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We just got back from a couple of days in Hamilton. Mike wanted to buy a shortie wetsuit and Rebel sports had a 25% off sale.

He tried on a medium sized wetsuit. “Its a bit tight”, he squeaked. He then tried on an extra large one. “Its a bit loose”, he said. So I gave him another one to try. “This one fits just right”, he said while admiring his butt in the mirror.

I looked at the tag and cracked up laughing. It was a ladies wetsuit! He bought it anyway.

Other that that, cyclone Fuma is coming and the rain is a welcome relief from the hot hot weather we have been having.

Poor Mum and Dad are away playing golf in this cyclone, so we are left looking after the house. Hope we don’t lose the roof.

By Mike

A few years ago when I took a week off work to do my motor cycle training and test my kids thought I was going through a mid life crisis.

Then when Jo and I brought a kayak, my kids thought I was crazy.

When we then brought a sail board, they knew I was bonkers.

And when I gave up work to tour New Zealand and Australia they were going to get me committed.

Well they should have, because now at the age of 54 I am over coming my fear of the sea and learning to snorkel. The first attempts weren’t too good although I was only in a few feet of water. I should really have breathed through that pipe thing instead of my nose.

But having made that mistake I soon learnt and haven’t done it since.

I am getting better at each attempt. I suppose the next thing I need to do is to learn how to swim!!

We went camping at Simpson’s beach for a couple of days over the weekend with my friend Robyn and her entire family. Our families used to go camping together when Robyn and I were kids. It was just like the old days, except 30 years later and the kids are the next generation.

They had a cool set up. Chris had his converted bus;

Robyn’s parents had their caravan with the cookers and banquet tables in the middle.

And the tents around the edge. Here’s our little tent next to our messy car.

They even had the facilities to bake a cheesecake for Peters birthday.

There was no power or toilet facilities so we made do with a solar shower tent and a portapotti tent. A bit like our parties at
Putney (except the toilet was emptied regulary so it didnt overflow!)

We went out in the boat fishing and caught loads of undersized snapper. Look at this pathetic thing that Mike caught!

I caught a Gurnard (a very pretty fish with wings that flys) and this was the only thing worth eating.

The second lot that went out caught 10 Kowhai (not fair). We smoked them and we ate them for dinner. YUM.

On Monday we drove up to Matarangi to play around in the surf. I tried the surf ski out on bigger waves but they were a bit dumpy. It was good for boogie boarding though.

Amigene said she had spotted sharks there last week, so I was on the lookout. We did see something black in the water, so the odds were is was a shark as there were 40 spotted the day before. pretty scary.

We all had a go in Chris’s land yacht, which he built for $600. The bought ones are $4000. It was loads of fun and a great way to see the beach.

There are more photos at:

Simpsons Beach

Matarangi

Yikes! 40 sharks were spotted at a beach we were swimming at on Monday! We were also swimming there on new years day. Amigene, my niece has a holiday house there and she spotted some last week. Think I will steer clear from that beach from now on.

Shark Traffic Jam

A big corgette from Mums and Dads garden. There is no shortage of fresh veg and salad here.

Mike and Dad doing some man bonding after collecting pipis and cockles on the low tide. They are supposed to be cleaning and cooking them!

We are going camping at Simpsons beach tomorrow. It’s supposed to be a good spot for fishing and snorkeling. There’s loads of paua (abolone) and hopefully we might get some crayfish. We’ll also take the surfski in case there’s some waves.

Its been a pretty quiet few days as I’ve been getting over a mild cold.

By Mike

These are not the high society races of Ascot, more the local country meeting of Wincanton that I remember from my childhood.

We set off at 10:00 to allow us some time to do a bit of shopping before meeting Lynda & John at 12:00.

We stopped on the way into Thames to get some roof racks for Jo’s car.

We drove on to Thames arriving just in time to meet with Lynda and John for coffee before going off to the races.

After a few detours, because taking the wrong turnings, we finally made to the race course. The entry fee was $5 each, not a large amount to pay but still too much for some, as previous years entry had been free.

