Wow! I can't believe how long it's been since I posted anything on this blog. I really enjoyed my stay in Napier. I was at the Waterfront Lodge from August 14th to October 7th. I then traveled to Whangaroa and stayed at the Sunseeker Lodge from October 8th to October 22nd. I am now at Wanganui staying at Tamara Lodge. It took me 10 hours to drive from Whangaroa to Wanganui. Now, that was a long day, but amazingly beautiful country! At least when I went from Napier to Whangaroa I stopped for the night at Warkworth. It was getting late when I got there and figured I'd better find a place to sleep before it got dark as they don't light many roads here. Sheep World turned out to be quite an experience. My room for the night was an old caravan.
Complete with kitchen
and TV lounge.
I finally figured out that I could pull this out to make a bed. So, I unzipped my sleeping bag and laid it out flat and covered with the moon and stars blanket Leilani let me borrow. I'll admit it was not clean in there. Some of the windows did not shut all the way and there were definite signs of creepy crawly things. Like ants floating in the kettle. I had to work hard at controlling my mind. I repeated over and over, it's just a little dirt, ants and spiders. Nothing is going to hurt you.
When the owner was showing me around, he mentioned there were glow worms just over a bridge by the pond. So, once the sun was fully set, I set out to explore. It was cloudy and much darker than I had bargained for, as well as wet and slippery. I did make it down to the pond and over the little wooden bridge to where the glow worms were, but then there were things climbing the trees around me and moving very fast. The next thing I new, I was moving pretty fast and was back at the caravan before I knew it. I had to have a long mental talk with myself. I was majorly freaked out. Took me a while to calm down, but then I cleaned out the kettle and had a cuppa and managed to relax, a bit. I still didn't sleep very well. In the morning, I walked around and took pictures of everything and realized this is a pretty cool place.
Unique little area right next to a BBQ and bocce ball area.
These overlook the pond.
It's hard to see in the picture, but the bridge goes across the pond starting at the white rock at the lower left and then behind the trees is another open grassy area surrounded by trees where the glow worms are.
Then I drove the rest of the way to Whangaroa and Sunseeker Lodge where I was shown to this dorm room and given my choice of bed. Of course, I chose the one with a view.
And what a view!
There was a pod of about 8 dolphins that would come and go from this magnificent harbor. If I was blessed to see them come into the harbor, I would sit by the window and wait for them to go back out. This place did not have very reliable wifi or TV, but what it did have was amazing.
I'm off for now, but will try to post again soon to get caught up to where I am now.
