Sunday 2 October 2016

A storm blew us all to sleep last night. Well, maybe I should re-word that! A storm blew all night trying hard to blow everything loose. Heavy rain and big winds and this was not helped by the fact we were parked right by the ocean. Anna seemed to crash sound asleep, Jase put in his earplugs to try and get some sleep and I just lay awake and listened to it all until eventually, it lulled me off to sleep.

What woke me wasn’t the storm still raging overhead but rather, the fact I was feeling decidedly unwell! That’s totally not like me at all, I don’t get sick very often, but I had the damn cold sweats and then had to stagger to the campsite bathroom. I was so sure I was waking up everyone in the camper-van in the process, as I desperately tried to clamber out of Cuzzie’s sliding door! But for some reason it was stuck! Instead it was over the front seat and out of the passenger door that I went, and then I was in the bathroom for the next hour with a really bad case of upset stomach bug! I felt so freezing cold, I headed back to Cuzzie to grab a jacket and as I opened the door I was greeted by Jase heading out to see what was wrong with me, thinking I had perhaps fallen and hurt myself! He gave me such a fright in the dark of the night! Moments later, I grabbed my jacket and was more concerned about returning quickly to the bathrooms again.

What a champ Jase is. He came along just to make sure I survived the next wave of sickness! In between the waves of nausea and more, I did manage to laugh with him at my very sorry state! I have to say that I really hate being sick! A long while later, still shivering and feeling very sorry for myself, I wandered back to Cuzzie and literally crawled into my sleeping bag. I was more than ready to go to sleep in spite of the still raging storm. What a horrid night!

I woke with the sun and lay trying to decide if I felt better. The answer was a tentative “yes” but it certainly wasn’t my normal early pre-dawn rising. Nevertheless, I was still the first to stir in Cuzzie. I headed to the showers to see if this would improve my morning and, ever so gradually, I started feeling better. Once the others were up and ready, we departed the campsite and, with a hungry Anna and Jase, headed for a café called "Federal". French Toast for those two and, for me? A rather more gentle breakfast of eggs, as I still didn’t think my stomach could cope with much more! The peppermint tea and honey was the most truly enjoyable refreshment this morning. Thank goodness the weather didn’t let me go paddling today!

The rest of the day was spent practising flying with my kite-surfing practice kite. I’m still nowhere as good as Jase, but it was fun playing in the sunshine. Then it was off to have an arm and back massage. I’m utterly grateful to Roger Gooch from Body Smart Therapy for taking time out of his Sunday rest day to give me a massage. Your generosity is amazing, the hugest “thank you” to you Roger, such a very skilled and knowledgeable man.

Back I return to find that Jase and Anna have been training in the sunshine on a small, outdoor gym circuit course. Poor Anna had to give up as her French toast was being tossed about to much! Again, the day was running away from us. Jase had to return to Auckland and we needed to head up the coast to check on new beach landings. The last part of our day took us a hundred plus kilometers along side roads, with so many sheep and lambs, that Anna didn’t know where to look next. She simply loves our fluffy sheep!

Eventually, at sunset, we ended up at Marokopa Campsite. A gem of a location, a white-baiter's paradise it seems, and we were where we were kindly gifted a small pack of fresh white-bait. My dinner was fritter heaven! Happy to say that Anna was not so keen to try a fritter, so they were all mine. Thank goodness my stomach had settled by this stage! No raging seas at this campsite and I’m really excited at the thought of exploring the beach tomorrow. The sandflies from the south have been replaced by the North Island mosquito (yuk)! No Internet or cellphone coverage at all tonight, so I satellite a message to all to say goodnight. Go the Inreach unit, it’s fantastic!

My smiles today:
Feeling so much better (phew).
Anna’s love for lambs and goats.
Fresh whitebait. Yum!
Country side roads. Amazing fun.
Flying kites.
Roger Gooch and his incredible massage.
I’ve maybe found a new challenge for 2017!

My thoughts today:
The warmth of your heart prevents your body from rusting! A great, thought-provoking read.

Goodnight from Red and Anna.

Ma Te Wa.

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