Time to Hit the Road Again - Northward Bound

Monday 15 September

Finally the winds settled down a bit and it was time to hit the road. Checked and double checked everything as we had been parked up so long we feared we might forget something - leave a window on the latch, forget to lock the fridge, fail to turn the gas off etc.

We popped in to say farewells and to meet Mairi’s mum who arrived from the UK at 6.30am (like a visitor relay baton handover!) and grabbed Summer for a last walk around the park.

Then it was back and forth a few inches to get Banjo off the chocks and blocks that had been keeping her level for so long… and before we knew it, we were on the road again, heading north this time.

The route up to Ruakākā wasn’t too bad - a bit windy in places and some roadworks along the way. I was in another world as my celebrant renewal had been put on hold as I’ve only performed one wedding this year so was liaising with Ella on ways to drum up business urgently.

Stopped at Wellsford - right outside the Hospice Op Shop so what’s a girl to do?! Came out 25 mins later with a cute pink dress for just $5! Passed the layby on the side of the road between Wellsford & Kaiwaka where we spent a few frustrating hours on Boxing Day 2016 when the engine on the old Ford Escape blew a gasket - bad memories!

Arrived at the Ruakākā Holiday Park just after 1pm and checked in to our chosen site, #43 out by the estuary. It feels like a full circle moment as this is where we spent our first 2 nights in Banjo, accompanied by Abby & Jez in their Moho and Nickie & Russ in their new Bailey caravan back in December 2024!

Took a lovely walk along the estuary and out to the beach - where Louis decided to test this leakproofness by dashing into the sea for the briefest of swims… then again for a second dip as the GoPro hadn’t recorded the first effort!

Snoozed then had early dinner in Banjo as the sun went down, planned future routes and watched “Only Murders in the Building”.