An excess of sand

Fist of all dear reader, my apologies for not posting this on Sunday as per usual, but I have been afflicted with vestibular neuronitis, a viral infection of the semi-circular canals. This made me both dizzy and nauseous, so I have been confined to bed for a couple of days. However, I am now on the mend an back at the keyboard.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday between Christmas and New Year were work days for Nicky. The library has been closing early (5.30 as opposed to 6.00). Unfortunately the automatic doors which are time-controlled have not been informed of this, so someone has had to stay until 6 when they lock! 

Tuesday however was an exciting day, as Nicky got to work on a new holiday project - the Book Bus By the Beach. I drove her over to Henderson first thing for the arranged pick-up, which didn’t go as expected but all the staff and the mobile library ended up in Brown’s Bay as planned. They had a very good day with over 500 borrowers coming onto the bus (though I think that might have included a few dogs). 

I had arranged with Nicky to go and collect her between 5.00 and 5.15 and have fish and chips on the beach. After spending the morning helping Jancis with technology and buying trousers with a Farmers voucher that Nicky gave me for Christmas, I headed up to Pohutukawa Bay for some time on the beach and a skinny-dip (it’s on the same coast as Browns Bay, about a 10 minute drive further north). I was aiming to get to the beach for high tide at 3.12, which I did after the 30 minute walk from the car park, but just before I got there Nicky texted me (using our inherited-from-daughter second iPhone) to say they were going to finish at 4! So, I stripped off and had a lovely swim for 10-15 minutes before returning to the car and driving down to Browns Bay.

The mobile library was just packing up when I got there so I was able to take a couple of photos and move into its parking space when it left. Nicky and I decided to have some time on Brown’s Bay beach before dinner, so while she read I had another swim, this time with togs on, and it felt decidedly unpleasant! After a bit of a snooze on the beach we drove south down the coast a little further to Mairangi Bay where the local chip shop had been recommended by one of my customers. We parked by the beach and walked round to what turned out to be a very busy local chip shop, where we ordered snapper and chips twice. About 20 minutes later we were back on the beach, actually ON the beach, not by or near it, but ON it, eating our lovely fish and chips and watching the day start to draw to an end. It was a great way to finish the working day and mark almost the end of the working year.

I did a Mac job on Monday along with my domestic responsibilities of laundry and shopping, which was made easy with it being a lovely summers day with a breeze. In fact the weather has been good all week apart from Wednesday when I went to Karekare with Sam, a naturist who has recently moved to Auckland.

Nicky had arranged with Jan and Jancis to go and see the New Year fireworks, so Jancis came round for dinner (I did a lobs kangaroo pie with stuffed mushrooms. I used the left over beer and brandy that I had used to soak the Christmas pudding dried fruit for the pie gravey, and the fruit gave it a sweetness that worked well.) We watched some of the Monty Python show on TV before collecting Jan and John and heading for Mt Albert. We were quite a long way from the fireworks, but the company, drinkies and warm mince pies made it a good evening. Just as we got back to the car a torrential downpour started, but it was over by breakfast time.

New Years day didn’t have a plan, which was just as well really as I went and did some Mac work sorting out two agitated elderly gentlemen who were having problems with email and printing. Nicky did some cleaning and in the afternoon I gave Luna her first proper wash (I think I might do this every year whether she needs it or not) and we started a 991 piece jigsaw. 

Friday dawned a gorgeous sunny day. Mid morning Jancis came and collected us and we went off to Whatipu, a west coast beach that she hadn’t been to before which is down just the sort of road that Jancis drives with aplomb in her Jeep - 7km’s of gravel topped windy track. Many other people had the same idea - the car park was packed, I don’t think I have seen it so busy before. We had a look at the entrance to the Manukau before walking along the beach. The tide was going out and leaving calm sections of sea about 3-4 feet deep between the shore and a sand bank. Lovely for another skinny-dip for me and even Nicky donned her togs and had a swim for a little while after getting used to the coolness of the water. We enjoyed the sun while having our picnic lunch, rested awhile before strolling a bit further and then heading back to the car. We stopped at the Huia food store (Huia - like Hawaii only cooler) for ice creams on the way home. It was a lovely day, and filled us all with feelings of “this is why we live here”.

Saturday was a bit cloudy but still warm. Nicky went off to Henderson for Scrabble and then to take Kate out fabric shopping, while I stayed home and pottered and jigsawed. Then at round 4.30 on Sunday morning my world started spinning, which was no fun at all, so I finished the week in bed with Nicky on nursing duty. She looks after me very well.

So now we are off and running (though not so much in my case) into 2015. We hope you all have an excellent year and look forward to accommodating any of you who wish to visit us. To celebrate this we are offering a special 50% friends and family discount on our usual rates this year.

Take care and have fun,

Rick