On Tuesday we drove on through to Richmond, crossing
the Spooner Range and descending into the fertile horticultural valley and
wider Tasman Bay. We drove directly to the Noel Leeming in the town centre.
Alas they were not able to help with my computer power system but suggested a
couple of places in Nelson, so we headed on the further fifteen kilometres,
firstly to Bursco Marine then Harvey Norman, after struggling with parking.
Back in the day, we could find easy parking at the Trafalgar Centre but today
found the area all re-landscaped and the parking that remains taken up by whizz
bang vans, their backpacker type occupants camped out all over the tarmac,
preparing brunch or whatever they call their randon late to mid-morning
cookups. We were not impressed and imagined the city fathers less so. However
subsequent online search revealed that the Nelson and Tasman council officials
have opened up areas and loosened the rules to accommodate the bulge in
tourists driven into the area by the earthquake detour. The down side of
all this is the lack of parking for we local motorhomers; fortunately there is
this camp here on the edge of Richmond Racecourse which welcomes members of the
NZMCA.
The bonus of that day was having our computer problem easily
dealt with at the local Jaycar franchisee who like magic, produced the right
product, the right accessory to fit my laptop and Bob was our uncle, as they
say.
That afternoon I spent catching up with administration and
more leisurely computer pursuits while Chris watched the tennis being played in
Melbourne. Later we learned more about the horrific storm headed for the South
Island and thanked our lucky stars that we were no longer hanging about the
West Coast and hoped that we would be better off here in Tasman Bay.
Yesterday was spent around camp waiting for the Weather
Bomb to arrive. We walked up to the centre of Richmond, visited the bank and
shopped for a new fry pan and new shoes for Chris, along with a loaf of French
bread and some oranges. I mention the “oranges” particularly because there is
yet another crisis here in New Zealand; a shortage of apples! For us who finish
both our midday and evening meal with an apple, this is a disaster! We are
normally people of habit and are having to resort to buying the sweet juicy
summer fruit available in abundance – peaches, nectarines, plums…... and
oranges. The apple shortage is due to the late summer and subsequent harvest
delay. According to news reports, we should be treated to home-grown apples in
about another three weeks. In the past out of season apples have been imported
from the USA or similar; perhaps the horror of air-miles is ruling this out
these days? But this is a third world problem, and I should know better than to
complain.
Soon after lunch the wind changed and by mid-afternoon the
gusts had strengthened. We had noted that many of our fellow campers still had
their outdoor furniture set out under their open awnings and suspected they
were ignoring the warnings coming through on all media; radio, television,
social, et cetera. I thought of those young people in their little campers;
there would be no outdoor cook-ups on the tarmac this afternoon.
By the next morning the worst of the storm had passed and
we were greeted by blue sky as we drew the curtains after the wild night. But
despite the better weather, we hung about all day, firstly to co-ordinate a
mutually convenient phone call to England to sort maintenance matters for our
car and caravan. Brother-in-law John has it all in hand but is frustrated by
the fact we have yet to book our flights across. Given that most international
travellers have their trips planned and booked a year or so in advance, I guess
it does seem rather strange that we are holding off until we return to Whangarei
mid-February before organising our own flights for very early May.
We spent the rest of day watching dozens of motorhomes and
caravans arrive, supposedly in readiness for the dog show that is happening
here at the show grounds over the weekend. Tennis and the Tour DownUnder kept
Chris otherwise occupied as did the opportunity to “play” on my computer for
me. And the moments in-between were spent contemplating our wedding anniversary
dinner to be enjoyed up in the town. Hopefully the cold wind will have dropped
before we head up there on foot.
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