Thursday 8 December 2016
It tried to rain last night but never did it actually bucket down, just a light drip, drip, drip, on Cuzzie’s rooftop. A little bit like water torture. First thing this morning, I wandered over to the bathrooms, only to be greeted by a sadly cold shower. No power for anyone up north meant no hot water!! Well, that was just the start of what would turn out to be a frustrating day for me.
We needed a few things, so a trip into Kaikohe was called for. But that turned out to be less than entertaining, as 95% of the shops were closed. We had hoped that the power cut would have been over by the time we arrived there but, alas, no chance. The only place for petrol/food and a working Eftpos machine was Pak ‘n’ Save and it was jammed! Queues for everything! My dislike for crowded places returned, so we bought only the bare necessities, then made a quick escape back out of town, having discovered en route that Mitre 10 was also open, which enabled us to grab the other things we needed, except for a replacement pair of jandals for me! Mine have finally fallen to bits, unable to last the distance, so sadly, I had to leave them in the campsite rubbish.
Next chore was to try to find a location with good internet coverage, a simple enough task, you may all think. As I drive, Bianca has all three of our mobile phones sitting in her lap, watching to see when they all have good coverage. Constantly, I keep asking her “Do they have coverage yet?” But the only answer I keep getting is “No!” Before we both go completely mad, we pull in by a little lake to eat another really late lunch and, you’ve guessed it, still no coverage! Usually I can cope with this kind of frustration and, occasionally, actually even enjoy the lack of connection. But today, it was a tad more important.
Eventually, we decide to check out a few landing spots over on the East Coast section of this narrow section of the North Island and there, at last, we found some internet coverage. We sat and completed every Internet job we had on the list, loaded images and generally got on with the various tasks that had to be done. After that, we went for a short walk down the hill onto the sandy beach of Henderson Bay, a possible landing point for me when I eventually get around the top end. But that was not a good subject to think about either, as even daring to be on this side of the coast was and is a tough issue for me, mainly as it’s way calmer. Here I am, stuck in yet another part of New Zealand, just waiting and having to watch the weather patterns roll in; calmer winds but big swells. Jeez, at this rate, I reckon there won’t be a home-coming until sometime in 2017!!
We make hot, sweet chai tea and I sit and stare at the weather forecast, getting more grumpy and irritated by the minute. It’s sheer torture watching the next few days’ forecast roll through on the computer screen; not one of my happier moments! Then I manage to spill tea over my laptop and that was just about the worst red-head moment of this section of the trip. I felt like hurling my laptop out of Cuzzie’s doors into the ocean!! However, Bianca comes to the rescue, saving the laptop, both from the tea and also from me. Then I just sit, trying to rationalise why I am getting this impatient. Slowly, I digest my mood, trying to calm my urge to just keep paddling, not now wanting to stop. I try to put it all back into perspective, and I can tell you that is not an easy thing to do; reminding myself of what I am not missing out on by having to wait. For example, I most certainly am not unhappy about missing out on the craziness of pre-Xmas in the big city, that's not something I want to be part of at all. I’ll just have to take a chill pill and, in the oft-repeated words of a very good friend, “Settle Petal”! But, believe me, that’s easier said than done!
Eventually, Bianca convinces me to drive to the campsite, park up, get some food and crawl into bed, sleep may make everything seem better tomorrow. But, as I sit in the calm of the campsite with the fine, misty rain falling, I still feel cheated by Mother Nature for not just giving me just one more, measly day to get round the top and onto the somewhat calmer, East Coast waters; that’s all I need just one more day!
Tonight, despite Bianca’s best efforts and my own self-recrimination, I’m still wearing a great big frown. I’m still struggling to come to terms with the weather and the lack of bloody Internet and cell phone coverage. To add discomfort to frustration, we now have the arrival of mosquitoes in Cuzzie. But, trying to look on the bright side, we do at least now have power and hot showers!
My smiles today:
Rain-washed Cuzzie.
Rain having removed the dust from the gravel roads.
Grumpy, crosspatch moments. I have to smile at myself!
My bed tonight.
The bloody weather torture.
Fun shopping in the supermarket, not.
A new game; guessing what date I will finally manage to paddle back into Takapuna!
My thoughts today:
Some days are just tough, but there’s always hope for tomorrow.
Goodnight from Red and Bianca.
Ma Te Wa.
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