To get to the parking we drove across the race course and parked up, then having to cross the racecourse on foot to get to the stands.

The meeting is not just about the races but it’s about meeting old friends and family that you have not seen for some time.

We were advised on the type of bet to place,a quinella, picking 3 horses and only requiring two to finish in first and second place. Not too difficult ! !

We tried our hand but soon we realised that we didn’t have a clue what we were doing. After losing on the first two races we then discovered the running sheets for the meeting, along with the notes on the horse’s recent performances.

The ones both Jo & I had been backing all seemed to be the ones that had seen better days.

So we decided to leave while we still had some money left and before the big rush at the end of the meeting.

The last thing Mum said as we departed for the festival was “We’ll meet you at the mussel fritter stand at 12.30”

Mussel fritters were clearly on my mind when we arrived at the Tairua wine and food festival on the dot of 11am. We made our way through the hoards of people and joined the queue at the mussel fritter stand. Unfortunately the mussels were somewhat weak and the fritter contained more batter than anything else. It was nowhere near as good as the one I had at the Thames races the day before.

We did a lap of the stalls. There were the usual festival items for sale. We found the infomercial men we met at the pub the night before selling their wondercloths and magic potato peelers. There was the German lady selling NZ photos stuck to a hunk of MDF board (every year Mike and I proclaim we can do that, and then never get around to it). There were the usual hippy creams made from essential oil of ragwort or some other new age product. There were aeroplanes made out of beer cans (My Dad could make them). We chose not to buy any of these treasures.

The wine tasting was the highlight of the day. We tried a local sauvignon from Cooks beach, which was a tad sharp and fruity. We tried one from Nelson, which was delicious. So delicious, in fact, that we had a few while we listened to the bands.

A little tipsy, we started the stagger home when my phone rang. It was Mum. “Where are you? I stood by the mussel fritter stand for 40 minutes waiting for you”.

In all the excitement of the day I completely forgot about meeting Mum. I am such a bad daughter.

Here is a slideshow of some photos from the festival:

Tairua Wine and Food Festival

Today we tried out the surfski in the surf. I thought I’d try little waves to start with to get used to it. Its really good fun and much easier than I imagined it would be. Mike had a go and enjoyed it too. Its hard work on the back and stomach muscles though.

We’re both feeling really knackered today. It has suddenly got much hotter and we are noticing it. Very humid.

We are going to the hick town races in Thames tomorrow. If it’s too hot, there are some swimming holes nearby so we can duck out for a swim. Hopefully I can build on the casino win I had in Hamilton before Christmas!

Tairua is a sleepy little seaside town with a population of about 1400. That is until the summer holidays when the population increases to about 14,000. Our secret paradise has been infested by holiday makers! On the positive side though, there are bands on most nights and the place has a fun buzz about it.

I’m pretty lucky that Mum and Dad live here. It’s a wonderful place to spend the summer holidays. Their house overlooks the estuary, and its a 10 min walk to the surf beach. Most of our time has been spent boogie boarding, boating, fishing, bush walking and of course, boozing. Mike and Dad at this moment are putting some fins on my surf ski, which we plan to try out in the surf tomorrow.

Here are a few piccys of Tairua.

Tairua

By Mike

Today after being E.T. and phoning home to check up on my kids we decided to take Bryce’s boat out. It’s a small dingy with an air cooled outboard motor.

Bryce took us out of the estuary. When he was satisfied we could manage the boat ourselves he went ashore and left us to it.

We decided to go through the waterways at Pauanui. This is the posh end of town. One of the first houses we saw had a helicopter parked on the lawn.

Ours was the oldest and smallest boat about, we looked well out of place, but no one seemed to mind.

We rounded a corner in the waterways to see this extremely large house, with an extremely large garage next to it. As we drew closer we finally saw what was being stored inside. Yes it was another helicopter.

Perhaps when we retire we can buy a section here and put our tent up on it.

Here are some photos:

Pauanui Waterways