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| Mt Edgecumbe on a hazy evening |
Back to the Bay of Plenty to start the refit for the van. We had no sooner sat down for a cuppa with our friends when we spotted an emergency sit that had been posted on the Kiwihousesitters site. The homeowners were stuck in Australia as the 'bubble' popped with the rise of cases over the Tasman and the current housesitter needed to move on to their next sit. The location was one of our favourites in the bay, on the beach between Thornton and Matata, so we were happy to help out.
We arrived to yet another heaven on earth, again feeling thankful for our lifestyle choice, even in these uncertain times of Covid. We felt especially lucky to be hanging out with these gorgeous pups.
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| Nala is only 18mths and a bit of a nervous nelly, till she gets to know you |
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| 12yo Chewy, absolutely bomb proof |
The beach was just on the other side of the paddock. We went multiple times a day, sometimes just for a doggy walk or two.
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| Reaching into back pocket for treats! |
Nala loved to fetch sticks and chase waves
Whilst Chewy preferred to act her age and stay out of trouble
Of course, there was plenty of fishing going on too
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| Whale Island/Moutohora |
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| One misty morning |
We just couldn't get enough of this place! And as usual, we became totally attached to our charges, and they us. It was an unusual sit in that there was a lot of uncertainty for both us and the homeowners over when they would be able to get home. It turned into a week long sit and we were happy to hunker down and wait it out.
When we left, it was only to another of our favourite places ..... Whanarua Bay. More relaxing, reconnecting with friends from the village, fishing (including eating lots of fish) and a visit from Clare's nephew, Jack.
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| The bay on a beautiful winters day |
We caught enough kahawai from a couple of trips out in the kayak to smoke some up.
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| Brine of salt and brown sugar |
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| Finished product |
We made the smoked fish into a kedgeree which we shared with a friend, and lots of fish cakes, also shared with friends.
We spent some time surfcasting on the beach at Te Kaha too, contemplating the world from a different perspective. We caught some Trevally which we enjoyed as sashimi and crumbed fillets.
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| Jack and Clare untangling an unholy mess of seaweed in the line! A couple of weeks later we decamped (reluctantly) to our next sit in Kawerau. 17yo Littles required companions whilst his mummy headed for a holiday in Northland  This was going to be a week of sitting in by the fire and keeping Mr Little company. As a much older gentleman he sleeps a lot during the day ..... whilst masquerading as a bed and blanket thief at night!!! He also needed to be given a pill every evening which, whilst he didn't like it, he was very very good about it.  It was Clare's birthday so we indulged in a bit of overeating ...... Homemade sourdough crumpets  Spag bol for dinner  Lemon meringue pie for pudding!  The only other activity that remained for tha taking was a lovely walk on a lovely day up the lovely Tarawera River to catch a lovely wee rainbow trout.  Everyone was happy. Nekminit, we find ourselves back in Level 4 lockdown as the Delta varient of Covid is discovered in the community. Littles' Mum scrambles back down country to make it home before the curfew and we head back to Whakatane to sit it out. All future plans on hold until whenever. Ho hum. Deep sigh. |
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