Hamilton

Well, hello!! Since our last blog we have left Katikati and traveled on to poke around the Coromandel Penninsula and Pauanui to visit with Gordon and Annette at their beach home. It is a beautiful place which is incredibly well planned out for services. There are about 700-800 year round inhabitants and the rest are holiday dwellers. The whole place is about 2500 people I believe is what we were told. At Christmas time it seems the population swells to a whopping 10,000 people!!! The area we were in is in the harbour area so the water is calm. We were able to do some beach walking and poke around a bit, but the weather had decided to be cloudy and rainy. The second day we were there it was a full rain day so a drive around was the best we could do. The properties are very expensive. Sections, which are what we call "lots" away from the water sell for 350k plus depending on the size. Anything looking onto the water shoots up dramatically with alot of them topping over the million mark plus. Now remember, that is just for the section. Then there is the cost of building the house. Yikes!!! A very interesting concept here is the purchase of a "utility" which you can put on a section then park your motor home and such. These little utilities hold toilets etc. which make living in a smaller unit much more pleasant.
On the first day we were there we drove around to the small town just across the harbour. There was the beginings of the Beach Hop which was scheduled to officially begin up the coast on Saturday. This is a wonderfully celebrated weekend now for 10 years which focuses on restored vehicles. There were oldies of every description there....and an endless stream of them just kept coming and coming. We saw everything from the early 1900s to cars which I remember when in high school. Can it be that the cars of my youth are now classics....we won't go there!!! So, we were able to stroll up and down the harbour admiring these wonderfully restored vehicles and take in the flavour of the people participating. Now remember...this was just the first beginings of it. The official first day was on the weekend in a town up the coast and it sounds like it will be a full busy weekend complete with the "oldies" music and a "hop" (dance) on Saturday night. The whole affair would make the Majestics Car Club envious as there were 1500 registered vehicles and owners just for the weekend. It seems to be quite the passion here. We were very pleased to see that there were vehicles restored that were with the steering wheel on the "proper" side of the car. Saturday morning saw us pack up and head out for Hamilton where we will perch until Monday morning.
While with Gordon and Annette we have enjoyed some of the very tastiest meals....Annette professes to only be able to boil water, but we have figured out that she is fibbing. Gordon's nickname is "Gordonbleu" which he lived up to fully with his meal last night here in Hamilton at their home. Roast lamb with roasted potatoes, kumara, peas and baked pumpkin were a wonderful meal. That was topped off with a big Pavlova which Ray was the assistant chef and chief decorator to. Wonderful....and there as none left!!!
Today is the family day which Annette has planned to give people the opportunity to gather and visit with Shirley and John. We have made trays of sandwiches, cheese and crackers, fruit etc. for the event. Shirley and Gordon went through pictures last night and put up a family board for all to view. I think that it will be a wonderful busy afternoon with all the doors thrown open as it is breathless of wind outside and the humidity is very high. Us poor Canadians are feeling the humidity greatly these last couple days of rain.
So, with that I will leave off here. I will see about posting pictures later today but for now there are things to be done. Tomorrow we head off for Auckland again and then we will be heading for the airport on Wednesday. Hard to believe that our time here is coming to an end. Though we are all turning our thoughts to home and family these last few days it will surely be difficult to leave this beautiful country. The Kiwis here are the best. So friendly and welcoming and just as we get used to how they live here and it becomes a small part of us it is time to leave. Guess that means that the plans must be done up for the next trip so we can visit the south island!!
Love to all. Look for pictures posted in the gallery later.

Love
C, R, J & S