular scenery. We stopped again for a while and took somme more pics before making our way home for about 7.30pm. The sun was still out at Bucklands Beach where Darren and Maxine live and I sat on a bench across the road from the house at the side of the beach and photographed the sun going down over the harbour.
Darren and Maxine are back at work tomorrow, Vernon, Brenda and Harry are going to Lake Taupo and staying overnight which is where Kath and I are going on Wednesday on our trip to Rotorua. I am flying down to Nelson tomorrow to see Kitch and returning on Tuesday and Kath is staying at home, hoping that the sun shines and chilling out in the garden. I'm not leaving until after lunch and Kenny has offered to take me to the airport so that Kath can have the car but I don't think she is bothered about having it so I may just drive to Auckland and leave it there.
Another eventful day and very enjoyable but I do wish the sun would shine a bit more than it has been doing. Looking forward to seeing Kitch tomorrow but is an 1100kms round trip a long way to go for a drink?