A tough month.

Jocelyn and I were parked at Miranda and had been for a swim at the hot pools. We intended staying a few days but we got a call from brother Ken that Joe (dad),had had a fall and was in hospital.  So we were packed and on the road back to Tauranga where we parked at Kens.  Then we were off to the    hospital in Rotorua to see Joe. He wasn't looking good at all when we got there and it turned out he was going to be in there for a while.  Over the next couple of weeks I got to spend a lot of time with Joe as when I got up in the morning I would have breakfast then head to Rotorua and spend the day with him.  Ken and Pip also came when they could but with me not working I was able to help out every day.  We also took turns staying the night when we thought Joe wasn't doing too well.  Then early one morning he had another fall by the bed and that set him back again.

  It was a tough time seeing Joe like that but it was also a good time as we got to talk about a lot of things and to reminisce about the early days when we were a tight family and growing up.  We talked about our first trips into the Ureweras where we would pack in and Joe would teach us our bush skills and setting up a comfortable camp for all weathers.  We talked about our camping holidays to the Coromandel and our love for fishing and snorkelling.  We also talked about getting out and doing things as nothing is forever.  Joe retired at 47 years old and got to do a lot of the things other people only talk about as people believe they have to keep working a full week long into their later lives.

  Joe rallied a bit after about 12 days and the doctors thought they would send him home.  He had a weak heart and he was having trouble with fluid retention on the lungs but he was looking much better.  I got to the hospital about 9am and Joe was already dressed and raring to go. Unfortunately hospitals don't take into account how keen you are to get home and it was about 1pm before all the paper work was produced.  Joe wasn't up to returning to his unit in the retirement village so I was taking him to Kens where it was going to be easier to keep an eye on him. Joe was very happy to be out of the hospital and Jocelyn and I had taken on a house sitting Job for Ken's neighbours so we were going to be right next door.  Joe sat up watching TV after Ken and Vicki went to bed then got into his PJs and went to sleep.  He died in his sleep sometime in the night.  It was unexpected as we thought he had come right to some degree.  But he had told me in one of our long talks in the hospital that when the time came he didn't want to hang around being ill but to just drop off quickly.  And that is just what he did.

  So to skip all the grieving and funeral bits you don't want to hear about within 5 days we had his unit totally emptied and cleaned. We had the family around to claim any possessions of Joes that they might like.  And at the funeral caught up with a lot of people we hadn't seen for a good number of years.  Joe was a well respected person and his service reflected that.  With Mum passing about 10 years ago and now Joe gone there is going to be a bit of a hole in all our lives for some time to come.

A bit of pest control on the house sitting job.

  Our house sitting job came to an end and it was a nice interlude for us.  It was quite nice to live in a house over the colder days of August.  And I also got to do a bit of stock work shifting 5 cattle onto their new breaks and feeding out a bale of hay now and again. But we are now back on the road.  We first went back to where all this started, to Miranda and back for a soak in the hot pools. Next we passed through Auckland and stayed at Uretiti DOC camp just south of Whangarei.  A very nice long sandy beach and nice camp.  But we are now back at Otamure Bay just north of Whangarei.  You go through Whananaki North then carry on over the hill and you come to lovely Otamure beach.

 Already we have butterfish and snapper back on the menu.  And we have been for a walk along the longest footbridge in the southern hemisphere we have been reliably informed.  It crosses the estuary between Whananaki North and Whananaki South.  493 paces.

some nice snapper from Otamure Bay.

Whananaki walking bridge.

  I went for a kayak one morning and when I pulled the kayak up the beach afterwards I found it was really heavy.   Turned out I had a hole in the keel and It was about half full of water.  A bit worrying seeing as I had been out over a km from shore.  It seems that where I had been dragging it to the water the sand had worn the plastic away.

  So we went in to Whangarei to a kayak shop where I bought a set of wheels so I can now wheel the kayak to the sea.  I also went to a plastic welder who welded a new bit of plastic to the keel.  We had a nice lunch at an Israeli cafe and went for a short walk down around the yachts at the Town Basin.
  Next morning I got to try out the new wheels for the kayak which work really well and managed to catch a couple of nice snapper for tea. And no more leaks so am definitely back in business.

The new wheels.

Joc on the beach at Miranda.