Spring and Holidays

The first days of Spring were celebrated by the arrival of Lynn's Neice Jessica and boyfriend Jacob in Sydney with their work visas. Numerous gatherings with the family have occurred. which has been lovely for them all.

Even the pets were chillaxed! Yes that is what you are seeing.... Sarah and Ant's new dog and their fostered cat!

While that was happening in Sydney, New Zealand moved into Spring with the cherry trees in Greerton in full bloom.

Mid-September saw us meet up with Suzanne and Peter Barker and Dave and Veronica, which was most enjoyable. Of course, the gatherings are punctuated with old stories based around the time Lynn was teaching here in the 70's and where they all first met.  Suzanne and Barks are also very knowledgeable about NZ history and as the election is coming up, we had much chatter surrounding the current situation. They also explained the NZ voting system which is not like the UK. Alongside politics we had all the sport to discuss and there has been so much to watch..... and still going. 

End of the month we went to Tauranga Theatre to see a local production of Matilda which was brilliant. The theatre held about 700 people and was opened by Charles and Diana in 1981! It was like seeing a west end production as it was so professional. One week to go before our trip to the Cook Islands.

Stayed in Auckland overnight on the 7/8th October as flying out from Auckland on Sunday the 8th but crossing the date line and land in Rarotonga, on Saturday 7th! The flight was 4 hours approximately though we arrived early with a following wind.
The Hotel in Auckland had a free drop off bus but due to all the alterations at the international airport we were dropped off miles away from the terminals and walked at least 1k to enter departures. I had opted to use the walker through the airport, which would have been ok except our departure was at gate 17.........only two were further away. However, we got passed through special assistance so that made things slightly easier.
On arrival we were given keys to the property while at the Airport, then immediately transferred to our lodgings, the Muri Beachcomber. Within 200 m our local shop stayed open 24 hours and we picked up a few bits and pieces to make a beef sandwich, as we were completely knackered. My technical investigations over the last few weeks paid off on our first day as the television didn't get NZ tele. In fact, it didn't get the only channel in Rarotonga and so watched, on my iPad, TVNZ News at Six and The Chase. Also, with my vpn, saw Have I Got News for You and a You Tube Qi which was very funny.
Sunday the tech person from the office sorted the tele out and we were able to use our Netflix account to watch the series of David and Victoria Beckham's lives. Posh comes out of it really well and David must have OCD when you view his wardrobe!
Listened to The Breeze from Hamilton on my i phone and listened to the persistent rain on the roof, all day.

 I booked a meal out as we thought eating at the Night Market would be a tad damp!
Got taxi for our well-deserved meal after starving yesterday. Started with cocktails, which I haven't had since I was in the USA ...... followed by grilled Red Cod, a local fish for me and Beef Wellington for Lynn. Our taxi driver, Papa J, was brought up in Te Puke, which is a few K south of Tauranga and talked of chasing Turkeys around his farm as a boy!

What a difference a day makes!
Monday the sun's out and we booked a tour of the island in the am. Will our guide was full of info and we had a good tour of rural Rarotonga. Stopped off at the harbour and saw a fisherman filleting a Mahi Mahi. It was huge!

 Will, our guide, has friends in Papamoa and Whakatane also close to Tauranga. It is a small world despite us being in the middle of the Pacific.

Sun still shining on Tuesday. Each day starts with Cooky, the cockerel, 

crowing at 6am followed by the Koka Lagoon boat trip with its live band and bongos from 9.30 am. 

Visited the food market in the evening and ate BBQ chicken and lamb.

Two buses go around the island. One clockwise and one anti clockwise. Both stop outside our accommodation. Went to the Anti bus stop and ‘twas delayed by 20 mins and while waiting unexpectedly in the morning sun, got sunburn on arm and leg! Been so careful with factor 50 so mildly irritated about that. The bus ride was an event in itself as my walker hardly fitted up the aisle and the accessible seating had, seemingly unaccompanied children on every seat and they weren’t moving for an old woman with mobility issues! A very nice man helped us off the bus and we made our way to Trader Jacks for lunch.  A great spot for lunch.

I had Caesar salad with Mahi Mahi and it was lovely.

Got taxi home as bus was going to be too hard after great lunch. Taxi driver has given us his direct dial so that will be good for Friday.
Ventured into the Lagoon on Thursday, which was more difficult than I remember getting in the sea. Walking without any assistance on dry land is not the easiest for me but in water that gets very gradually deeper, it was a tad harder!
Last day Friday and back to Vaima Polynesian Restaurant that we went to on our first day. Weather has steadily improved through the week and it has been lovely to be in shorts and t shirts and feel warm.

On our last morning we were able to watch the All Blacks before flying home.  Two fantastic rugby quarter finals with France v SA and NZ v Ireland. Both games would have been worthy finals.

Flew out on Saturday 14th and arrived in NZ on Sunday evening 15th, still only a 4 hour flight!.  As we sipped our G and T's this came on the television. Only in New Zealand would you get International Men's Netball on Prime TV at 7.30 pm! 

Stayed another night at the Jet Park and drove home through the Karangahake Gorge which is a beautiful drive. 

It is approx 2hrs 35 mins from the Airport to our home, but it is nothing like the M25 on a Monday morning.  Now back in Tauranga with the weather warming up so all good here. The slide show gives more views of Muri Lagoon and Rarotonga and hopefully I will be able to add the Koka Lagoon Bongo drums to the pictures. Click on the slide show to start and bottom right corner to expand the pictures. When the slide show finishes click on the slide show to end.

 It was lovely not to hear the Cockerel at 6 am this morning.

As on previous occasions, if you no longer wish to hear our news then please let us know. The final Blog will be around October 2024 as that will be 6 years since we moved to NZ. After that I will send a yearly update for those who wish to know what we are doing. This is the last Blog until 2024 which will cover our trip to the South Island for Christmas so that should brighten up a cold January, for some.

Finally, I have just received my NZ Citizenship, which I could apply for after living here for five years. My swearing in Ceremony is on the 8th November, at the Theatre where we saw Matilda, after which I can apply for a NZ passport which will make travelling to Australia so much easier. Don't despair, I can still support England, but I will support NZ against all other countries!! Hope you have enjoyed your trip to the Cook Islands with us. Look forward to hearing from you.