Monday afternoon wander

and there it was, gone! We still can't see why the branch on the right didn't go as well....

A full river, on its way out...fast! 

 There is Living on the Edge....or you are taking up too much room.....

And there is this house......

Saturday afternoon wander

 No wonder we heard a thump at about 1am....

We had a wander through Kowhai Park late Saturday afternoon.

The river was high, the ground sodden and whole trees floating down the river..I dread to think of the state of the road and banks...and washouts..further up.

The Original Gypsy Fair was here this weekend..there had been quite a few people there as we passed by in the morning, thankfully.  There are some really skillful craftspeople there.

Then we walked back through Whanganui East and spotted a whole family of Pukekos ("swamp hens") by a stream.

Dublin Street Bridge

Sweet Chestnuts!! Not ready yet...

Plus the lamps in the toilets in the park..no longer used, there are modern lights there now...

More weather!

 It rained all night, quite heavily at times... today's bike ride was in our coach's gym!!

It has eased off, but still mid afternoon it is raining.

We heard that the Elton John concert was called off at the last moment due to flooding, in Auckland, the airport has closed and one person has drowned.

On another blog I read that there are problems in Northland too!!

I hope we will be able to catch up with friends and rellies further north after next week....

Meanwhile, after spin session...

On the screens we followed a group ride from Las Vegas!!...where the annual rainfall is four inches....

Visiting ...and Weather

 When we rode up a nearby valley, we tried to say hello at one house...but, luckily as it turned out, got no reply...

I then managed to contact one of the couple who live there....and found that she is the cousin of a friend....whose mother has been helping with the genealogy of my 3rd cousin (once removed) in Taupō Bay.....turns out that they married into his paternal grandmother's family.....

So I suppose that on yesterday's visit....I was meeting a distant cousin by marriage!!!!

They live in an old hotel. No longer a hotel...but beautiful. The old bar is a time warp.  She weaves flax (phormium tenax, NZ flax) or Harakeke to give it its proper name. Her husband works in wood and at one time made toys.

I didn't see any of his work, just hers. In her 70s now, she makes just to commission.

She also is growing a heritage collection of Harakeke.

It was a wonderful visit and I got to see some of the interior of the hotel too.

I feel very privileged.

We drove further up the valley, looking to find the layby where I had dropped pirate off a few years ago, for him to ride back down to the coathanger bridge.

After a night of heavy rain there had been a few landslips and you could see where the road crews were working their way up valley to clear the road.  When we got past one particularly fresh muddy patch we decided Enough!

But this is one shot, as we came back down...

Today the weather has gradually turned increasingly wet....so a little bike maintenance thanks to one of the two local bike shops, lunch in town...a very nice gluten free salad stuffed falafel wrap...and even a browse in a secondhand bookshop....bliss...or torture???!

Possibly earmark titles to hunt for when we get back to Scotland?!

More vintage weekend Whanganui!!

 We took a break on the Saturday away from all the rush and people and had a small walk around a Bush reserve on the way to Okoia.

Peace, birds, and the smell of the bush...all except the Mānuka...

On the Sunday morning the Billy Webb rowing challenge took place..a sort of handicap race where each boat and age group of crew has a best time, and the winner is the closest to that....plus the overall fastest singles,  men and women. So the prizes 1st to 10th were all different ages, number of scullers etc....

The paddle steamer Waimarie and the motor vessel Wairua were doing trips up and down the river all weekend.

And buses and steam tractors were going around the streets

I enjoyed watching the dancers at the Sunday lunchtime Riverside music

Back to everyday now...Pirate has been out on his bike this morning, a shopping list needs to be made and we need to re-organise our belongings for the travelling after the Masters Games. Two more weeks here and we will be heading North for a short while!!

Vintage weekend Whanganui

 It was a busy weekend in Whanganui...all the usual fun, music and performances everywhere, vintage clothing of all sorts being worn, mainly Edwardian and 1930s/50s plus a fair amount of Steampunk.

We saw the cars parked up in Victoria Avenue, met a local, originally from Canterbury, Kent with his Vespa and sidecar. Listened to music, saw some art...and generally walked our feet sore!!  Sunday was music on the Riverside and a quiet walk up Victoria Avenue...a nice chance to see it quiet and appreciate the buildings.

Monday, being a holiday, Wellington Day, there was the Soap Box Derby!!!

Sunday started with the Billy Webb rowing challenge..but that deserves another post!

Racers of all ages and sizes!!

A marble run, marbles from the local glassworks of course!

And a walk back across the river to our "home"