To Mangakino

After New Year's Day, we spent the next 5 days in Auckland taking it easy - reading books, and watching a few DVD's. One day we did some geocaching nearby, and found a couple of geocaches. Another day Carolyn's younger brother (Phillip)came over with his wife (Tina) and child (Temuera). They were visiting NZ from Australia. We had a great time talking and catching up, and then we all went to Maraetai Beach and swam in the sea and jumped off the wharf. We started cleaning and tidying the house on the 5th of January in preparation for leaving on the 7th. On the 6th I was doing some work (preparing for lecturing later this year), when I got a text message from the owner of the house saying that they were coming back that day. And, they were only a half hour away! We all went in to panic mode, and ran around finishing the cleaning of the house and quickly packing the caravan. We were fortunate that we had already done so much. As I pulled the caravan off their lawn and out to the road to turn around and park out the front, I saw them turn in to the road. In all the rush, we only left a bike lock behind. Pretty good considering the rush in which everything was done. We headed out of Auckland in the late afternoon, and found a place to stay just south of Hamilton.

The following day, Friday the 7th of January, saw us (after a slow start) head off to Piopio, just south of Te Kuiti. We were heading there because Trish, the sister of a friend(Lynne), was shifting house from Piopio to near Te Kuiti and needed a hand. She had already organised a trailer (an old horse float) and that evening we filled it up and took a load around to her new house. Saturday saw us spend most of the day helping with the house shifting, and in the evening we took our caravan around and parked it on their lawn. We spent the next few days camped on their lawn, helping with the unpacking and generally having a fairly relaxed time.

We left Te Kuiti on Wednesday 12th of January and drove about an hour west to Mangakino on the shores of Lake Maraetai on the Waikato river. We had the use of the front lawn of a bach in the village of Mangakino. After parking the carvavan, setting up the tent, and getting organised in general, we had a small explore of the general area. We are only a short walk down the road to the lake, and there is a small town centre not far away. We tried to drive to the two hydro dams at the end of the lake, but they are heavily fenced off (and the fences are heavily electrified too!).

After a slow start on Thursday, we walked in to town and explored the few shops. We ended up in the cool of the library where I briefly used the free WiFi to check some emails. It turns out though, that the library doesn't actually have free WiFi, and I was using someone else's! Oops. We were allowed to join the library, and get out a number of books for us all to read. After returning to the caravan and having a late lunch, James and I donned our swimming togs, and wandered down to the lake. There were some kids jumping in off the floating wharf, so we went and joined them. The water was surprisingly warm, so we spent a couple of hours jumping in. We were right next to the boat ramp, so had to keep an eye on boats and trailers coming and going. It was great fun, and finally it was hunger that drove us home, although James would've stayed longer if I'd let him. After dinner we left Esther to read, while the rest of went back down to the lake and James and I again jumped in, although the air was a bit cooler by that time.

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the weather has been hot and humid. We've all cooled off in the lake every day, and generally lived a laid-back existence. Sunday morning we went to a local church - a small bretheren congregation. I think there were 13 people present (including the five of us!), but both Carolyn and I enjoyed it. It was a refreshing change of pace to have a simple service and sing some hymns. The children had their first taste of real wine for communion, which they unanimously decided was inferior to fruit juice. Fortunately Carolyn had brought in a bottle of water (another hot day!) and the children were able to wash the yucky taste out smartly. I quite liked it. I could've taken a bigger sip! I got an email from university saying my contract is ready to sign, so we're going in to the postshop Monday to find out how to get something sent to the postshop for us to collect, and I should get this blog posted then too. Next big trip, I would love to have cheaper mobile internet (why exactly is it so expensive in NZ?), and a laptop with a longer battery life (this one is about 5 years old now).