Thursday 8 February 24

After bidding Au Revoir to Gail and Ian at c. 9.30 am today was set to be right up there on the Chillaxing Scale, but first a wee jog up the hill to collect the local paper🏃🏽‍♂️😉

And then a wee admin task…

We are due to collect a hire car, courtesy of Hertz Rentals (a reputable enough outfit 🤔), on Saturday 10th at 11 am from Whangarei Airport and wanted to see if we could bring that forward to 9 am.

Given that this airport could easily suffer from imposter syndrome, a simple enough task you’d think, eh?

Having made sure we had all the correct details for our booking, we tried calling Hertz, on the only number available, as there was no email or alternative means of contacting them…

The only response we got, after an hour or so had passed, was a pre-recorded message telling us that:

“Nobody is currently available. Please call again later…”

Undeterred by this frustrating start, we set off, with Elaine driving us to one of her favourite local beaches for even more R & R😎

The short journey took us north east through the outskirts of Whangarie then along a twisting, climbing road before we arrived at our chosen destination…

… needless to say it didn’t disappoint….

Not only was this classically shaped cove all you’d wish for of a beach, with warm soft sand, a very gentle slope into the water and only a handful of other folk there, it also had a free gas BBQ and public loos decorated in a style which we now regarded as commonplace, such is how well NZ embraces the outdoor life🇳🇿😊

Elaine, with what we now came to realize was her “norm”, had organized a fab picnic, cold drinks and beach towels as we took in the setting before exploring further…

Julie went off to check out one side of the cove; upon returning, a wee while later, she was clearly dismayed at the extent of the coastal erosion threatening the very existence of a couple of expensive looking properties…🤔

So I then jogged off barefoot to the other cove – no houses there – to take a look at the granite cliffs etc and met an accomplished beach artist in mid creation…

I found the combination of cliffs, outcrops, trees and driftwood quite unique and very appealing to my eye…

Utterly convinced we had experienced yet another Kiwi gem, we had our picnic before returning towards Whangarie😊

Elaine’s “bestie” Sue, whom we had met 2 days earlier, is, like Elaine, an accomplished cook, and also a very keen and able gardener, had invited us in for a cuppa and home made scone so Route 1 was programmed in…😉

Revitalized we returned Chez Elaine and I resumed my attempts at contacting Hertz Rental…to no avail😕

With Julie enjoying her 1st go at making Cannelloni from scratch Elaine suggested that the direct approach was needed so we drove off to Whangarie Airport…

We knew it was small, but, with not a soul there, it felt more like the Marie Celeste; however, we did manage to get a contact number for one of the other rental firms on the same desk …except calls to them were met with a recording too…..so we just went home.

Insodoing we crossed over the very innovative Te Matau a Pohe Bridge..