BTDU

Because of what happened in the Hawke’s Bay region last year Valentine’s Day will always, for many years to come, have a totally different meaning…

Fortunately, today could hardly have been of greater contrast with the high pressure continuing as we were greeted by yet another calm, blue sky day…😎

Before breakfast we could see that Fergus had grown impatient waiting for his though…

…so June donned her trusted “Red Bands”…

…and set about feeding him…and McDuff and Nessie too, as Julie watched on…

June & Bill have both fully embraced what owning/developing a lifestyle block means and we were hugely impressed in both the acquisition and build process and what they have achieved here since the build was completed in 2017…

The landowner who originally sold off the blocks, all of which are between 1 & 2 hectares (2.5 & 5 acres in old money😉), included certain covenants, such as all the houses had to be single storey (and had to be specifically positioned so as not to block the views of their immediate neighbours), cattle, sheep, chickens etc could be kept (but no pigs!) and several others, all designed to enhance the quality of  “living the good life”.

There are 16 blocks in this “wee cul-de-sac” so, after breakfast, and with the mercury rising rapidly, we took a wee wander around the development…

… and, yep, it looked like everyone had complied, especially with the condition that stipulated the default vehicle of choice had to be a “Ute”😉🇳🇿

As this was our last day staying with June & Bill, we got packed and had a quick bite to eat before setting off to do some wee tasks in Hastings…

This city, not unlike Napier, has many Art Deco buildings that were constructed following the earthquake in 1931…

Please ignore some of the above images which I am struggling to delete!

Also in Hastings there is a show home built by the company that June & Bill used for their home, Latitude Homes…

Unlike the UK, this is not on a site they have acquired for development; this has been built in an existing residential area, sold, but leased back from the buyer, unoccupied, so prospective customers can get a close look at what they have to offer.

They simply then buy their own plot/section/block, select (from a fairly extensive range of designs) which style of home they’d like to buy, with complete control over finishes, layout etc

They can either choose the company to do the whole “ready to move in” build and supply or just order the materials to site and use their own builder…cool, eh?😉

Having been staying many nights and days with kind friends and family over this 80 day trip, we have occasionally treated ourselves to a couple of upmarket hotels, for those transitional days, and our home for the next 2 nights was no exception…

And as we drove down the tree lined driveway to Mangapapa Hotel we were immediately thrown back into a different era by the period architecture and it’s setting amongst very mature gardens…

…and the rest of the place was pretty good too…

….and with it now being c. 27C at 6pm we found a nice place to cool off and for me to show off my “recently acquired/never seen before” classical cyclist’s suntan…🚴🏽‍♂️😉….that’s what 8 weeks of decent weather can do to my Peelly Wally self!

 

Although a jacuzzi and sauna were both on offer we declined to indulge and prepared for dinner in the neighbouring Havelock North.

“Mary’s” came, justifiably, highly recommended…

….and that was how we spent Valentine’s Day…❤️

We hope yours was equally enjoyable too☺️🍷🥂