The drive back to Wellington was uneventful, with coffee in Woodville, and a short visit with my sister Tricia at Cross Creek....one of the few times that we have visited Cross Creek that the wind was not at gale force. I kid you not, we have actually seen the glass in a window bending in the wind there, it can be that strong. We had time for a drink (tea only) and a snack, a walk in the yard, and picked a few passionfruit off Tricia's vines, before resuming our journey to Wellington.
Once in Wellington, the focus was to get Fredda organized for her flight home to Vancouver. I made plans with my son in law to swap the SIM card in Fredda's phone once she arrived in Vancouver, so that we could continue to be in touch on her New Zealand phone number until she had left the country, but more on that later.
The other important task was stocking up her suitcase with New Zealand chocolate for the family back home, especially her great grandchildren. We were glad that we bought chocolate at Pak N Save, as the prices elsewhere were substantially higher. e.g. a Whittaker's 250 gram chocolate bar at Pak N Save was $4.50, the same bar at New World was $5.29, and at Wellington airport was 2 for $14, or $12 each. Yes you read that right, 2 for $14, but $12 for 1. So don't wait until you are at the airport to buy your goodies.
Air New Zealand provided excellent service for Fredda - they provided us with a wheelchair for her in Wellington airport and let us both walk her to the departure gate, boarded her first, and gave her a blanket. She was met in Auckland, wheelchaired to the inter-terminal bus, wheelchaired from the bus, through the international departure formalities and to the departure gate. In Vancouver, they wheelchaired her through Customs, got her checked luggage and sent her on her way pushing her luggage trolley, the short distance to where she met our son in law, Norm.
Fredda opted to go straight to the ferry, rather than spend the night with Norm and Heather, as Kinley (our granddaughter) was suffering with a cold. So all Norm had to do was change the SIM card in Fredda's phone and drive her to the ferry. The SIM card got changed and test messages started arriving, but it soon became clear that I had given her Marlene's Canadian SIM by mistake....talk about confusing! I guess I can juggle 2 balls but not 3. After thinking of the best way to extricate myself from this mess, Norm went to the nearest Telus store and obtained a new SIM card for Fredda's Canadian phone number, and all became fine once again in the world of communications....at least until Marlene gets back to Canada.
With Fredda safely home, we spent the weekend with my sister, Margaret, and then on Monday set off again for Napier, our home for the next four weeks.
We have now settled in to our accommodation (same place that we stayed at 2 years ago), picked up bikes from my cousins Maureen and Denzil, and have even done a few "muscle conditioning" rides to prepare us for longer rides later. The leg muscles are okay, but the butt muscles protest every time we sit down on the seat. Our training ride has been around the estuary, through the salt water marsh, a cafe stop, and easy ride home on the paved coastal path.
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| Marlene negotiating the boardwalk over the estuary |
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| Don't try this portion of trail at high tide |
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| Some of our newe friends in the marsh |
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| It doesn't get much calmer than this - not a ripple |
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| Port and Napier Hill from the easy coastal trail |
We try and get out biking as early as possible each morning (8:30 ish) before the winds pick up, which also gives us the rest of the day to focus on other activities. I have much family history work to do, a conference to check out online, a possible relative of Marlene's to visit, and I have to prevent Marlene from feeling neglected. Well 3 out of 4 ain't bad :-)
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