The wet weekend in Nelson and Marlborough

 Hi,

What a weekend. Mike and I left Wellington at 2am on the Bluebridge ferry. We had a cabin booked - as did a lot of people. But the cabin was perfect for a sleep as we drifted across the strait to Picton. Nice and clean and warm. I had a shower just before we tucked ourselves in (good water pressure - tiny space with a clingy shower curtain).  

Up at 5am to head down to the car for our 6am arrival. And we were driving through rain and surface flooding to Blenheim nice and early.

Got to Iona and Col's place in the dark, so I couldn't really see the new garage easily.  But Iona had cooked up some amazing scrambled eggs and they had got in some Lewis Road iced coffee for me. Mmmm.

We chatted away to Iona and Col to hear about the garage fun and what their weekend plans were. Iona was heading south for a rogaine event. Col was heading to work later in the day.

I got Lewis Rd in Blenheim - thank you

Blenheim backyard

We left Blenheim around 8.20am ish.  The roads were starting to close so we had to go through Renwick and the Rai Valley was already called out as a spot to be careful for flooding.  We had a lot of surface water to negotiate to get to Havelock and the paddocks were quite flooded. We got into Havelock at 8.45am and Mike decided to charge the car at the 4 square in case we were delayed in queues through to Nelson.

There was a faff to get hooked up because the 4 square is sealing their car park.  Mike had to reach the cable across a fence to get into the car. But eventually, in the rain, he got the car charging. Yay. We popped into the cafe not far from Barb's house. As we got our coffees the owner was keeping us all abreast of closures.

The Rai valley closed.  Oh.  And then the Wairau valley closed. So no way to Nelson. And then there was commentary around the road back to Blenheim getting closed. So we got our coffee transferred to a takeaway cup and fled. Unhooked the car and headed back.

Oh

Yeah

Col was probably not surprised to see us back at her place. Iona got her stuff ready - they did some messages (Twigg to the vet etc). And we sat and watched TV all day.

Back in Blenheim

Iona headed south with Nicola and their friend Andrea. Col went to work. And we sat there, with Twigg. Hahah. Did go to PacknSav to charge the car. Bought some stuff at Mountain Warehouse. Ate at Catalyst.

After a good long sleep (still tired from the 2am ferry I reckon) we went for a walk with Col and Twigg to survey the flooding.

Let's check out the flooding

Mighty tree in Pollard Park

Submerged bridges

Okay - Taylor River is huge

We tried to rescue at wee dead eel stuck in a grate. But once we pulled it out, it was obvious it had died.

Everything is underwater

Looking upstream

High tide mark

No park run  - it is well underwater

The road opened up again so we left to go to Nelson. Got through without any drama. We were going to meet the real estate agent Friday to see the house. Told her we couldn't get through. The campground said they would give us a credit for Friday night. 

As we came in Saturday we decided to go straight to the house and examine the outside. All looked good. And as we peered in a window, I tried the sliding door. And it was open. So we inspected the inside thoroughly. It is empty - new tenants coming soon.

Nelson is sunny after the deluge

Mike enjoys the view

House is empty

There were not too many issues with the house. Mike told the real estate people what needs to get fixed. 

We headed to Tahunanui campground and got diverted into Britannica Heights to avoid a slip on the coast road.

Checked in and they refunded me for Friday night. Awww - thank you.

The SH6 around the coast is slipping

Skull Island

Skull island

Went for a walk to check out the slip. The cliff was just oozing and a bit of dirt had landed on the road. Walked back by Sprig and Fern and enjoyed dinner there.

Up Sunday for a run. We went along the beach (nice firm sand) and I spotted intact sanddollars. Wow! Only seen broken ones washed up before on Kapiti.

Sunday run

Yeah - Nelson is nice

Sandollars - intact!

There were a few of them in a patch of sand

Underside of a sanddollar - related to sea urchins I think

We checked the slip out - another part had let go and the entire road was shut. Oh dear.  We checked out and went to Richmond to visit the Gear Shop and Ambrosia cafe. Our car charged at the Richmond library while we shopped and ate.

