WHANGAREI HERE WE COME

Tis the morning of our little trip away.
Hopefully we have a lovely time!

Our first stop is going to be at Matakana, where we will go to the local market.  We will probably get some fresh fruit for our weekend there, as they have really lovely fresh produce stalls.

Then on to Whangarei.  Where we plan on visiting the local Hospice Shop!

I'm told it's HUGE... and is open until 3.30 pm on a Saturday, so we should get there in time to have a little look around, before booking into our motel.

So, that's about all for now.  I hope to get the telecom t-stick thingee to work later, so I can upload a few photos and do an update of our day.

We have not been away (just the two of us), since May 2012, so it's a bit overdue.

I hope the kids, Steve, Bex and Dante have a nice weekend too... without us.  *smiles*

ONWARD...

Hi!  My USB drive thingee works!  We are at our motel after having an awesome day getting here.

We stopped at Matakana and bought some delicious local cheeses, and some shells from an awesome stall:

ABOVE:  There was  a lovely older couple running this stall, and I really liked her idea of shells in a glass container... so I bought 'a few' shells to do my own.   She gave me a few tips on how to do it effectively and even gave me her phone number, so if I wanted more I could call into her home to get some!
They live in Auckland, so not far to go.  Their prices were bloody good too!


After spending some time in Matakana, we drove straight to Whangarei.
I had never really been into Whangarei, and thought it would be fairly small and uninteresting.
How wrong!  It's lovely here.  The shops are neat... we did a bit of shopping before having some lunch down by the waterfront.

ABOVE: our lunch companion.  

ABOVE:  A shop I simply had to go into!   But her prices were a bit steep.  For instance.  A shell she had in the shop for $29.50 I had just bought at that shell stall in Matakana for $4.
But it was still a nice shop.  And the owner was lovely, and allowed me to take photos to put on my blog.
I managed to resist buying anything there, because I'd just spent a good deal here:

 ABOVE:  This 'shop' reminded me of my Dad's boat shed... full of boating stuff.  I must confess I went around flapping my hands in delight.  I bought something.
I will show you what... when I get home.  *smiles*  Any guesses?
It's NAUTICAL.

There was a dinghy in there I sooooo wanted, but Stew said NO. The shit.  It would have fitted on the car's roof... I'm sure.  AND it came with oars.  OARS people!!!
lol

Stew just said 'Yes Dear' when I read that to him.  

ABOVE:  Whangarei marina/estuary.  So didn't know there was an estuary right there.  Must be deep, there were dozens of big boats there.

So.  Now we have our feet up relaxing before deciding what to do next.

ABOVE:  Bex just sent me this photo.  The kids are making their own pies for dinner, using left over beef 'n' bacon stew I made the other night.  And they are NOT fighting apparantly.  EXCELLENT.  Well done Bex.  Keep them occupied. *smiles*

CHRISTY:  sadly, no, not a porthole!  I would kill to find a porthole!

End of Day:  what a fab day we have had!  We had such a late lunch we both just had a bit of cheese for dinner, lying on the bed watching the telly.  Well... HE'S watching sport.  I'm not really.  I've been google'ing fabric  shops here in Wangarei.  lol
Thanks to Leigh, we have one to visit tomorrow morning before we head south again.
nite nite