Travel Page 29

29
Waipawa to Warkworth

What a week, it looks like we will definitely have a new home and we are still very excited about it.

After our meeting in Waipawa on Tuesday we started to travel again. We headed back towards Napier and then across to Lake Taupo . The rain finally stopped and we arrived on Wednesday afternoon in Taupo. We found a Holiday park on the neck of Lake Taupo and parked alongside the start of the Waikato River . It was a beautifully autumn afternoon and I longed to go for a walk along the river and to the lake. The sun filtered through the by now golden leaves of the mature trees, the ducks came to greet us and the world had a great golden feeling.


		Fergus joined me and we went to explore on foot. We followed the river back to the lake and then strolled leisurely through the Marina to the lakeside. An enchanted late and magical afternoon! In fact it was so nice that we decided to stay there another day and catch up on things.


On Thursday we moved on again, but we visited the Huka Falls , on the Waikato River, which were spectacular. This led us to also visit the Craters of the Moon, which were not very far away. This is an amazing landscape, with hot steam coming out of the ground everywhere and you have to keep to the footpath or you run the chance of burning your feet. In places it had bubbling mud but because of the rain the mud pools where too watery for my liking. Huka Falls ------>


		From there we travelled to Hamilton . There is no need to rush, as we are not due at our friends Selwyn and Gunilla, in Warkworth until Saturday. We found a lovely spot and enjoyed a quiet evening, catching up on emails and preparations for my little talk on Thursday in Whangarei. <------ Craters of the Moon


Then on Friday we got back to Orewa, just North of Auckland. We are in the same spot we have been the last two times we were here. It feels a bit like home and as we had Miranda with us last time we were here, I cannot stop thinking about her. Her stay in Australia must come to an end soon and then she will be off to Thailand …. We have had no emails for two days, not even Spam and we are wondering what has happened to all our friends. So if you are still out there, reading our travelogue and have not contacted us for a while please do not forget to write to us occasionally we would love to hear from you and know what is happening in your live.		Oyster Catchers at Wairewa

On Saturday morning we headed off along the coast, visiting the beach at Wairewa and it has a lovely Holiday Park and the plan is to go and stay there on our way back to Auckland. It has a very nice beach to walk along and it also has wonderful Water Park with geo-thermally heated water. Something to look forward to.

<------ Warkworth


Then we arrived at Warkworth and had a walk around this charming town. It has all sorts of little shops, art galleries and crafty places all outdoing each other with their offerings. We had a superb Thai lunch and then a strolled along the estuary bank before we made our final journey to our friends Selwyn and Gunilla. Seagull at Warkworth ------>


		Their house is on top of a hill, overlooking the sea as far as the eye can see. I had a feeling that they lived somewhere magical. The house is surrounded by a lovely tropical garden and we parked Turbo Snail on their drive, propped up on one side so that she did not roll over and down the hill. <------ Leigh Harbour


We had a lovely time catching up with them and sharing the purchase of our new house with them. On Sunday they took us for a drive and a lovely walks through native bush and along two of their beaches. As you can see from the photos the weather was overcast but the temperature was still about 24 deg C. not bad for autumn.


		By special request from Suzanna, more pussy cat photos. The owner's cats at the Waipawa Holiday Park


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