Hi,
What an amazing weekend to celebrate Matariki. Work kicked it off in fine
fashion with a hangi and a true celebration of family and friends. I really
enjoyed that event - so well organised by Myra and others. Myra's friend was
so engaging teaching us a new waiata all about Matariki. Such fun.
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| Work iced latte |
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Matariki t shirt on!
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| Nom nom |
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Work organised a hangi
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After the hangi at work, Mike and I wandered around the waterfront to see the
light show. They had a spray of water at the lagoon which they projected
Pasifika poetry onto. That was so cool. They had the story of Matariki on the
front of Te Papa. And a lot of food and fun everywhere.
And a happy birthday to Kara today too!
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Waterfront walk to see the lights
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Wellington showing off
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Back to pack for the weekend and get ready for our roadie to Wairoa.
Good sleep. Up early and pack the Focus and we were so early that Mike made
brekkie for us. Got the cats sorted then drove out to 40WLW to pick up Sally
and Andrew.
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Iced latte at Clareville bakery
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Enjoyed a second brekkie at Clareville bakery - I split a cronut and a pain
au chocolate with Andrew.
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| Roadie! |
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Another iced latte
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We had a late lunch in Napier. Some superb cafe where everything was
delicious. Ajuna Eatery. Totally would go there again. I had smashed avo and
it was good! Not long after this, Mike got a migraine. So we stopped at
Countdown and got meds and some groceries. Then I drove while he took his
ibuprofen and had a quieter ride.
We got to Wairoa around 4pm - the road between Napier and Wairoa is full of
one lane parts, wash outs, bailey bridges, traffic lights and general
devastation. A lot was down to 30 km/h speed restrictions. So much of the
road in gullies and valleys have been so smashed up. Filled up at Z Wairoa
and then headed towards Lake Waikaremoana to Frasertown where our weekend
accommodation was located. Stable Cottage - run by John, who met us as we
sat at the driveway and tried to find the key in the letterbox. Hahah.
Anyway, John got us sorted. And we put our stuff in the cottage and we all
fell in love with how it was renovated and decorated and the view of the
sunset over the river was gorgeous.
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Sunset from Stable Cottage
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Inside the cottage
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We chilled for a bit before Andrew and I headed back to town to get
provisions for tea. Unfortunately we got to New World at 6.58pm and it
closed at 7pm. We were not getting in there. Found the Riverside Dairy open
and had a very one-sided chat to the chap behind the counter about takeaway
options in town. Anyway... didn't get much from him. Got some bread and
eggs. Their eggs were either in boxes of 18 or a tray of about 30. Hahah.
Eggs must be popular.
Back home and Andrew cooked up scrambled eggs and we all tucked in. Then off
to bed after finding out the launch mission had been scrubbed and moved to
Monday! Gah!!
Lazy morning. Mike and I had single beds, which usually means we sleep in
one together - but after Mike's migraine, we didn't fancy squashing into one
small bed. He needed his space. But I got cold in the night! Hahahah. I had
to find a blanket. And I actually grabbed Mike's one for the second night
because he was not cold.
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Morning view from the cottage
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| Cottage front |
Sally and I headed into Wairoa to get some brekkie and coffee. But the
pickings were slim. Sally got a lot from Oster's bakery but they did not
have a lot of veg options. I went back to New World and got some rolls from
there and boiled two of our many eggs! Hahah.
And coffee. We got coffee.
I was fine because I had picked up Lewis Road iced coffees on our way up at
the Countdown in Napier. Lucky!
Then we headed off to explore Lake Waikaremoana. Mike has walked the Great
Walk here before - but I have never been here at all. Stunning!
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Lake Waikaremoana
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A fair bit of gravel road for the wee Focus. It is not the ideal car
for this sort of terrain. The mudflaps were touching down all weekend. Until
we got to the beach between Wairoa and Mahia later today and found one half
hanging off. Mike took that off and the rest of the weekend suddenly got
less noisy when driving.
We had lunch at Waikaremoana Holiday Park - well, next to the lake beside
the park. I really want to do this walk now - this place is amazing.
Back to the cottage. Made a BBQ tea and watched the All Blacks demolish SA in a mighty game at Mt Smart. Wow!
Slept well. Up to pack up. And drove back for brekkie (okay - super late brunch) at Bay Espresso. I do like that place. We used to go there a bit when we rented a house around the corner from there in Jan 2019 when Karen and Scott and Tyler and Abby were over.
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Mike and I recreate the pic with me and Tyler from 2019
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Mike bought coffee from Bay Espresso
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Continued down SH2 to Dannevirke where we followed Google's idea to take the saddle road into the outskirts of Palmerston North. I enjoyed that as I have never been on that road before.
Into Lower Hutt and dropped Sally and Andrew off. Rescued the cats around 5pm - and they were all good! Happy to see us. Like we'd never been gone. Got a wash on. and we were in bed pretty early.
Awesome weekend. Such a fascinating place. So unlike Wellington in many ways. They have a lot of rebuilding in the road system to do. I appreciate now how connected to the whenua they are up there. The cyclone was so devastating in many ways.
Thank you Sally and Andrew for your company. Great to enjoy this trip with you.
Love,
Angela
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