Again we were off the water, the winds down this way are still way to strong for me and the sea swells have increased. We stayed in our sleeping bags, we listened and watched the waves and the weather from the warmth of inside. It had been a little cold overnight and I have fallen back in love with my hot water bottle, this old lady gets cold and when I get cold I get grumpy. Yes I know it is December, I hear other parts of NZ are hot, well I am not in that part of the country at the moment.

Another thing we were in fits of laughter about this morning is that two days ago when I had a mare of a morning with paddling I got a bump on my head from the paddle. Today the bruising has really appeared, for the past two days I have been able to hide the bump and bruising with my bandanna, but this morning the bruising had dropped to the top of my eyelid and it looks like I have purple and green eye makeup on. It is a stunning look! There are pics of this, initial bump and two days later, it looks like I actually have taken a punch from some one. I have had worse than this bruise so I am just smiling about it. I Facetimed a couple of people to chat, shared the day and the ocean sights with them and then we decided we were hungry.

Bacon eggs and tomatoes for brekkie, care of Nat, and a cup of tea. We sat for a little while but Nat was not her normal bubbly self this morning and was feeling a little off colour so it was my turn to be the nurse. She lay and rested for awhile but was looking decidedly pasty white in colour and then announced she felt like vomiting. Nat is not a sick type of person and for her to even mention this must be bad news. Off she staggered to the bathroom, oops she did not make it in time. She was hanging by a post still near our camper van looking like she had been on a huge bender the night before and, how do I say this nicely, well she proceeded to vomit...poor, poor Nat. I have to say she did smile once she lay back down, wrapped in her sweatshirt, jacket and a blanket to fall asleep for a few hours.

The rest has done us good. I lay and read and snoozed on and off, the sound of crashing waves and wind makes you go to sleep. I was happy to just chill and enjoy reading, catching up with the news and, yep you guessed it, checking the weather apps. To my disgust none were telling me good news. I did say before I set out if I had to sit in one place for a couple of weeks I would and I would be patient about it. I am determined to enjoy this coastline and so staying away from battling everyday on the water and hating my time out there is not what I want, I want to smile and enjoy my paddling time.

Please understand I have and need to have total respect for this coastline and if I am in doubt about the wind and waves then I am not battling with it. Well, I say that, but if it is not me battling physically, then I sit on the beach and have a mental battle with myself and today I talked with a few paddlers to re confirm I was doing the correct thing by waiting. Yes I am impatient! Yes I like to be on the move and yes this is tougher for me sitting on the beach and it is a learning and growing experience. Ahhhhhh patience, maybe this is what this journey is about for me, to learn a new level. That would be fantastic as I am a doer, not a person who sits and waits.

Later on we did go for a beach walk, we got battered by the wind and sand, in fact the wind was so strong it was giving poor Nat ear ache, she really was not in great shape today. The school kids where out surfing again this afternoon and there seemed to be a couple of crazy's kite surfing as well! Yippee for waves and wind they would have been saying, alas my worst demon.

Nat is slowly improving, we hope it is just a 24hr bug, at least the weather is in her favour as it is being relentless at present and nothing changes much tomorrow. If there is a small window in the afternoon when the wind is meant to swing to an off shore and slow a little I am going to jump in my kayak in the afternoon, but this is not set in concrete. This is probably the caged Tiger in me being over hopeful, we will see.

Otherwise more time to rest and read a few books, and time to say to you all, guess what? We are chilled and away from traffic jams, the crazy Xmas frantic shopping and instead listening to the waves, seagulls and watching the rabbits hop around the campsite, Nat keeps threatening to turn them into a stew very soon! I can see me getting off the water one day and she will have achieved this rabbit stew dream of hers, I can not wait.

My world today, it has been calm. Big ups for Vero have said yes to me for the replacement of Thelma, accidents happen and insurance companies do say yes. Trying to nail down a travel agent or airline to help with crew flights up and down the country when they do the swap over at Christmas time, lets see if anyone is feeling generous.

I thank you all for reading. My apologies for no paddling, I have to say I am suffering the most from this. I do wish you all good luck with the Christmas shopping.! I would recommend just finding a deserted beach and just sitting, bugger the shopping it is rather nice. Remove ones self from the chaos. On saying this I am going to have a fantastic Xmas day, I am going to enjoy the simple things that it truly is meant to be about. I am going to get up and just hug the day, I am going to say Merry Xmas to everyone I see and I reckon a smile and a nice and caring comment is better than any expensive gift.

Now what helps me and motivates me each day other than my own commitment and dedication. Every day I also look at this, I have it written on the wall of my camper van. These words spoken to me before I left from a very tough and respected man...

"It is going to be tougher than YOU can imagine, trust me." My dear man this I read every day and I can hear you saying it to me, trust me it gives me strength..

Till tomorrow,
Red.
FUERZA! (Strength in Spanish, I do believe, thanks Marco Solis)

The coast south of here, which hopefully I will be paddling soon!