OFF TO PALMERSTON NORTH FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS

Well it's travel day.

We are heading out at around 8.30 am for Palmerston North.

I expect we will make a few stops along the way.

The first one being in Cambridge to drop a gift off to a friend.  Then we will probably not stop again until around Taupo for brunch.

The weather is supposed to be on/off, iffy for rain/sun.  I don't really care, we will be in the car after all eh?

So, until I have something else to yabber on about, catch ya later.

9.04... we are on the road. Weather is lovely right now. Traffic is not too heavy. Feeling great! 

Because we left earlier than anticipated we are no longer stopping in Taupo. We are now going to stop in Taihaphe for lunch and a wander around.  Traffic is now light! 

ABOVE: Lake Taupo is rough today. And its bloody FREEZING. I grabbed some pumice and driftwood... its what I do. Tracking along real good.

ABOVE: it's 12 degrees on the desert road. LOTS of traffic, particularly behind caravans.  To be expected and not bothering us at all.  It's now 11.26 and we are not that far from Waiouru.

12.38 PM. We are at Taihape. Queued to get into a popular café, only to find they didn't have what we wanted, so we wandered over to another café. Now awaiting our Eggs Benedict and some wedges to share. 

ABOVE: 7 outta 10, because the focaccia bread was miserable.   In fact, I'm pretty sure it wasn't focaccia bread at all, just regular buns.

ABOVE: Sadly this gets a 1 outta 10! It was like luke warm milky water. Not nice at all.

Left it there.

We are on the road again. 

2.43 pm and we are safely in Palmerston North.  It was an easy, straighforward trip, no hassles at all.

I got to drive from Hunterville, to give Stew a break.  I got to learn how to use the Cruise Control on his car... it's rather nifty.

Now we will wait for Mike and Joyce to visit, then we will all go off to dinner in town.

10.24 pm, and we have spent the evening with Mike and Joyce.  We enjoyed a very nice dinner then came back to our motel and chatted for a few hours.

We insisted they open their Christmas Presents.

ABOVE: Mike got this gaming mat from Steve, he LOVED IT. Good choice Steve.

ABOVE:  Mike in his Waikato shirt...

ABOVE: And Joyce in some 'lounge pants' we found for her in Australia.

There were other gifts, but I didn't take photos of everything.

I think it's safe to say they like their early Christmas presents.

Now... it's time to go to bed.  We have another day trip to Wellington tomorrow.

So catch ya later.