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?!