Rain

Yep guess.... what woke up this morning to that very familiar sound....Rain. It has rained for most of the day and just to top it off New Zealand is going to enjoy a unusual cold snap this week-end, oh goody goody. Please don't laugh all those of you in GB, i am told it is not normally this cold and wet at this time of the year so it should get better. Must be the Wardens curse...remember Devon?
Anyway on a lighter note we had a good day, we walked to a wonderful beach in the morning and this afternoon we took a boat trip out to the 'hole in the wall' and spent a very nice hour or so watch dolphins swimming in the sea.
We have also made a bit of a find, following a recommendation from the young man in the Catholic mission yesterday we have eaten for the last 2 nights in the local x serviceman club which serves fresh home cooked food at a fraction of the price in the local hotels or restaurants. They are apparently all over NZ and OZ so a good place to eat all round, and well known to seasoned travellers.
Leaving Russell tomorrow so a new adventure begins

Today was all about culture

Today was our first full day in Russell which is in the Bay of Islands, so me and him decided we would explore the area on foot then hop on a ferry after lunch and explore across the bay. So after a free breakfast, we slapped on the sun screen.....I'll just write that again ....we slapped on the sun screen and decided we would start at one end of Russell and off we went. First stop a Catholic mission building, and we were greeted by a lovely boy on the front desk who came from GB and asked us for 10 dollars each as an entrance fee..........not a good start to the day, however you may remember i talked the Warden into joining the National Trust in Devon..... so when the young man saw the look on the Wardens face when he was asked to part with money,  he asked if we were members of the National Trust, yes i cried and produced the cards and we got in for free. Result!!

The Warden in the garden of the Mission

The Mission

It was fascinating in the mission they had a printing workshop, and a leather tannery, which was all to print leather bound bibles to give to the native population, we saw the tanning and book making process and all in all spent a lovely couple of hours. We then visited the oldest church in New Zealand, okay if you like churches but we are not really fans. After lunch we caught the ferry across to where the treaty was signed between the British and the Maori people which led to the birth of New Zealand as a country. The entry is free for all in New Zealand and us others have to pay. Not these others however, so we went to the cafe and had a cup of tea and a piece of cake, oh well the walk there and back was nice.

Old Bloke outside old church

View of where we are

Our gaff

Tomorrow we are off on a boat trip

And we are off

Well off we go on the next stage of the adventure. Me and the Warden left our home on Friday morning, it is locked away safely in a very large compound near Gatwick airport. The Warden does not like to be late so we arrived at Heathrow some 5 hours before take off, but the time was well spent as we walked around terminal 5 until we could check in our bags, no chance for DVT with us, i do have a few blisters though but i was told they didn't count and i should not have worn new shoes.
The first leg of the journey was to Hong-Kong and the flight was all right especially as we had booked our seats during the summer. I am always surprised at the food we eat on such journeys and even looked forward to breakfast ( how sad is that) The Warden didn't go a bundle on his so i helped him out. Breakfast is a recurring theme of our travels. The Warden is especially pleased when our hotel includes breakfast in our package, this enables him to make enough filled rolls to last us the rest of the day and saves his hard earned dosh, except at our hotel in Hong Kong i was given the job and according to him failed miserably as i didn't make enough, then failed to seek them out of the hotel properly and forgot to include bananas and then to top it off i dropped two of the rolls out in the street.....not good. Anyway at our hotel in Auckland we were back on cereal for breakfast so my training has had to wait.
We embarked on a city tour in Hong-Kong which was very good,except it rained all day and we were unable to see any of the views when they stopped the coach at various places. We did get to go on a boat around the harbour which was interesting to look at all the fishing communities who live on their boats.
We flew out of Hong Kong for another overnight flight to Sydney and then a connecting flight to Auckland which took up the night and much of the following day, so when we arrived in Auckland we were very very tired. After a good nights sleep and good old fashion cereal for breakfast we made a packed lunch, picked up the hire car and took to the open road towards Russell in the 'Bay of Islands'.......to be continued

Christmas week-end

Me and the Warden have been staying with Amanda and Richard for a early Christmas week-end. We had the very best time. Rich cooked Christmas lunch with all the trimmings with special cheese-cake for pudding. Our Mand cooked all the Sharpe traditional fare including very special sausage rolls which even the Warden had to agree knocked his into a cocked hat. Anyway we had a fab time, we were very good and ate everything that was put in front of us..... and came away with presents we are not allowed to open until Christmas morning which will be at the barrier reef in northern Australia for us!!!!
Well we are on the final count-down to the off. So we leave this camp site we are on (Milestone near Newark) which i have to say is one of the nicest sites we have stayed at for a long time and we start our journey towards London stopping on the way to say good-by to the parents and of course my Sister who i shall miss terribly while we are away.Oh and the Warden has another day of work to do......!!

Guess who?

My family out on our Boxing day walk

Them two

Best bib and tucker

The Warden has been seen back in his suit and clutching a lap top and note pad and heading off to work. I laughed, only to be told that this week i will be mainly stuffing envelopes with invitations for organisations to view the new product he is helping to launch onto the market. This is not what i had in mind at all as it is our last week before our grand trip and i planned to scour the shops in an attempt to find stuff to take with me or at the very least fit after finding i have put on so much weight i can no longer get my leg in any of my shorts.!!!
So if any of you would like an exciting new machine that tests leaks in all sorts of items, please look on the DynaScan website and place an order, we then can sell up and make a fortune and the Warden can get back to what he loves best driving the tractor around site, cutting grass and emptying the rubbish bins.
We have had just the very best time while we have been back in the shire. People have been so kind, we have been invited out for meals,coffee, week-ends away (which is why i cannot get into my shorts i suppose). However a minor blip is that i did loose money this week end, playing dominoes so i am very focused on practising before we meet our dear friends Ray and Barbara again in Florida in January and play again, especially the new card game they taught us this week-end.
So we are on the final count down, we have Christmas day with Mand and Rich this coming week-end (no chance i can get my money back playing dominoes with them they flatly refuse), and then we have to take the motor home for some minor repairs before returning back to Cambridgeshire for Dentist and Doctors before heading off to London to place the motor home in storage. Getting very excited now