Iced coffees

Gear Shop

Ambrosia cafe in Richmond

Then back to Blenheim. Poked our noses in at Pelorus. 

Pelorus

Roads still closed in Marlborough - Jackson Rd

Taylor River late Sunday

You need gumboots to explore - everything is sodden

Still a lot of water

Went for a walk with Iona and Col to see the Taylor river. It had dropped a lot - but still a lot of flooding. We saw a dead eel - probably the same one. Half eaten - probably birds.

Back to Iona and Col's house. We got some soup to take - yay! And then we headed to our ferry at 5.20pm. Early for the check in. And the ferry was delayed. We didn't get on until 8pm. In our cabin by 8.30pm. Mike slept well but I did not. Huge swells in the strait. My water bottle was moving on the table. Hahah.

Back home by 1am. Cats were happy to see us. Into bed. 

By the numbers:

Where	When	Start	End	Duration	Rate (c/kWh)	Cost	kWh
Havelock 4 Square	27-Jun-2025	08:53	09:11	00:18	$0.85	$5.02	5.9
Blenheim Pak'nSave	27-Jun-2025	14:23	15:17	00:54	$0.90	$17.07	19.0
Richmond Library	29-Jun-2025	10:24	11:20	00:56	$0.80	$22.56	28.2
Blenheim Hub Chargenet	29-Jun-2025	14:07	14:30	00:23	$0.70	$9.36	13.4
TOTAL	4			02:31		$54.01	66.4

419.6 km

8h 5m driving time

4 charges

2h 31m charging time

66.44  kWh charged (82.66 kWh total)

$54.01 charging fees

Plus RUC ($76.00/1000km) $31.89 = total cost $85.90

Versus the Forester, at $2.57/L for 95 petrol, would have cost $107.84

Hard to get up this morning. Terrible news about the flooding coming in. Someone died when they went to check floods. Waaaah.

I am heading back to Marlborough this Friday - along with more rain due to hit them then too. Hopefully things dry out before then.

Have a great week.

Love,

Angela

The week with planning

 Hi,

Sorry, sorry. It is planning week at work and my routine is all over the place.

Tuesday night we met up with Sally and Andrew and went to Bellamy's for dinner. Through security at 18:00 and then into the restaurant. Good food. I had gnudi (which really seems to be gnocchi) and the four cheeses.  Mmmm. 

David Seymour also had dinner next to us. As did Nicky Hager at another table.

Bellamy's for tea Tues night

At 20:20 Sally and Andrew left but Mike and I decided to go into the gallery because the house was sitting. It was so cool. We listened to debates on the immigration bill (they want to tighten some of that up) and the forestry bill for stopping planting of pines on arable land. We stayed there for about an hour. Saw Damian O-Connor heckling on the forestry bill. Maureen Pugh as Speaker. A few others we recognised.

Pizza for lunch

Sourdough

Wednesday saw me in all day planning (and again today!). We had pizza for lunch. Good sessions. Home with Mike to get the Subaru and drive back to pick up the mini golf infrastructure. hahah. Shane will take it home at some point.

Tonight we will head home and pack. And off to bed. Up at midnight to catch the 2am ferry. Sleep in the cabin. Brekkie with Iona and Col. Then off to Nelson.

Hope your weekend is a good one.

Love,

Angela

The Monday working from home and then netball

 Hi,

I worked from home on Monday and it was a good thing. Got laundry done. Baked bread after work before I went to town. Changed kitty litter. 

Sourdough

Headed into town after I fed the cats and fed myself some pasta to meet Mike at work.  Bumped into Erin and Pippa as I went into work so they came in. Found Mike talking to Jill. So headed off to TSB to see Pulse play Steel.

