Reluctantly back at the dreaded W word. We are still riding the high of our trip and really looking forward to sailing into the sunset. Talking of sailing, we have a date, 1st of July. We better rattle our dags to make sure we are ready.

We filled up our hot tub to have as a cold plunge pool. I think we would miss our swims too much. Every morning we hop in nice and early for a dip. Most mornings I don’t last in there very long. In the afternoon when the sun is out I can stay in a lot longer.

News this week, well we had the plumber and sparky come do their jobs while we were away. The insulation was delivered and Graham our builder came down to help us get it all in before the inspection. It was all done by 3.30pm, I think the three of us worked well and got the job done pretty fast. Even with masks and gloves on the fibreglass is not a fun. Rowan and I took a cold plunge when we got home to remove it all.

The following day (Wednesday) we have Dave our cute plumber here and he works on the shower trays and plumbing while we wait for the council inspector. Dave has to show the pressure test to the council so the pipes are signed off. I think this is one of the most crazy parts about building. Plumbers are going to change soon to self certification which I think is a good thing. The crazy part is the electricians and the gas fitters are all self certified, they are the two that can kill you if they don’t do it right in your home. The worst that could go wrong with the plumbing is a flooded house or black water where you don’t want it. Crazy as!

Tim from Mitre10 also comes to deliver the GIB and take away the insulation. He asks me to grab the insulation. Which I shouldn’t have attempted on my own. Long story short I ended up with 5 bales all in a big wrap in the creek, eek! There goes $750 worth of insulation I now can’t return. It is pretty funny, I think this is my only real stupid mistake that has cost us money. So over two builds I can’t really complain. I have a little plan for that damp insulation.

Other jobs this week have included cleaning out Camele, which is half done. We sold the mattress from the back really fast. We are wanting to get some container organising done but the weather is not playing around. Oh well, we will get there.

The last day

Today we have our last morning swim together in Lake Lyndon. Germie packs and then we head into Christchurch.

We kill the time by going to Orana Wildlife Park. Jenna doesn’t need to be checking in until the afternoon. So enjoy looking at the cute fuzzies. This wee meerkat is how I feel most mornings.

I use my Nikon P1000 camera to get much better shots. My phone would not have done justice.

I was a little apprehensive taking Jenna there as she is a biologist and works at a Zoo in Osnabruck in Germany. But she was quite happy and said it was a good Zoo.

A bit of a mission to get all her bags sorted and on the plane we went and had a quick bite at Subway which we hadn’t done at all this trip. A very teary goodbye at the airport, we have already started planning what we will do next. It is definitely not the last time you will hear about our adventures with Jenna.

Rowan and I mission is down south. We need to meet Janis who runs the Hospice shop in Ashburton. She has some gold set aside which we are happy to pay more for than what her gold buyer gives her. A win-win for all.

From there we hurry down to Timaru to meet my Nana. She is here with my Aunty Sue, Uncle Paul and their son (my cousin) Matt. Matt is racing one of grandpas old saloon cars. There is a 3 location fun race happening. We get to have a cuppa with them at their Airbnb. Nana has carried down two heavy books that were sent to her from Joanne for us. Two stunning books that she has done up from our Antarctica trip. Finley (Matt’s daughter) really wants to visit Antarctica so it was really cool to show her the photos and talk to her about the trip.

We get home rather late, I turn off my early alarm to let my body wake me up when I am ready. Otherwise I will be like that meerkat in the morning.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing our trip, we have certainly had a lot of fun. If you are laid back and happy to go with the flow, hit us up. We run whirlwind tours of the South Island, free for friends and whanau. X

A beautiful bit of morning light coming in.

We made our way into Greymouth and got some breakfast before heading towards the East.

Germie and I went for a walk at the Brunner Historic Mine.

A little nosy at Lake Brunner and Lake Poerua

Rowan cooked Puffer and we had a swim in the freezing river. Rowan took these awesome split shot photos.

Arthurs Pass and Germie being silly.

Happy Big Birthday Mum! My mum Jane has hit retirement. Now I can take her out and present her gold card for a discount.

Back at Lake Lyndon for the night. Our month with Jenna is nearly over. We have packed a lot in.

Rowan and Germie had their morning swim in the Wairau River. We head off after coffee and don’t make it very far, a proper flat tyre! Even though it is early 7.30am it takes hours to get the AA service out to help us. Rowan sacrificed putting a jack in the tool compartment in order to fit more fun stuff. Obviously this was a calculated risk and we are not all that bothered. We don’t get back in the road until 11am.

We beeline to the Fox River Markets and make it there by 2pm.

Oma (Jenna’s Nana) shouts us lunch. Delicious!

Parked up for night up on the cliff next to the roaring ocean. A beautiful West Coast sunset.

Jenna and I take some instagram shots!

A morning swim in the Pelorus to wake us up and set the day right. We grabbed a bite to eat in Havelock.

In Picton we went to the op shops then on to see if we could find our sign. The definitely no camping sign had been destroyed which was very sad. We bonded over this sign three years ago.

The scenic route following the beautiful coastline. There were so many gorgeous places we wanted to swim but were private. Unfortunately all of the public access ones were a bit pants.

Instead we had a great swim in the Wairau River. But first we had some Puffer for lunch. Delicious German pancakes. In Blenheim we went to the warehouse and to Kmart.

We found a spot about 15min out of St Arnuad for the night. We were going to head south along the coastline but it was silly to do so when we have a few days up our sleeve.

An early morning swim at Paines Ford. Known for being able to climbe the rocks around the river. We were there early enough to miss all of the rock climbers.

Off to Kaiteriteri for our next swim. Today is Waitangi Day and I expected it to be busy. But not this busy. Rowan’s face as we are driving says it all. We couldn’t find a carpark and there was a pay for carpark absolutely full too. So we decided to turn around and go back to Marahau and swim there.

Marahau was a lovely swim and we timed it well. We had our swim and then noticed people flocking to the beach haha. We had a Fat Tūī burger for lunch.

I had to stop for photos of Woolf’s Stream. My grandpas family used to be here in the tobacco days.

We only stop in Nelson to fuel up and to buy a very important tub of ice cream. Germie has requested Homey Pokey.

We drive out to Pelorus for the night. We go down to the river for a snorkel and a good swim. But first we sit in the river attempting to eat a full tub of ice cream. We fail.

A fantastic fog over the lake this morning. When we came out of the clouds the view was great.

In Takaka for breakfast. We found the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I also found a book or two at the local op shop.

Germie and I went off on an adventure. We didn’t get to our destination but here at Farewell Spit we found an awesome Pilot Whale skull dug into the sand. We ended up spending an hour getting it out. We really wanted some teeth. A little bit sad about no teeth but it was still like digging for treasure. It still had some flubber attached so it was pretty smelly and we needed to swim it off.

We made our way back to Takaka and went swimming in the river there. Then we had a late lunch at the local chippy. It was so large we couldn’t have dinner.

Te Waikoropupu Springs for the last afternoon adventure. There was a very tame paradise duck which absolutely made my day. The springs are fantastic, the water is absolutely incredible.

We parked up next to the Takaka River for the night.

Woke up on Denniston plateau, Rowan and Germie went for a swim in a tarn. We checked out the old mining part.

Drive South East. Then stopped for breakfast before Murchison. In Murchison we tried to get a real fruit ice cream but it wasn’t open.

It is such a great day we head off to Lake Rotoroa for a swim. Jenna saves a couple of bugs and we tell her the poor fish are losing their food source hehe.

We hit the Motueka op shops and find some real fruit ice cream.

Out at Cobb Dam for the night. It is a long scenic drive that is absolutely stunning.