A bitsa day

 Today needed coffee!!! In the Team Arrow (Whanganui) team issue mugs, of course!!

More items have gone on fleabay... unfortunately we were away for over 90 days, so the postings that had gone from live to dormant had just disappeared...luckily I have the listings written on file, so it is just a matter of re-photographing and re- listing.

Anything new will need market research, cleaning, weighing, measuring, describing and photographing.    Mind you, there is plenty to be going on with before I get to that, and as they have been offline since November there may be a better chance of selling!!

It is still bitterly cold, but I needed a dose of vitamin D...so half an hour weeding the roses we have in pots...then sorting last year's runner bean crop

Now to sort the best for sowing soon.

One of those days that you feel you haven't done much....but you actually have.

Goodbye Whanganui...just for now....

 We managed to get three groups of friends together...some hadn't seen each other for a while...and others made new friends!....we booked a table for eighteen!!

A wonderful sunset...which of course doesn't come out properly...but you get the idea!

Then this morning a quick look at the Searjeant Gallery on the Quay as one exhibition was being cleared... mostly local work, a brilliant selection.

And some pavement art..

First saying cheerio to our hosts

And on the road to Bulls for fuel...

Then Pirate got the camera in Levin..

Before we hit the new expressway...which in parts has a cycle lane on the hard shoulder!!

And now we are in Waikanae, having a rest before tomorrow's ferry

Whanganui wanderings

 Back in Whanganui...busy getting the washing done..and dried....not an easy job as it has been humid even when it wasn't raining! 

It's good to be back here, fitting in with all our friends.

We had a short walk up Victoria Avenue and around today.

The old post office now...a good café.....and then.....

I started using those pavement patterns for patchwork, on our last visit three years ago....I must finish them when I get back to Scotland!!

Victoria Avenue street furniture..imported from Scotland, made in Kilmarnock in the mid 1800s...

This Bedford bus is from about 1949 to 1954..

And camper vans old and new!!...the Toyota about twenty years younger....what a difference!!

We have booked an overnight two thirds of the way down to the ferry...and so far our booking is ok...at present only one ship is working and there should be six between the two companies.....but there is hope of more coming back into service.

It feels most odd that we only have just over two more weeks here. It feels wrong to leave....but we don't have a choice.

Watch this space as they say!

This weekend Hawkes Bay, Coromandel and Auckland are due to get more Weather.....as if they hadn't suffered enough already.

Masters games..and youngsters

 We rode out to the hillclimb on Sunday...no, we didn't ride up The hill at Okoia...it is a very hard and unforgiving beast!! After that we rode back into town, to catch the Waka Ama...Māori canoes with an outrigger that are paddled not rowed.  It is fun to do..we were lucky to join in a crew during the Masters here in 2013, not for a race, just a "taster" paddle. 

We caught the last sprint paddle..with so much going on this week, different sports clash!

Plus we were the wrong side of the river!!

Never mind..

The mountain biking was too far away, but in the afternoon we walked to Kowhai park on our side of the river to watch the Awa ("river") cross for young riders..from balance bikes up to 15!! Followed by the Masters, won by a 71 year old...who was second in the World Masters cyclocross last year, held in Ipswich in England.

Fun for all the family!!

Today we went to watch the road race, based on a circuit starting in Brunswick...they have a down then uphill on the course. We watched from the top of the hill...of course!

It was a hot and windy day after another wet night..but thankfully stayed dry for the whole day.

And that doesn't show the bottom half of the hill!!

Many thanks go to the Marshall's directing the riders...out there from 9am until about 1 pm, with four races to Marshall!

Riders of all ages...up to 81 years old today, both the men and women...and all sizes..good to see riders suited for other cycling disciplines still having a go.

Everyone has their own race within the five year age categories of course!