The days have passed as have the kilometres beneath our wheels. Alas
the chest congestion has merely passed from one to the other, and our social
plans have been severely curtailed. We subjected my cousin and his wife to our germs, eating and
drinking our way through their hospitality despite our so-called invalid
status, then did the same to my sister further north in the rural regions of
Rotorua, although there it was more food than drink. We detoured via Tauranga
where we stayed at the NZMCA Park there to facilitate a visit to our Larissa at
Waihi Beach, a brief call to pick up mail and arrange a delayed full family
visit given their busy schedule, a call that turned into lunch with the extra bonus
of her husband stopping by between contracts.
Then, on to Auckland where we
patronised the excellent NZMCA Park at Takanini, now almost a second home to
us, and then on yesterday to call upon our youngest, Olly and his family. A bad
night fighting for oxygen suggested we spent only a few hours there, so while
we were delighted to catch up with the family, we were even more delighted to
spend the rest of the day resting. And it would seem that that even more rest
is the best plan for the next few days before we make our final run back to
Whangarei to see the rest of our immediate family.
It would seem too, that will coincide with the tail of a storm that rushed
through south east Queensland wrecking damage and causing loss of life. What
with that, the never ending wars of the Middle East and the devastation earthquake
in Nepal, the arrival of a new female heir to the British throne is a ray of
sunshine. As was too my mistake this morning in calling my mother to wish her a
Happy Mother’s Day; it would seem that it is the second Sunday in May, not the
first. Goes to show how not celebrated this annual day is in our household! It
did however create much mirth all round.
Road trip around New Zealand