well, we did it. 40 hours without electricity (including the internet)
i got home from the john key event with 20 minutes to spare before we went electricity free and were plunged in to darkness
we pulled the girls’ mattresses in to our bedroom and there was telling of funny stories before people eventually got to sleep. i managed to bore everyone to sleep by retelling John Key’s economic summary without his expert delivery. all my talk of Chinese economic boom, commodity prices and pension (kiwi saver) finished everyone off
jane got up at 5.15am to go off for a run with her friend marah. kezia set up an alarm on her watch for her. but unfortunately whilst setting it up she reset the time so it went off at 12.30 to everyone’s confusion.
the rest of us got up when it started to get light and i used the time to file a load of papers in the right places which was good.
then, after a bit of lack of sleep related misery, we headed off to kumeu for lunch in the famous ‘carriages’ restaurant where sit in actual rail carriages (quite a novelty for new zealand). the girls went their when we were on our reccy visit and i had flown down to wellington for an interview but they didn’t sit inside the carriages as it reminded them too much of the airplane
after that we drove up north to helensville and then along the pensinsular to south head
when we got to the end of the windy gravel (metal) road we came to a place called mosquito bay, which wasn’t a promising name. but all was good, despite the steep footpath to get down (and back) from the parking
despite it being a chilly day we were down to t-shirts once the sun came out and the view across the harbour (claimed to be the biggest natural harbour in the southern hemisphere) were superb
we saw a few jellyfish and a squashed bouy
and an old can of beer
after that we headed back down to helensville
but not before we stopped at a little box at the side of the road selling produce from a local farm
we got some satsumas and carrots. we had a few satsumas before we set off and they were fantastic.
then it was in to the hot pools at parakai the girls swam and chucked themselves down the unregulated flumes, whilst jane and i sat at the side and chatted. we were there for a couple of hours until it got dark
then it was back home for egg cooked on gas and sandwiches.
then rummikub by candle light (tricky telling blue from black)
kezia got a load of glow sticks out
everyone got to sleep quicker after their exercise
then this morning it was my turn to get up early as i had to be at church by 7.30 for music
i got home just before 1pm (two services then the church annual meeting [which happens once a year according to the guy leading the meeting] )
after the great switch on we had to vacate the house for another open home. So we drove over to our new house and did some geocaching round there
we found some nice views of the creek and a load of chickens.
and now it’s now. i’m off with kezia to flippa ball in a minute then an early night i think before we get back in to normal life again!
and thanks for all your sponsoring. very much appreciated by all involved!