2025 February - Bay of Plenty (Catching up and getting comfortable with our new "home")

Bay of Plenty (Catching up and getting comfortable with our new "home")

February was about catching up with family and friends in the Bay of Plenty, as well as learning all the things that would make living in Heidi easy. By Sunday, February 2nd, I (Trish) was feeling much better and testing negative for COVID. Len was still a bit under the weather but improving.

A Stay at Mount Maunganui

We decided to book in for a few nights at the iconic Mount Campground, at the base of Mauao, where we have enjoyed several holidays in the past. It's right on the beach, close to the interesting downtown shops, and at the start of the picturesque walk around the base of the Mount. Unfortunately, finding a park was difficult, but we eventually found one and booked our stay from February 10th to the 15th.

A Week with Friends

By Monday, we had already used our 10 allowable nights at the NZMCA Park. After a shopping trip, we moved out to Tauriko to stay on the drive of our good friends, Tony and Margaret's neighbour. Margaret, as usual, spoiled us during our stay, arriving with delicious soup on our first night. We only intended to stay for a couple of nights, but it was so relaxing that we ended up staying a full week. I trust that we were good security guards!

A comfortable "POP"

Motorhome "freedom glamping"

During our week here, we:

• Popped over to Tay Street at the Mount several times to swim and catch some waves.

• Joined our good friend, Milly, for coffee at Benny & Brews.

• Did a good bike ride from Kenny Road in Pyes Pa to the Historic Village.

• Went to the Bob Dylan movie "A Complete Unknown," which we both rated well.

• Had a pizza from Orchard Thieves at the Crossing, afterwards.

• Hosted a lunch for Margaret & Tony, Jan & Doug, Milly, and Rosemary, complete with a birthday cake for Jan & Milly who share the same birthday.

• Len cooked his famous delicious Feijoa Curry to share with Margaret & Tony.

• I gave Colin some acupuncture and physio for his painful hip and also gave Sandra some acupuncture for her arthritic ring finger.

Papamoa Beach

One of Tauranga's cycle ways.

Moving On and Getting Sorted

On Monday the 10th, we were excited to move on to the Mount Maunganui camp for five nights. While we were there, we continued trying to sell our beloved electric car, "Evie." Len reduced the price on Trade Me every day.

Heidi & Evie at Mount Campground.

While at the Mount Camp, we:

• Went for more swims, though we had to walk down the beach to swim between the flags due to rips and big waves.

• Walked around the Mount when we could, although I couldn't go up it due to my COPD and asthma.

• Enjoyed visits from several friends.

• I had a very beneficial Thai Massage and a much-needed haircut.

• We joined friends for a barbecue at Sue & Pete's.

• Rode our bikes to Papamoa, had lunch at the Blackberry Eatery, and stopped for a beer and carrot cake on the way home.

• I bought a nice blue dress that shouldn't need much ironing, and Len came home with new shorts.

• We had another delicious dinner at Dui's, one of our favourite Thai restaurants.

On Saturday the 16th, we had lunch with our friends, Raewyn & Bill, at Classic Flyers before moving on to Cooney Reserve, a freedom camping spot at Omokoroa. The weather changed while we were there, becoming wet and windy. Lack of sunlight started to cause issues with our house battery. We realised we probably needed to look at more solar panels and a lithium battery.

Cooney Reserve Freedom Camping

During our three nights there, we walked along the cycle track and joined Jan (who has been my friend for over 60 years) and her family for dinner to celebrate her birthday again. I also bumped into a golfing friend, Sue, who had moved, with Neil, to Omokoroa, and she invited us over for a coffee at their new house which helped us have a good catch-up. Afterwards we walked along the Estuary path to the Boat Club.

Final Stops in Tauranga

We had a prospective buyer, Rajeesh, for "Evie", a taxi driver from Rotorua so we took it to The Crossing for him to look it over. He couldn't, with borrowings, pay more than $15,000 so we decided to wait a little longer to see if anyone else would put an offer in.

Heidi & Evie at Rona's POP

Tuesday the 18th, we had a night stop at Rona Murdoch's POP at Pyes Pa, where we picked up tips from others at happy hour about where to get our solar installed. As a result, we contacted MEDA and booked Heidi in for the upgrade.

Next, it was another one-night stop at lovely Kulim Park. We biked to Trish's and Chris's and to Barb's seeing Harriet on the way when we ended up in the wrong street - that was a bonus! After dinner we went for a circular walk, getting caught in a sudden downpour. That night, I had no sleep at all because of the very long trains that seemed to run every half hour. No way were we going to even consider another night there! Whilst there however we were lucky to have Margo pop in as well as Barb with her dog, Bean.

We then moved on to the Tauranga Tourist Park for three nights. We biked to visit Heather & Dene, although the cycle path became complex with steps towards Yatton Park we couldn't lift our ebikes up. After a couple of drinks we cycled back in the dark along the footpaths! We also drove over to the Mount for yet another swim.

Back to Whakatane

Sunday the 23rd saw us heading back east to Whakatane, stopping on the way for lunch at Matata Straits. Whilst there we picked up suitcases for our trip to the UK, a parcel for Madi (our Granddaughter) and dropped off a few things we didn't need in Heidi to make more space. 

Evening at Ohiwa Harbour

We had three nights at the freedom camping area at the end of Ohope spit. At Ohope we enjoyed a looked-forward- to swim at West end, always a pretty safe beach although the sand isn't as plentiful, pristine and dry as that at Mount Maunganui. We played golf at Ohope with a cart. This seemed to take my breath away so much that I had to use my inhaler a lot during the night. I got an urgent appointment at the doctors the next day, which saved me a trip to the ED.

Then it was dinner at Global Thai with Anne & Dave and a night stop at the McAllister Street freedom camping spot.

I also had a broken tooth fixed at the dentist, but another piece of the same tooth broke off a couple of weeks later. Because we were well down the island by then, I have another appointment scheduled for September.

Heading West Again

Waterhouse POP at Maketu was a good large area to park that night as we headed west again. We had a walk along the waterfront and shared a drink with the POP owner, Colin, before dinner. We found we had a lot of events in common.

Work that machine (Maketu)

Thursday found us traveling to stay outside our friends, Pete & Sue's beach bach for four nights. On the way, we did our washing at Papamoa's Liquid Laundromat. While the washing was happening we had a nice coffee and scone at The Blackberry Cafe, a swim after the washing was done and then a visit to RV Mega for a new window stay and, surprisingly, a self containment check (green sticker) which we had booked in advance to have done in Christchurch.

Cosy at the bach

With Pete & Sue at Waihi Beach

Waihi Beach walk

VERY High tide

It was good to arrive at Waihi Beach and enjoy a barbecue while having a further catch-up. Don't let the photos fool you—after a walk down the beach the following morning, we became totally drenched on the way home. A visit to the ANZ bank was also on the agenda for the next day.

With the skies clearing, we went on a "Tiki Tour" of Waihi Beach with Pete & Sue, followed by a swim and a fish & chip dinner at the Boat Club.

Hi-viz, Lo-bike ride to Bowentown

Sue & Pete had to leave on Saturday, but we had a great bike ride along the cycle track to Bowentown. We had another swim of course in the afternoon, getting "home" just before another downpour of rain. On Sunday morning, our departure day, it was high tide when we had a swim. There is a lot of erosion getting close to the houses there with global warming, unfortunately. We love Waihi Beach and, more than once, have thought about living there.