This will be the last and final blog update from our travels with d’Hobby.

Any future blog will sadly be without the company of d’Hobby our motor-home, but we know he will be happy being off soon on another jaunt around Europe with new Antipodean owners.  However, we will keep the blog going for any, more local, travels in the coming years.

Home again !

First, a brief recap on the trip home.  Two flights from Minneapolis, through Denver to Los Angeles on 19th October, then a 6 hour stopover at LAX (soo boring! – when will they wake up to the needs of transit passengers there?!). The 12 hour non-stop flight to Auckland left at 9.00 pm, and was made somewhat more comfortable by an upgrade by AirNZ to Premium Economy.  We arrived at 7.00 am to be greeted by the local clan – three sons, wives and grandchildren who had all got up extra early to meet us.

We all had breakfast at the airport and got the gift distribution out of the way.  This was followed by a 2 hour drive north to (son) Tony’s place at Ruakaka, 20 km south of Whangarei.  His house is a 3 minute walk to the magnificent beach which runs nearly the length of Bream Bay.

Ruakaka Beach, Bream Bay
Bream Head in the distance, far right.
Whangarei Heads to the left.

Low tide, Ruakaka Beach

We stayed with Tony for 3 weeks, enjoying the relaxed lifestyle, local cafes, and visits to local towns and villages.  We bought a new car – low mileage Honda Civic, which should keep us going for while, then moved back to Auckland on 12th November, to stay with various old friends for a few days with each. Lovely to catch up with everyone, and a big thank you to you all (you know who you are) for looking after us so well.

Auckland waterfront at sunset, near MoJo’s apartment.

Staying with family and friends was due to our own tenants having notice to vacate our Ahuriri apartment on 30th November, which was subsequently extended to 5th December, so we were basically just filling in time.

On to Hawke’s Bay then on 23rd November, again staying with friends in Havelock North and Hastings respectively.  Getting closer to home now, but not quite there yet.

Tukituki Valley & Te Mata Peak, Hawke’s Bay

On 5th December, although we could now move back in, we instead flew to Christchurch, then drove to Gore Bay in the NE of the South Island to spend the weekend helping our old  (!) friend Jenny to celebrate her 70th birthday.

Gore Bay, near Cheviot, SI

Dave & Jenny are building a new home close to the beach at Gore Bay, and had been working frantically to complete the guest facilities before we arrived, but it all worked out splendidly, with a great weekend of festivities enjoyed by 20 family members and friends.

Napenape Beach, near Cheviot
L to R – Mike, Jan, Pamela, Dave & Jenny, with Bob at centre stage

Finally we flew back to Napier on 10th December, and moved back into the apartment the same day.  We’ve spent the last 2 weeks unpacking, extracting stuff from storage as we need it (this also depends on actually finding things in the storage unit), and generally getting back into the local routine again.  There was absolutely nothing left in the way of basic foods, coffee, tea, sugar etc., condiments, or cleaning stuff in the apartment. Not even any toilet rolls!  So there has been some big shopping expeditions to stock up on basics again.

Ahuriri waterfront, Napier.
Our apartment is at extreme right.

Even though we had a great time travelling and exploring so many places in Europe over the past 18 months, and met and made friends with so many lovely people (and pets) along the way, it is still nice to be home.  We have fond memories of so much, and when friends ask us if we have any particular stand-out place or event, we can only reply ‘no’ – there have been too many to pick one favourite.

So a big “Thank You” to all the friends we made in UK and Europe for making our trip so worthwhile, and to our old friends and family who have looked after us on our return.  Anyone we’ve not caught up with yet, we look forward to doing so again soon.

Please note – we have NOT converted the spare bedroom back into an office this time – it will remain available now for Guest Accommodation, along with its own bathroom, for anyone who cares to come and visit us.

In closing – we simply haven’t had time to send out Christmas cards this year, nor reply individually yet to every email we’ve received, so please accept our very best wishes to each and every one for a very Merry Christmas, and a Prosperous Year in 2014.

With love,

Mike & Jan