10/4/2026 Moving Day and the start of the last leg

Today is my last accommodation move before I fly home. As I’d done everything last night in preparation there wasn’t much to do this morning other than wash up my mug, put the bins out and lock up. I had to send a photo of the key in the key safe when I left to prove I’d actually left. I resent being treated like a 12 year old.  I am more than capable of locking up some accommodation am putting the key in a key box. Rude.  

It’s been a nice warm day but a bit overcast and grey and I hauled my very heavy little rucksack into my back and headed down to the beach. Not to sit and sunbathe but to utilise one of the may benches along the front and sit and read my book for a while. I’d charged my main phone last night but totally forgot to charge my NZ one which I only realised when I had a message off Carey. 

They’re back in Auckland from their road trip and she was ringing to arrange a meet up. I decided to go to the library to charge my phone and carry on reading my book. It’s a really nice library but a noisy one. They have a lot of community stuff going on in there and as it’s still the Easter holidays it’s very much kid focused activities. I managed to get some juice in my phone and was able to take Carey’s call. It’s the first time I haven’t whispered in a library!  They drove to meet me and we went in another of the little cafes for a light lunch, it was quite nice, and lots to choose from.  

Their trip around the North Island was wonderful and their favourite apart being Rotorua, which didn’t surprise me. The breathtaking scenery and mountains along the way is magnificent and the weather was pretty good for them. Predictably they packed loads of stuff in. Just below Raglan on the west coast there is a hot water beach which they had decided to go to. Unfortunately when they got there they had to clamber down a steep cliff and over some sand dunes which Carey was totally unable to do. Ray went down and had a paddle in it while she watched forlornly from the top. To say she was gutted is an understatement.  Ray did a lot of mountain hikes assisted by cable cars up Mount Ruapehu which gives spectacular views on a clear day. Unfortunately the summit was shrouded in cloud so he didn’t get to that. But it was an experience and a half for them. I’d shown them our photos of it from when we went at Easter two years ago and it was snow capped, the sunset on it was incredible and they were hoping to see it in all its glory. The weather had a different idea. They loved it anyway which is all that mattered. While Ray was hiking Carey enjoyed hot chocolate in the little cafe as she waited for him to come back. The last car down was at 1600 hrs and she was already preparing to make the trip down on her own if Ray didn’t make it back. Fortunately he made it with 20 minutes to spare, although he’d taken a tumble and was a bit battered. When he showed me the photos of the climb I decided it was only suitable for a mountain goat . No discernible path and a very rocky uneven surface! No wonder he took a tumble; he was lucky not to have broken a limb.  

They left St Helier at 1300 and headed back to their apartment to pick up swimmers before heading to Hotwater Beach so Carey could experience the phenomenon herself. It’s the place where you hire spades for $5 to dig your hole and then sit in the hot water as the tide comes in.  Unfortunately when they arrived once again they were hampered by the weather as the outer edge of the cyclone had already hit land and the ocean was very rough. Also, very rudely the coffee shop had closed up early. There were people digging on the beach but they failed to find the hot water spots too. I felt really bad I hadn’t told them they needed to dig directly in line with the rock in the ocean.  I am wondering if the incoming storm is having an effect on the hot water, possibly not but it’s strange none could locate it.  They did say it was really pretty area and were glad they’d been. As they’d missed out they’ll have to come back again to do it.  

When they left I popped over to the bakery for a coffee which was enjoyable, Alistair was there and we had a lovely chat, such an interesting man and well travelled, his wife is from Burma but he’s a New Zealander. He was very complementary on my pronunciation of Kohimarama as apparently a lot a visitors struggle to pronounce it so I was quite chuffed with that.  There are so many places that are pronounced different to how they’re spelt. Onehunga being such a place. I pronounced it as it’s spelt ; One hunga but that’s wrong it’s pronounced ‘on a hunga’, talk about confusing!  You would think working on principle that any place name, for example one tree hill, would be pronounced ‘on a tree hill’, but nope it’s 1 tree hill. It’s as confusing as English to master. Whangeri is pronounced fangeray. The  wh is sounded as an F. After an interesting language lesson he headed home just as Morg pulled up from work.  They shook hands and Alistair toddled home to Bibi his lovely wife.

Morgan joined me for a coffee which was lovely, and once we’d drunk up he popped me down to Kohimaram lodge. Peter checked me in and gave me a returners discount which was very kind of him. 

This time I’m in Hanoi, which I’m really happy about, it’s a lot lighter decor and although is the same size it feels much bigger than Gatsby. The bathroom layout is better too. I think maybe the furniture is smaller, which increases the overall feeling of space doesn’t it?  

Morg dropped me off and headed home for a shower and chill before coming back down with my gazillion bags.  Before he came back down Cheryl popped in to say hello and bought me a large bottle of Prosecco which was so nice of her. Her back is still bad which is unfortunate but she is moving a lot easier so it’s improving. They’ve had a lot of interest in the units which are on the market but as yet none has come forward with a nice cheque for them. Fingers crossed it goes soon, 9 units is a lot to run, especially when you hold down a job as well !  

My personal little Sherpa, Morgan, arrived with my bags around 1800 and didn’t stop tonight,  he unloaded the bags carried them in gave me a hug and went home. 

He’d only been gone a few minutes and the sky was growing pinker by the minute so I decided To walk to the beach to watch the sunset. As I walked the colours were so bright and everyone was out on their balconies just looking up at the sky.

The air was really still with not a whisper of a breeze and , for the first time, I experienced that phenomenon of the calm before the storm. The cicadas were going full belt in the trees as I walked past them and when I got to the beach I was stunned by what I was seeing. There wasn’t a ripple in the ocean, the waves were lapping the shore gently but the sky, oh my days I’ve never seen the like of it an. I’ve seen some pretty impressive sunsets. The colours over the bay were just beautiful. It was like the sky was on fire. I think it was the stillness that hit me the most, people were even talking in lowered tones.

The clouds from the cyclone's outflow are responsible for the magical scene in front of my eyes according to one of the weather pages online.  

Just walking along the beach surrounded by so much beauty made me feel so lonely and a violent physical pain in my chest  hit me really hard. Si and I should have been sitting on the beach together.  Me snuggled  into his chest, sat between his legs,  his arms wrapped tightly around me and his chin resting on my shoulder, his face close to mine like we’d done on so many occasions in the past,  safe and secure, oblivious to everything. Now it’s just me to see it and not  having my person to share  such incredible experiences with is pretty bloody hard. It's just not the same anymore without him. The world has definitely lost its sparkle even when I’m surrounded by such beauty and there are definite grey and black tinges around the edges of life. A lot less colour since he died. 

The photos I took just don’t do it justice at all but I think they’re pretty impressive considering I just aimed the phone and clicked.

I wombled back to the unit and drew the curtains. Also in the fridge were two small bottles of Prosecco so I cracked one open and toasted my precious boy.  It’s killing me that he’s missing out on so much.

This link is a report on the upcoming weather system. Morgan and I are perfectly safe so please don’t worry, neither of us will be venturing  outside the door until it passes over. I don’t have a coat for starters so I’d get wet, and that’s just unnecessary . I have snacks and in case the water supply is disrupted, which is possibility, I have bottled water. I’m making sure my phones and lap top are fully charged and other than that I’ll probably have my nose pressed to a window most of the weekend!

The link https://www.facebook.com/share/1Kc6fAAoDi/

Much Love

Mrs Leonard 

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