The LLW had decreed that we would stay one more night in Whangarei. I'm not sure whether the reason was fear of poor WiFi or perhaps no WiFi, or a concern about Freedom Camping on the coast towards the Bay of Islands. Whatever the reason we stayed here and that was fine with me. We set off in the morning to test the LLW's new bike properly, but we did have to drive the camper van down the steep slope into Whangarei town as she made it very clear that there was no chance of that hill being climbed on the way back.
We parked outside of the town and off we went. It was a lovely sunny morning but even though it was only 21C, it was clear that we needed to find shade regularly as we could already feel our skins burning in spite of copious quantities of sun cream or slap as there are inclined to call it in these parts.
Luckily some cloud appeared and whilst the temperature rose, it became absolutely perfect cycling weather and the LLW sped along. The LLW declared her bike to be perfect, which was huge relief to Ray who had been responsible for purchasing this particular model, and even starting talking about shipping the bikes back to the UK at the end of our trip!
We stopped for the mandatory flat white and cakes and I made the mistake of allowing the LLW to order. We were served a large ginger slice, an even larger slice of pecan tart, both of which were served with lashings of cream and two enormous flat whites, which apparently had two shots in each. However, Ray felt so hyper afterwards he was convinced they had four shots each. The cafe was clearly the place to be, and be seen, in Whangarei on a Saturday morning and it was really buzzing.
The LLW was so reinvigorated, and pleased with her bike, that she insisted we cycle the circuit again.
After a bit of a cycling marathon we returned via New World to ensure that plenty of provisions are on board before New Year in Russell and to refuel the camper van (from previous experience we know that petrol stations are few and far between in the Bay of Islands area). Both accomplished without too much drama but the wallet felt noticeably lighter.
There were a few domestic chores to be completed, and in particular the first load of washing but then disaster struck! A cup of tea was on the agenda and at the same time the LLW, needed to charge her MS Surface Pro so that a multitude of documents could be reviewed, edited and sent back from whence they came. However, the power sockets in the camper van refused to work. Connections, trip switches and even isolator switches were all checked and nothing appeared amiss. We were about to call Maui for help when it occurred to us that there may be a problem with the camp power supply since we had moved to a different parking slot today. The LLW marched across to reception where the very helpful lady asked if we were on one of the slots with the new silver framed power connectors and if so the power was on when the switch said off and off when it said on!! Well, blow me, I wish we had been informed about that before spending 30 mins trying to figure out what was wrong.
At least the exercise mean that we had moved a lot of bedding etc from close to the trip switches and this revealed two USB sockets which will help with charging of the numerous iPads, an iPhone, an Apple watch and a historic Blueberry.
After all was sorted, Ray calmed down and after a brief rain shower, enjoyed a cup of tea in the warm afternoon sunshine.
We both mentioned how well the bikes carried on the back of the van and that the carrier is as good as the very good one we have at home.
Little mention has been made to date of the flora but it is clearly high season for Jacaranda trees which are in full bloom everywhere, including right opposite our camper van
With Surface Pro now suitably recharged, the LLW was able to complete her documents in the shade of the camper van's pull down awning.
We parked outside of the town and off we went. It was a lovely sunny morning but even though it was only 21C, it was clear that we needed to find shade regularly as we could already feel our skins burning in spite of copious quantities of sun cream or slap as there are inclined to call it in these parts.
Luckily some cloud appeared and whilst the temperature rose, it became absolutely perfect cycling weather and the LLW sped along. The LLW declared her bike to be perfect, which was huge relief to Ray who had been responsible for purchasing this particular model, and even starting talking about shipping the bikes back to the UK at the end of our trip!
We stopped for the mandatory flat white and cakes and I made the mistake of allowing the LLW to order. We were served a large ginger slice, an even larger slice of pecan tart, both of which were served with lashings of cream and two enormous flat whites, which apparently had two shots in each. However, Ray felt so hyper afterwards he was convinced they had four shots each. The cafe was clearly the place to be, and be seen, in Whangarei on a Saturday morning and it was really buzzing.
After a bit of a cycling marathon we returned via New World to ensure that plenty of provisions are on board before New Year in Russell and to refuel the camper van (from previous experience we know that petrol stations are few and far between in the Bay of Islands area). Both accomplished without too much drama but the wallet felt noticeably lighter.
There were a few domestic chores to be completed, and in particular the first load of washing but then disaster struck! A cup of tea was on the agenda and at the same time the LLW, needed to charge her MS Surface Pro so that a multitude of documents could be reviewed, edited and sent back from whence they came. However, the power sockets in the camper van refused to work. Connections, trip switches and even isolator switches were all checked and nothing appeared amiss. We were about to call Maui for help when it occurred to us that there may be a problem with the camp power supply since we had moved to a different parking slot today. The LLW marched across to reception where the very helpful lady asked if we were on one of the slots with the new silver framed power connectors and if so the power was on when the switch said off and off when it said on!! Well, blow me, I wish we had been informed about that before spending 30 mins trying to figure out what was wrong.
At least the exercise mean that we had moved a lot of bedding etc from close to the trip switches and this revealed two USB sockets which will help with charging of the numerous iPads, an iPhone, an Apple watch and a historic Blueberry.
After all was sorted, Ray calmed down and after a brief rain shower, enjoyed a cup of tea in the warm afternoon sunshine.
We both mentioned how well the bikes carried on the back of the van and that the carrier is as good as the very good one we have at home.
Little mention has been made to date of the flora but it is clearly high season for Jacaranda trees which are in full bloom everywhere, including right opposite our camper van
With Surface Pro now suitably recharged, the LLW was able to complete her documents in the shade of the camper van's pull down awning.
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