Lockdown and a brief relief - Aug/Sep 2021

 

The Bay of Plenty in all it's glory

The Delta variant of the Coronavirus was discovered and Auckland and the country was again plunged into level 4 lockdown.  We spent the few weeks at our 'home away from home' in Whakatane with our amazingly supportive friends, Ollie and Snow.

We were pretty busy getting the van ready for our summer getaway.  Clare got busy painting and decorating and James spent the time buiding and fitting new additions .... awning, solar panels etc.

We got our vaccinations.

Snow had to go to work but the rest of us cooked and baked and we all got hooked on the Danish version of Alone!!  

Clare knitted face masks.

Best of all, we got to hang out with these two again.

Ruby, the cheese lover

Max, the cuddle bug

The best thing about having a dog in lockdown is that you are permitted to take them for a walk.  We took full advantage of this with daily jaunts out to the beach, river or surrounding hills.

As soon as we dropped down to level 3, we loaded up the van and headed for the bach at Whanarua Bay for a couple of weeks.  Clare joined the ladies up in the village with their weekly exercise classes.  

We climbed the mountain.

And enjoyed this fabulous view from the top

Maraetotora

The weather wasn't great, and the fishing was less than average but, just before leaving, we explored a new (to us) place on the rocks and hauled in enough fish to keep everyone happy.

Kahawai and blue maumau

Smoked fish, yum yum

We also caught a big 7.5cm cray in one of the pots which made a scrumptous pasta dish

As family was coming to use the bach one weekend, we took the opportunity to take the van up round the East Cape, staying at both Lottin Point and Hicks Bay

Lottin Point

This fella came to join us for breakfast
one morning on the beach at Hicks Bay

Well then.  That's enought of that!  Time to head back to Whakatane for the final preparations to the van before leaving for a summer of fun in the South Island.  Before we left, Ollie and Snow made their own trip to the South Island, leaving us to housesit for 10 days.