TSB Arena - Pulse v Steel

Here I am

What a game. So close.  Pulse were ahead the entire game - except for the last 30 seconds where it all went wrong. Steel got a super shot. Then their centre pass gave them the chance to go ahead with the winner. And they made it easily.  56 to 57. Bad luck to Pulse. It was there for them.

Hey Jill

Erin and Pippa are in the background

Back to work

Said goodbye to Erin and Pippa and Jill (Pippa has changed so much since the last time I saw her - she is taller than me I think).

Headed back to work where Mike was helping Shane assemble the mini golf courses.  Hahahah.

Looks good, Shane

Home by 10pm and into bed.  Up to bus in because we have dinner at Bellamy's tonight.  PT session was tough. Finished push ups for the day (170) and did squats with wraps.  70kg  4 sets x 3 reps.

Tuesday morning iced latte with Lisa and Satish

Bumped into Lisa and Satish at French Kiss cart. And then off to work for the huge day.  Mini golf comp day.

Have a fantastic day.

Love,

Angela

The weekend with Mike off on Friday too

 Hi,

What a lot has happened since the last time I blogged. We had our Matariki celebration at work on Thursday evening and Polly came up mainly to visit this event. We had such a good time. The hangi was so good this year. Yum! Mine was roast kūmara, roast carrot (hmm), roast pumpkin, a lot of stuffing. 

Matariki at work - sharing kai with whānau

Wandering around the waterfront afterwards

From there, after tidying up, we walked around the waterfront, checking out the things on display. A lot of light shows depicting Matariki importance.

Mike and his mother check out the lights

Love it!

Ubered home and then Mike and I dropped his mum off at her unit in Epuni. Back to bed and Mike was up early to drive into the gym to meet Quentin for his PT session.

He ended up eating Maccas after that - and brought me home some. Hahah. First time I have had Maccas in years.

Readers - I quite liked it. I thought they had moved to unsweetened iced latte by default because Mike forgot to ask for no sweetener - but it wasn't sweet until I got to the last wee bit. So lucky it was not stirred up. Tasted good until the last few cms.

Friday morning Maccas!

I did not leave the house the entire day on Friday. There you go.

Saturday we were up early to get ready to meet everyone at Catchpool to go and do Callan's new trapline. We are all invested with him. 

We got a lot of punters.  We picked up Maureen and Andrew.  Ange and Danita came over. And Callan picked up Caitlin.

On our way to Catchpool to check the new trapline

Caitlin and Mike

Ange is there

Crossing Midway bridge

Fast walk into Turere Lodge. The new traps start at the stairs just after the bridge and the toilets.  Double ones.  DoC 200 and 250s.  The line is BB - for Big Bend. And there are 16 traps - with 2 in each. We get to about 500m beyond Haurangi Hut I reckon when we hit trap BB16.

We had lunch there.

Resetting traps

Note taker

Crossing a stream to keep dry

Callan resets more traps

Then Andrew and Maureen decided to head up the Whakanui track. It was only about 200m further ahead. A heard grunt up to the ridge - and then a good walk along the top to the junction at the top of Sunny Grove.  They got there just as we all got to Midway bridge.  

On our way back to the car

Punga 

In the punga

At the bridge

Back to 40WLW with Maureen and Andrew - and Mike's mother walked over from her place. And Sally cooked up a storm. Delicious roast veg with haloumi. Mmmmm. And the guacamole was so good as the starter.

Dropped off Maureen and then home. Up Sunday to a fairly lazy day for me. Mike collected Christine from the airport and came home with her. We had a good long chat about her holiday and the next plans with the flat. Mike had to work so once Christine headed home, he got stuck in. We did get some house work done. And the cats got to play outside.

Dropped the volcano papier mache effort off at work for this week's fun and games!  

Up this morning to kick into the push ups.  220 for today. Yikes.  Done about a quarter so far.

Busy week. Planning week. And we're off to Nelson this weekend coming. My parents are between Mauritius and the African continent according to the cruise line stalker. Woot!

Have a good week!

Love,

Angela