We headed up along the Whanganui River as far as we could. We stopped a few times to take pictures, to see a couple of Maraes and see an old church. Although it was nice, none of it could really compare to the stunning scenery we’d left behind in the south island. We carried on driving north discussing options of where to stay the night. Over lunch we tabled the option of going all the way back to Whangarei and giving ourselves more time to prepare for haulout. The idea had it’s appeal. We’d been too long on the road. It was a lot of driving. We made it to Auckland just as rush hour was developing so we squeezed through the traffic without too much delay. We made it back to Whangarei before 7pm.
As luck would have it we ran into Amy and Dan from Division II who’d been keeping an eye on Dignity. They were on their way back to their boat and offered us a ride. That saved us the bother of using one of the marina hard dinghies. We’d only brought our cool box along to put into the fridge. Upon entering the boat we felt home. Better still, the boat smelt brand new. We hadn’t really cleaned up before leaving and, in the back of our minds, wondered if things would be ok. Everything seems fine.
We didn’t stop too long. We lowered the dinghy which was a little flaccid and headed to shore to go out and eat. Most of the boats on the dock have done a shuffle since we left. Many of the folks we knew there have left the area. The boats now on the dock are mostly unknown to us. On the way back from town we met Steve and Vickie from True Companions. It was nice to stop and chat to old friends for a while.
Sleep came quickly as we were exhausted. Now we have to work out what to do with today. Right now I don’t want to do much but I suspect we’ll get busy.
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