Grandchildren

We have been around long enough that we are no longer such a novelty to the boys. Even Ethan has stopped texting “When are you coming here” messages.

It has been  lovely to be able to see them on and off over an extended period of time, including being around for Noah’s birthday party.

And when the weather finally warmed up.

Kidnappers Country Music Festival

The  Motorhome Friendly Towns often organise cheap parking for local events. We saw this country music festival advertised at Hastings racecourse and thought we’d give it a try. Must admit, when the women started line dancing we wondered, but they were fun to watch.

Graham’s not-so-secret Santa present certainly proved its worth to carry drinks and nibbles over for the Friday and Saturday night shows.

The grandstand was shaded but uncomfortable during the day, but our own seats were much better at night. We had a great time and met some interesting people. Three widows, two who were bus drivers and sisters-in-law from Pio Pio, and one of their sisters in a separate van, were parked opposite us. The bus drivers had an 11m campervan! They helped make the weekend a lot of fun. 

The headline act from Dunedin was very good.

Clive

A new spot for us was the Evers-Swindell Reserve in Clive. It is prone to flooding but there was no rain in the forecast.

The area is home to Hawke’s Bay rowing, the Evers-Swindell sisters’ home club. We didn’t know when we arrived, but soon found out there was a rowing regatta on the next day.

And even more of a treat, a cute wee bmx track and cycle track that the boys really enjoyed.

Christmas to New Year

 We tried several different places at Eriksen Road. The first, by the hedge was sheltered but lost the sun early. An interesting contraption parked beside us. A woman on her own who had designed it herself. It has a huge window in the back. She says, and we saw, that a lot of people are keen to have a look. She parked with the window against the hedge for some privacy.

The spot down by the gate was quite exposed, but got a lot more sun. There were always people coming and going to keep us entertained.

The family came to visit. Noah and Ethan wanted to see everything in Frieda. Unlike Thomas, who just said I’ve seen it all already.

New Year’s Eve was very quiet so it was just the two of us. We could see the Napier fireworks at midnight. The smoke from the Australian bush fires was being seen across NZ, even worse down south.