Week 23- Micklems in New Zealand

My week began with a customary morning swim around 07:00 before I got the bus to the city for my last physio (not because I was better but because I wouldn’t have the opportunity to see him again). I did a few small bits of Christmas shopping for the imminent arrival of my family. Back on Waiheke I was treated to a barbecue dinner with Katherine and Grant (Friends of Mark and Clare who are permanent residents on Waiheke). They ran out of water at the beginning of December and were told they would have to wait until Christmas Day to get their tank filled. This meant that we ate from paper plates. After dinner we played Mexican train which is a domino based game and we introduced the Americans to ‘Martin’s life’ which is an Irish YouTube cartoon series. They didn’t understand a word. Tuesday was my last day on Waiheke before my family arrived so naturally it was spent working. We levelled a 6x4m area, compacted it and put down paving stones to make a patio for their concrete table. I just had time after for a jog, swim and throw.

My family may have been travelling from Ireland and set off two days earlier but I felt I had an equally challenging journey to go to collect them (maybe?). Mark gave me a lift to the 07:30 ferry and then I cycled to Queen Street. I had a quick video call with Eoghan back home before I set about trying to pack my life, for the next 2 months, into a 55L backpack. At midday I cycled with my backpack, rather precariously, down Queen Street and locked the bike at Brittomart for Eoghan to collect when he arrives. I took the train and then the bus to get to the airport for their expected arrival at 15:45. Shortly before 17:00, Sam appeared through the arrivals gate, then a few minutes later Holly and then Dad. Some time had passed and there was no sign of mum (I imagine there was some kind of game plan where the family huddled, discussed their strategy and then said ‘Ready. Break’). I got a message from Mum explaining that she had fallen foul of a stray orange at border control.

Eventually we had reminded ourselves what each other looked like, hired the car, and arrived at the town of Thames for dinner. The chosen restaurant, rather worryingly, had a child sitting behind the bar. The accommodation for the first night was a stunning B&B overlooking Thames with a small pool and a hot tub. Before we were able to enjoy the warm water, the owner asked mum if we needed to get food. She didn’t seem too impressed when mum responded that we had already eaten in the village (as opposed to a town). We had ordered breakfast that evening but there was clearly some confusion as to what exactly each person had ordered and much fruit stealing went on! We drove to Cathedral cove to spend some time swimming and relaxing on the beach. After the 40min walk-in, we swam into a cave I had found on my last visit and then enjoyed some lunch. I had bought tinned peaches and I wanted to cool them in the sea so I had stood in the water with the peaches at my feet. Unfortunately, they were sacrificed to the sea. On our way to our next stop at Paeroa, we called into Hot Water Beach where there is naturally running hot water (Surprisingly). Sam discovered that in can be far too hot in places as in stepped in a pool and then danced into the sea to cool his feet!. After Holly had finished her expedition to find mussels we drove to our accommodation and enjoyed Indian for dinner.

On Friday, we hired bikes and began part of the Hauraki rail trail from Paeroa to Waihi. The rail trail is the route that the old railway line used to follow so it is quite flat. On the route we passed through farmland, forests, a 1km tunnel, an old gold refinery and also saw a waterfall before we reached Waihi. Lunch was enjoyed at the BananaPepper cafe before Dad was desperately frustrated by riddle games. About halfway back on the second leg of our 55km journey, dad decide that he wasn’t tired enough, having used the electric bike thus far, so we swapped and he duly took off. We didn’t see him again until we got home. We cooked bolognese for dinner, played some card games and went to bed. I was feeling ill on Saturday morning (I blame my family) so I stayed in bed and read while they cycled. In the afternoon, we went to explore some of the antique shops that Paeroa is famous for before cooking some chicken for dinner, excited to be heading to Waiheke the next day.

We were up early and hit the road (After I had shown off by cooking breakfast with my camping stove). We had to stop and buy our quota of food for Christmas dinner before we arrived at the ferry terminal at half moon bay. Once we parked in the queue and were well boxed in, we remembered that we had forgotten to buy water. Sam and I set off on a quick expedition to find and buy water. We returned victorious! Soon we were on open water. Off the ferry, we made the short journey to their batch where we were greeted by Mark, Clare, Jack, Tara and the dogs.

Clare made a delicious cold lunch for us before we headed down to the beach. We threw the frisbee, went swimming, Sam and Jack made a fish out of sand and then we played Spikeball with Jack’s homemade set. As we enjoyed the sun’s rays, it was hard to believe that it was Christmas Eve. Clare’s friend Geraldine arrived later that afternoon and the three ladies went for a swim before we all had dinner at Charlie Farley’s. At one stage the waiter wasn’t sure what kind of wine he was serving mum so he stuck his nose in the glass and gave it a good sniff. We were all a little surprised by this but it was worth it for the look on his face once he realised what he had done! Mum and Dad spent the night in a batch (with a gorgeous view) belonging to Ian and Margaret (Clare’s neighbours). Sam, Jack and I also slept in a hut owned by Ian and Margaret, called Shingle Shack, which is unchanged since it was built in 1934.

You can see all the photos from Pre-Waiheke here.