New Year’s Eve, what a fun night. We stayed at the marae most of the night, Rowan and I went to join a few others at the local raza (RSA), Rowan promised the kids he would be back before midnight to do the countdown with them. So we set an alarm and was gone for about 45min. We told the others we were heading back to do the countdown with the kids and they showed up just before midnight too! Karstan was so happy/amazed that we came back that he cried (so cute). I went to bed at 2am and Rowan was 5am!

A New Year, I woke up bleary and very tired. I don’t cope well without sleep. Unfortunately for me my 6am body clock told me to get out of bed. I was the only one up haha. It took a good hour or more before I saw signs of any life at the marae. Which suited me fine as I poured caffeine into my system to make me feel human again. I gave Rowan 5 hours sleep before I tried to get him up. Today we are on the move so we have the marae to clean before we go. We get the place looking great by about 1pm. Many hands make light work. I packed us up to go while trying to get Rowan up. I ended up having a shower which made me feel a thousand times more alive. I didn’t drink as much as the others last night but definitely more than I normally would.

When we hit the road to head south we had my cousin Nellie and two of her boys, Zakaiah and Karstan following us. We reach Tokomaru Bay and have lunch at the pub. We continued on to Anaura Bay to camp. After we set up and settled in, we left Rowan to nap while we hit the beach. It was a nice walk and a great way to end the day.

Nellie and I decided an early sunrise start was a must. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to get a great display, Rowan and Karstan got up too. Kaiah was fast asleep.

We packed up and continued on our tiki tour. I cooked us breakfast when we reached Kaiaua Bay. Heaps of freedom campers here. We are coming to find the area really does well for both self contained and non self contained travellers. There are heaps of families with tents. It is nice to see the council allowing this where a lot of areas ban it.

We made it to Mahia and decided to stay there for the night. The boys played on the beach all afternoon/evening until it was too dark. I tried to see if there was an Aurora able to be captured. I didn’t stay up all night just checked whenever I woke up and thought about it. I didn’t see any glow at all.

Our journey continues and we make it to Lake Tutira. We get there fairly early which is great as the boys can run around and us adults can relax. The weather is a bit on and off today with a few sprinkles but it is mostly fine. Back in Waitaki the weather has been bad. At least my plants will survive.

There was a sassy swan that stayed around us all night in hope of us feeding it. I ended up giving it some oats as I didn’t want the kids to give it bread. The lake is really peaceful. No motor boats allowed, but you can kayak and fish.

Rowan is getting the flu I hope I can miss it.

At this point of our trip we are saying goodbye to Nellie and the boys. But it turns out she will come one more day. The funny thing is she is going further south but because she is coming further west it is actually making her journey home a lot quicker than if she went from Tikitiki.

We end up op shopping in Napier which the kids love. We take a scenic drive to Kairakau Beach where we stay the night. One last night and then Rowan and I are on our way to Wellington.

We say our goodbyes and have big hugs. It was great to travel with Nellie and the boys. Very easy going travel companions.

Rowan and I get to the longest place name in the world. On the back roads it feels like the North Island has forgotten about this area. There only is farms and forestry. Even small towns with a pub are few. We go for a short steep walk to Waihi Falls which is in the middle of nowhere. We thought we may stay the night there but it really isn’t a great spot. We end up driving further until we find a good track off road to park for the night.