On the Saturday we watched my niece, Hollie, at her swimming lesson. At 8 years old, Hollie can definitely swim better than me (not that it is difficult to swim better than me), doing 30-40 lengths, in a variety of strokes during her 45 minute lesson. We then had coffee with Hollie, Adam and Colleen at Revive in Petone.
With Colleen studying for a Monday exam, we joined Adam and Hollie for a walk around Oriental Bay in Wellington on Sunday. This of course involved coffee for Marlene and Adam, and ice cream (gelato, to be completely accurate) for Hollie and me, followed by a light lunch at Elements in Kilbirnie, before picking up my sister, Tricia, at the Wellington railway station. A good day out!
By Monday, tropical storm Pam, moving in a southeasterly direction, was sitting off the east coast of New Zealand, after devastating Vanuatu a few days earlier. Pam brought much rain and gale force winds to Wellington, so we did not spend much time out of the house....a last visit with Auntie Noeline and a last coffee at Revive, and then back to the shelter of Margaret's house in Koro Koro.
We were not looking forward to our flights to Auckland on Tuesday, with the winds forecast to continue, but our flight and Tricia's flight were both unaffected by the weather, and we got to Auckland on time, picked up our rental car, and headed off to Whitianga, our home for the next two nights.
We have visited Whitianga several times before, but it was a first visit for Tricia, so we had to show her all the touristy things. On Wednesday we visited Hot Water Beach, site of natural hot springs on the beach at low tide. People dig holes in the sand and soak in the hot water. Perhaps it was the aftermath of Pam, or perhaps it was our location on the beach, but we only found luke warm pools.
On Friday we headed to Tauranga for the Sherlock family reunion on Saturday, but made a few stops along the way. First stop was for a walk in the Karangahake Gorge. The walk is along a disused railway line, and is part of the Hauraki Rail Trail. We only walked a small section of the trail but it was good to have a break from the car. Needing sustenance after the walk, we headed into Waihi, for a snack at a cafe, where I had the biggest scone that I have ever seen. I ate the whole thing and part of Marlene's also, so I was well fortified for the remainder of the drive to Tauranga.
We also stopped in Katikati, to see the Haiku Walk, which we had read about online, and also to eat our picnic lunch. I don't profess to understand the rules of Haiku, but this is the only Haiku walk outside of Japan, and the words are etched into large stones along the walk. I also found a bench with my name on it (literally), for a little break. An added bonus was ripe figs on a tree along the Haiku walk....I climbed the tree and picked about a dozen figs, to enhance our breakfast over the next few days.
Even with our stops we made it to Tauranga by mid-afternoon, and were joined by my other sister, Margaret, within about 15 minutes of our arrival, so we are all here safe and sound for the family reunion tomorrow.
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