Monday 9 January 2023

Days for friends

 Yesterday our morning ride was postponed..80% chance of rain...and it was raining! 

We met other friends for coffee instead!

We reviewed a possible ride, by car..in case of new tar seal or mended gravelly patches...lunch in Behind the Door on 4...and back for the postponed run.

These are friends that Pirate has known for 16 years and stayed on their lifestyle block 2 years before I first came out here.

She used to be a ballet dancer, and we have competed on the bikes....but due to dancing she now has two new knees and rides an electric bike!!

Back to the same café for our coffee stop on the ride, and partway up the side valley...and back to Whanganui along the Mountains to Sea bike trail. Halfway back there was a tree across the bike path...blown over in the rising wind!! We hadn't noticed it in the sheltered side valley...where we also saw this for sale...


Our tree felling friend in Scotland wondered if I could hide it in Pirate's luggage on the way home!!...a bit too big I think!

A nice ride and catch up...we hadn't been able to, last visit three years ago.


Today has been catching up with the washing!! A hot windy day, before two days of stormy wet weather forecast. The clothes hung out by 8.30 am were dry or ironing dry by 1pm!!

I have been weeding the garden for our friends where we are staying, keeping out of the sun, under a tree! They have a lovely garden, but no time to do much upkeep apart from mowing the lawns.

If the weather is still dry, we may take a walk later, when it cools a little.

7 comments:

Joanne Noragon said...

A grand visit, three years later. Or should I say persistent nattering?

gz said...

So much catching up to do, Joanne!

Debby said...

How long are you staying there? Do you have the teensiest idea of just not returning to cold Scotland?

gz said...

Debby we land back in Scotland on 17 March.
There is no chance we would be allowed to overstay ....you do, and when caught and deported you cannot return...ever.
We are too old to apply to stay..even I am 20 years too late.
And we don't have mega bucks to invest so that we may apply...
So, the longest we can stay on a visitor visa is six months and we stay as long as we can afford to within that.
It just feels like home here....

Jenny Woolf said...

On the only trip I made to NZ (near Christchurch) the wind was so incredible all the time I sometimes felt I would be blown into the sea! I never found out if that is normal or whether it was just exceptional.

Fresca said...

From your posts here, you do indeed seem very much at home there--lovely to see!

Steve Reed said...

I wonder how much the "Tree Tamers" truck is selling for?! But yeah, probably a bit too big to ship home. :)